Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kurt Busch says he was willing to wreck his brother Kyle during the late restart in the NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol.
The two brothers lined up on the front row for the restart with just 14 of the 500 laps remaining after Kyle recovered from a second lap crash to haul himself back into contention.
On the restart, Kurt closed to within inches of the rear bumper of Kyle before conceding defeat after touching the wall slightly as his brother took his third win in eight races.
When asked what he was willing to do, Kurt said: “That one is tough. I really wanted to beat him. I was going to wreck him.
“I wanted to stay close enough so when we took the exit I was going to drive straight into (Turns) 3 and 4.
“He already won [this season]. Figure he could give a little love to his brother. I wanted that one bad.
“I feel like him right now, I’m all mad because I didn’t win.”
When Kyle was told his brother would wreck him, he said: “He has to catch me first.”
Kurt had qualified 27th and like Kyle had to work his way back up the order to get into race win contention, with both Busch brothers electing to stay out and not pit ahead of the final restart.
The Ganassi driver was unhappy with his car balance and says his crew is not ready to win yet.
“This car, we were struggling on qualifying, we struggle on taking off,” he said. “I just can’t get that right rear to grip until it gets heat in it.
“It’s hard to be patient when you’re running for the win on old tyres.
“I’m happy that we were in a position to do it. This group of guys, we’re not quite ready to win yet, but that was close.
“I was going to wreck my little brother to win today. With three laps to go, stepped out in Turn 1, and I wasn’t close enough after that.
“But thanks to [crew chief] Matt McCall and everybody at Ganassi.”