Martin Truex Jr.'s car after he was hit by Kyle Busch.
RacingBy Andrew Bucholtz on

NASCAR’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race Saturday at Bristol Motor Speedway saw plenty of crashes, and several of them involved Kyle Busch. On just the second lap of the 500-lap race, Busch hit Ryan Blaney, spun into the middle of the track, created a pile-up, and lost his rear bumper and back panel as a result:

But Busch was allowed to continue after some repairs despite that damage, even if it led to fueling issues for him. And he managed to stay in contention despite being two laps down at one point, but with less than 100 laps to go, he caught Martin Truex Jr.’s rear bumper, sending Truex into the wall and leading to him losing a tire:

And Truex was not happy about it:

Busch has been involved in plenty of controversial NASCAR incidents over the years, including a post-race fight with Joey Logano in 2017 and booing from fans after his close win over Kyle Larson at Chicagoland earlier this year. And as he said to fans there, he’s a supporter of close-contact racing, saying “If you don’t like that kind of racing, don’t even watch.” Well, Busch brought that approach to Bristol, and while he may not have been trying to hit Truex (he told his team on the radio “I just misjudged it by six inches — maybe less”) or Blaney, he’s created more controversy with his actions here. And he’s definitely working towards heel status, with the “All I Do Is Win” and “What? I don’t need no introduction” entrance as more proof of that:

After these incidents, there may be even more NASCAR fans at Bristol sharing Brad Keselowski’s 2010 sentiments about Busch:

But the night didn’t end well for Busch either, as he made some further contact in a three-wide with Chris Buescher and Jimmie Johnson on lap 481 and wound up blowing a tire, spinning out and needing a push to pit row. And his exit got plenty of cheers and some #karma tweets:

In any case, while it was Kyle’s brother Kurt who won the race, Kyle certainly wound up as one of the biggest stories of the night.

Update: And, after the race, a fan apparently tried to fight Kyle:

Well, that one definitely doesn’t look to be Busch’s fault, but that’s only going to add to the chatter around his night.

About Andrew Bucholtz

Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.

View all posts by Andrew Bucholtz

1 thought on “NASCAR’s Bristol Night Race saw Kyle Busch cause several crashes, including one that saw Martin Truex Jr. lose a tire”

  1. He is the best thing to ever happen to NASCAR. he makes every event way more entertaining

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