Two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch has offered a new take on a recent feat achieved by former NASCAR star Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Earnhardt Jr. made a shock debut as a crew chief at Pocono Raceway earlier this month, stepping in for regular crew boss Mardy Lindley, who was suspended.
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Whilst the move got many excited, Busch said it was ‘just publicity’ in comments that caused quite a stir.
“It’s all publicity, but spin it how you want it,” Busch told the media at Pocono. “He’s just going to be a warm body sitting on top of the box.
“They’ve got enough stuff from the shop and enough technology these days of being able to have the crew chief still involved so. I could say I could do the same thing with one of my truck teams, but the guys at the shop would be the ones handling it.
“But still great, you know, cool, eyeballs, and putting some attention on their team, and stuff like that. I mean, JRM is one of the top two, three teams in the Xfinity Series, so may the best man win.”
Busch offers fresh take on Earnhardt Jr. success
Busch later clarified that those comments were not meant as a dig at Earnhardt Jr., taking to social media to explain exactly what he meant.
Under Earnhardt Jr.’s guidance, Connor Zilisch won the Xfinity Series race at Pocono, making it a debut victory for the NASCAR legend in his temporary role.
In between Pocono and Atlanta, Busch has offered his latest take on the matter, agreeing that his initial comments were taken out of context and offering a far more generous verdict this time around.
“Well, I meant that as if I were doing it, if I were going to go do that, say KBM [Kyle Busch Motorsport] Truck Series was in existence, and one of our crew chiefs got suspended, I’d raise my hand and say, ‘Yeah, I’ll go do it’,” the two-time champion told Frontstretch.
“But I know darn well those guys are going to be in my ear telling me everything that we need to do, you know?
“He was obviously way more involved than I thought or expected that he would be, so I’m happy for him.”
Busch continued: “That’s cool. That’s an accolade. That’s an asterisk on his resume.”
“He doesn’t need any more of those, but it was fun to see his excitement and the things that he was involved with with the team.
“Connor [Zilisch], I sat next to him on the aeroplane ride home from Mexico. We talked the whole ride home.
“So he’s a great kid, and I respect that they were able to do that together. That’s pretty cool.”
