“Going to Look Like an Idiot”—Amid Burning NASCAR Debate Over “Respect,” Bubba Wallace’s Insider Reveals Why Kyle Busch Held Back at COTA

Following the Cup race at the Circuit of the Americas, a massive debate flared up in the NASCAR community. Several drivers complained about the daredevil divebombs at Turn 1. This included #9 driver Jordan Taylor, who was deputizing for the injured Chase Elliott, and Kyle Busch. Busch was particularly vocal about the lack of respect shown by the drivers during the race.

In light of this, 23XI Racing spotter Freddie Kraft admitted during the latest episode of the Door Bumper Clear podcast that he was impressed with Busch’s restraint.

Talking with co-hosts TJ Majors, Brett Griffin, and Casey Boat, Kraft recalled the final laps of the race, saying, “I felt a lot more confident for Tyler when Kyle got to third and kept choosing behind him. Tyler had little better tires; Kyle had short pit, right before that caution came out. He had about five laps on his tires. So I knew Tyler would have little better drive off of Turn 1. So even if he washed Byron out wide a little bit, he was going to get a better run down to the Esses than Kyle.”

Kraft essentially meant that as far as the tires were concerned, Tyler had a much better chance to keep the lead—unless Kyle Busch did something “disrespectful.”

READ MORE: “Expected It to Be a Little More Respectful”—Chase Elliott’s COTA Replacement Vents His Frustrations After Final Restart Chaos Turned His Cup Series Debut Into a Nightmare

Kyle Busch would have been a hypocrite if he amped up the aggression

If we’re being honest, Kyle Busch is notorious for being a hard racer on the track. However, he was surprisingly civil during the Cup race at COTA and didn’t make many daring moves on race leader Tyler Reddick. After all, he had seen firsthand how such daredevil divebombs at the Turn 1 hairpin worked. So he would have been a massive hypocrite to criticize such tactics if he were to engage in them himself.

This was exactly the point that Kraft wanted to emphasize, as he added, “Kyle, like you said, preached respect so he couldn’t be the guy. If you go on TV and talk about, ‘Oh, these guys don’t respect anybody.’ Then you’re the guy that bombs in three-wide into 1 and wipes everybody out.

“You’re going to look like an idiot.”

Instead, he chose to preserve his #8 Chevy and bring it home with a fine second-place finish. Busch is in no desperate need to win the race because he has already reached Victory Lane this year. However, he was still furious with the antics of his contemporaries. This was because the constant bumping and barging prolonged the race with multiple restarts and overtime periods.

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