Newman & Busch Take Jabs At One Another Following New Hampshire Run-In

Ryan Newman was told last Wednesday that his services at Stewart-Haas Racing would no longer be needed beyond 2013 and that 2007 Daytona 500 winner, Kevin Harvick would fill the vacated seat. Ryan doesn’t know what he will be doing next year or if he’ll even be racing at the Cup level but at least the next race on the schedule was one of his best; New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Unfortunately, the weekend didn’t go according to plan. The No.39 finished 39th after crashing heavily with Kurt Busch on lap 225. Although both drivers were upset following the untimely end to their days, it’s what happened a few laps earlier involving Newman and another Busch that would make for some animated soundbites that won’t soon be forgotten.

Ryan Newman found himself racing Kyle Busch hard and the two made contact which infuriated Ryan.  The two slammed doors and Ryan tried to hit him again going into a corner but only managed to trade some paint with bystander Brad Keselowski. After the race, ESPN asked Kyle Busch what happened and this is what he said…

“Ryan Newman is the biggest, stupid idiot out there….He’s a big ogre and can do whatever he wants because he can probably kick anybody’s butt so no sense getting in a fight with him. Glad he’s out of a job.”

It’s not often that you hear the word “ogre” used to describe a fellow driver and saying that he’s glad Ryan is out of a job turned some heads. It caught the attention of the whole racing community including Newman himself who held nothing back in his incensed reply to Kyle…

“I’m just afraid if I rearranged his face, I might fix it. We know he’s not very bright. He’s a heck of a talent, but he’s not very bright and I’ll leave it at that. I admit to goring Kyle down the straightaway after he blasted me into the corner. I didn’t crash him. He didn’t crash me. I don’t know what he’s got to be mad about. Evidently he’s got a bone to pick for some reason. “

“It seems like after his comments about me not having a ride and all that stuff, seems like he’s got way more to lose than I do, so I think he might check his trap there before he gets too ahead of himself. If he’s going to run his mouth, he better be able to back running his mouth.”

These two drivers are fierce competitors who both wear their emotions on their sleeves and Ryan Newman is never afraid to throw down. Go talk to Juan Pablo Montoya and Joe Logano if you think otherwise. It seems that we have an intense rivalry or feud shaping up between these two who are both vying for a chase berth and one is looking for a ride. In a tweet today, Kyle Busch actually apologized for the last part of his angry comments…

“I want to clarify that I was answering what I felt was two separate questions asked to me at the same time in an interview following the race in Loudon. The first was about how fast Kurt was and the second was how I felt about Ryan Newman blaming me for him getting wrecked. 

First I answered the Kurt part. He was fast… Great to see them running well… Was a shame to see him crashed… Nowhere there did I place blame on who wrecked who. I didn’t see it and I still haven’t seen it. 

My second answer came from being upset over an incident I had with RN on the track during the race. I answered it in the same response, but it was intended as a completely separate answer. 

I was upset because I felt RN raced me poorly, making contact and causing damage to my RF fender that affected the handling on my racecar. This isn’t the first time that I’ve been raced poorly by RN either, which added to my frustration. All this built up and allowed my emotions to spill over for how I felt. I’m not sorry for how I feel in those moments, but could have expressed it better and certainly my comments about someone’s livelihood went too far.”

I doubt Kyle will try to continue this feud but I wouldn’t be too sure about Newman simmering down anytime soon. It will be interesting to see how these two race one another in the future and if anything controversial will unfold. Multiple drivers got angry at each other at Loudon and I believe those instances of intense anger between drivers will only increase as we get closer and closer to Richmond. You will see patience wearing thin and the aggression pick up as some drivers realize that they have to make something happened if they want one of those coveted chase spots and begin taking risks that they wouldn’t normally take.

Lastly, as long as we are taking about on track feuds; take a look at this wild video from a race at the legendary Bowman Gray Stadium that occurred the other night: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2F2iHTNDE8&feature=youtu.be