Kurt Busch has voiced his surprise that NASCAR chose not to penalize his younger brother, two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch, following an incident at a recent race.
The 2004 Cup Series champion, who won his title with Roush Racing, appeared on the “Door, Bumper, Clear” podcast and discussed the contrasting penalties—Ryan Preece was penalized for contact with Ty Gibbs two weeks ago at Texas, while Kyle Busch avoided punishment for a similar move on John Hunter Nemechek.
NASCAR officials justified Preece’s penalty based on his radio comments, where he said he was “done” with Gibbs after being wrecked. But the elder Busch, a newly inducted Hall of Famer, disagreed with the approach.
“That’s the problem,” Kurt said. “NASCAR shouldn’t go off what someone says on the radio. They should still look at the eyeball test.”
Applying that logic, Kurt believes his brother deserved the same treatment. “What my brother did to John Hunter was the same exact thing,” he explained. “And there could have been maybe one or two words difference. Now you’re in a courtroom. But to have Preece penalized and not my brother—I have no problem saying it. They both should have been in the same doghouse.”
Kurt also shared a personal story to illustrate how a driver’s words can backfire. “There was an All-Star race where Dale Jr. or Newman won, and I needed a yellow, so I wrecked Robby Gordon late in the race,” he recalled. “I didn’t say anything, and the yellow came out. We got another set of tires, but I still wasn’t quick enough.
“Anyway, on a radio show on Tuesday afterwards—I was caught off guard—I said, ‘Oh yeah, I wrecked him. I was just looking for a yellow because I wanted one more shot.’ On Wednesday, NASCAR issued me a $100,000 penalty and docked points, even though it was the All-Star race. And then Richard Childress wanted to fight me by Friday.”
