Today, both Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch might come off as incredibly mature, calm, and collected drivers. But we shouldn’t forget that they were quite the wild ones back in their day.
In fact, on one occasion, they themselves had an epic run in that led to quite a feud.
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
In 2011, during the Cup Series race at Pocono, Johnson tried to pass Busch in the final laps. The battle was on for the third place and eventually, after the Hendrick and the Penske cars made contact on a few occasions, Busch managed to hold off the seven-timer.
WATCH THIS STORY: Dale Earnhardt or Jeff Gordon – Who Has the Most Wins at NASCAR’s “Cursed” Track?
But while the race was over, the battle wasn’t. Because what followed after the checkered flag was a heated exchange between Johnson and Busch, which the former described as “more like a lot of yelling.”
What did Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch say after their exchange in the pits?
The Hendrick Motorsports driver took the higher ground as he insisted that while he had the chance to “scr*w” the Team Penske driver, he chose not to. “Then off of [Turn] 2 he claims I turned down on him and I don’t have a clue. He ran over me on the corner exit and that’s where it all started,” Johnson added.
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
“I’m not going to run people over to pass them. That’s just not me. I worked on him for however many laps trying to get by him clean, fair and square and as I got next to him we had that issue off of [Turn] 2.”
On the other hand, to Kurt Busch, what happened on the track was simply part of racing.
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
“I was racing, flat out. You want to race, let’s race! I didn’t know we were supposed to pull over when it came down to five to go, I raced him hard, I raced him smart,” he said.
“I raced him clean and he wants to come over here and b*tch about it.”