The 2026 Cup season has gone sideways for Kyle Busch, and the latest Bristol race only made it worse. Sunday’s incident wasn’t just frustration. It looked like a deliberate “eye-for-an-eye” move after an earlier run-in on track.

The first two stages, if not great, were at least smooth for Busch. He started 29th, riding through the mid-pack. He gained some control in the third stage, and he began making progress toward the front. It was on lap 313 that Riley Herbst spun Busch off at corner exit, resulting in a multi-car stack that also collected Erik Jones, Michael McDowell, and Christopher Bell.

The incident comes as Kyle Busch sits 24th in the 2026 Cup Series standings, a drop from his usual position in previous seasons. With four laps remaining, he caught up to Riley Herbst and spun the No. 35 Toyota Camry in what appeared to be a deliberate “revenge” move.

American sports journalist Jeff Gluck called out the action on the latest The Teardown podcast, according to a video shared by Dirty Mo Media on X, pointing to the challenge of balancing aggressive racing with clear boundaries.

“This is the problem—this is where the grey area is,” he said. “Because you want the rough-and-tumble, you want the eye-for-the-eye, you want the short-track racing—‘He did me dirty and I’ve got one coming back’—he’s got one coming back thing, but you’re going to have moments like this. And so where is that line?”

Despite the controversy, Jeff Gluck said this kind of behavior is part of the sport. He said he had no issue with what Kyle Busch did, but added that the fallout can be significant and hard to control.

He also said NASCAR could handle it in the moment with a one-lap penalty, keeping order without going against its own style of racing.

Radio Tensions Boil Over at Richard Childress Racing

Busch wasn’t the only one reaching a breaking point at Bristol. As the No. 8 car struggled with rear grip and fell to 26th, crew chief Jim Pohlman hit a wall of frustration.

On lap 277, he snapped at spotter Derek Kneeland: “What is the freakin’ problem now? Is the thing sideways, or is it plowing? What the (expletive) does it look like?”

With no improvement, the crew chief came back again: “Why? I don’t get it. We tightened it up, and why can’t it get in the (expletive) corner?”

Kneeland replied bluntly, “I don’t know. I’ve got a headset on, not a helmet. I don’t know.”

Read more at the RFK Racing Digest!

Written by

Sanskriti Pastor

Edited by

Pulkit Prabhav