Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott shared a brief, unexpected but also touching moment just after midnight Monday following the end of the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Elliott was so close to winning his first race of the year, and with just two laps left, he had the lead with a trophy from one of NASCAR’s most iconic races waiting for him. But a late caution flag spoiled his plans, and for the second straight race — the second in five days — the No. 9 Chevrolet driver walked away empty handed.
This was after Elliott had a win Wednesday at Darlington Raceway within his reach, but Busch accidentally wrecked him, leading to Elliott later flipping Busch off.
All this lead up to Busch consoling a frustrated Elliott after coming in fourth and second, respectively, in the Coke 600. Speaking to reporters via Zoom after the race, Elliott simply said about their post-race exchange: “He just felt bad for us.”
Although the pair also briefly broke NASCAR’s COVID-19 regulations, which include social distancing and mandatory mask rules, they will not be penalized, FOX Sports’ Bob Pockrass reported Monday.
Often cantankerous more than comforting, Busch — who’s in the middle of running seven NASCAR races in 11 days — elaborated a little following his second-tier XFINITY Series win at Charlotte on Monday night.
Asked about his conversation with Elliott about 24 hours earlier, Busch said:
“Just that I’ve been in that situation way too many times. I felt bad for him, and obviously, through everything that happened the week before and for how bad that situation was, him and I both kind of felt like at the end of that one that there’s a heck of a lot of different ways to lose these things.
“Disappointment — he’s taken it a heck of a lot better than I ever have. I certainly was not very good at disappointing races. He’s doing good and just told him to keep [going] forward and go get the next one.”
Clearly running with speed, Elliott should be expected to contend for his seventh Cup Series win and second at Charlotte Motor Speedway — although, his first was on the “roval” — on Wednesday for the Alsco Uniforms 500 (8 p.m. ET, FS1).
However, both Elliott and Busch are first scheduled to compete in the third-tier Truck Series race at Charlotte on Tuesday night (8 p.m. ET, FS1). Because of Busch’s ample success at this level, there is a $100,000 bounty on him for any Cup driver that beats him in the Truck Series. So although Cup wins are, obviously, what Elliott is after, a win in this race could come with a bonus, half of which will now be a donation for coronavirus relief efforts.
