NASCAR
Bob Pockrass, NASCAR 6y

Kyle Busch on Brad Keselowski: 'Sometimes you just don't like a guy'

NASCAR

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. -- Kyle Busch has long since mended fences with Kevin Harvick. With Brad Keselowski? Not so much.

Busch and Keselowski have had a long-running dislike for each other. Keselowski has expressed a wish that they could get along, but the two just seem to never give each other the benefit of the doubt. And when Keselowski publicly said the Toyota teams were sandbagging at Michigan, Busch didn't take too kindly to it.

The pair don't expect that rivalry to get in the way of their quest for the 2017 NASCAR Cup title, as they join Martin Truex Jr. and Harvick as the four drivers eligible for the championship in the season finale Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

While the bumper rubbing, door slamming and tire cutting between drivers throughout the NASCAR Cup playoffs have not involved any of the four remaining drivers against each other, the Busch-Keselowski dynamic is the only one that has some real fire leading into the championship race.

"Sometimes you just don't like a guy," Busch said Thursday during the championship media day. "Fact of the matter. I never ran into Matt Kenseth, [and] I don't think Matt Kenseth ever ran into me. There is a respect factor out there on the racetrack."

Keselowski said he can't focus on his past with Busch.

"You probably get caught up in all these relationship things and forget about the reality of what this stuff is supposed to be all about, and that is going out on the racetrack and racing," Keselowski said. "Not to say it doesn't have a factor on what goes on on the racetrack, but it's not the primary factor.

"The primary factor is going to be getting the cars right, being an influencer for your team to lead them to give their best and then as a driver on the racetrack making your best moves."

Busch and Harvick used to have a dislike for each other, but they have a good relationship now as they have raced each other with respect, both have had kids and Harvick's agency represents a driver (Harrison Burton) who drives for Kyle Busch Motorsports.

"You have to look at things in life in general, and sometimes you're like, 'Man, that's a waste of time,'" Harvick said. "I respect all three of [the finalists]. I respect Kyle just for everything that he does in a race car, and I like racing with Kyle."

Busch said he and Harvick have started to get along over the last few years, and they had fun this week as the four drivers were together in New York City for media events.

"We were kind of like high school buddies, like we were joking around and making fun of the others," Busch said. "It was kind of weird. Kevin and I, friends? What? But I guess we've grown to respect one another and what each other's done and where we've been the last 10 years with one another.

"It's just a matter of evolution of us growing up."

Can that happen with Keselowski?

"Probably not," Busch said. "He's just too different."

^ Back to Top ^