WATCH: Richard Childress’ Subtle Response to Kyle Busch NASCAR Rumors Goes Viral

The uncertainty around Kyle Busch and his future with Joe Gibbs Racing doesn’t seem to end. Due to a lack of sponsorship, Busch might not be returning with his #18 Toyota in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series. 

However, recently, there were rumors of him being in contact with Richard Childress Racing. This came as a shock to many NASCAR fans, owing to the events that transpired between Busch and Childress more than a decade ago. 

In a recent interview, posted by NASCAR on its YouTube channel, Childress’ remarks surrounding the topic seemed to be vague. While addressing the rumors, Childress did not clearly deny or acknowledge the possibility of Busch being a part of the team. 

On being asked what his comments were on the news of Kyle Busch potentially joining Richard Childress Racing, he said; “Not really (no comments really), you know, Kyle’s a great race driver. And I have talked… we put all our differences behind us a while back.”

“And he is a great race driver and he’ll land him a good ride somewhere for sure.”

Taking a brief pause after the explanation, Childress smiled and told the interviewer, “You said that I didn’t.” 

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Currently, Kyle Busch is in the final year of his contract with Joe Gibbs Racing. The multi-time champion is speculated to keep his options open at the moment. Rumors about him being signed by Kaulig Racing were also doing rounds earlier this year. But no official announcement regarding the same has been made yet.

What exactly happened between Kyle Busch and Richard Childress?

It all started at the Kansas Speedway’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race in May 2011. Richard Childress Racing’s Joey Coulter was fighting Busch for the fifth position in the race. Coulter ultimately won the dual, but Busch wasn’t happy about the way that he did it. On the cooldown lap, to show his displeasure, Busch tapped Coulter’s truck. 

According to SB Nation’s Jeff Gluck, this didn’t sit well with Richard Childress. After the race, Childress decided to confront him in the garage area. Allegedly, Richard Childress put Kyle Busch in a headlock and punched him multiple times. The punching continued until Busch fell to the ground. 

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Owing to the incident, NASCAR penalized Childress and put him on probation for the rest of 2011. Apart from that he was fined $150,000 and escaped suspension. Although Childress accepted the penalty, he refused to apologize for his actions against Busch.