Busch celebrates sweep of Bristol

Associated Press

BRISTOL, Tenn.

Kyle Busch was booed unmercifully by the crowd at every turn, and called a name over the public address system by Brad Keselowski.

Rival drivers were only half-joking when they said they’d avoid him on the race track, for fear of getting caught up in his mess.

In the end, it was Busch who had the last laugh, from Victory Lane at Bristol Motor Speedway, where he made an unprecedented three visits in four days.

“Love him or hate him, but the little turd did pretty good,” Clint Bowyer said after Saturday night’s Sprint Cup race at Bristol. “Three in a row here is quite a feat.”

A NASCAR record feat.

Busch became the first driver in the 15 years that NASCAR has been running three national series to win all of them in the same week. He began his run with a win in the Trucks race on Wednesday night, had a controversial victory in the Nationwide race Friday night, then completed the sweep with a drama-free win in Saturday night’s premiere Cup Series.

But for all the celebrating of the record-breaking moment — someone from his crew radioed the Joe Gibbs Racing team was “in the presence of greatness” as he crossed the finish line in the last race — his escalating feud with Keselowski managed to steal some of the spotlight.

The two tangled in the Nationwide race when, after racing hard for the lead for at least a dozen laps, Keselowski wouldn’t lift when Busch slid in front of his car. They made contact, and Busch scraped the wall and slid down the track to lose position.

He immediately drove to the back of Keselowski’s bumper and intentionally wrecked him.

Keselowski vowed revenge after the race, and an unrepentant Busch fanned the flames with harsh words for his nemesis and taunting actions toward a disapproving crowd.

Keselowski turned it up a notch during driver introductions before Saturday night’s race. Walking into the track moments after Busch was announced, Keselowski took the microphone and to a thunderous applause introduced himself before insulting Busch.

It heightened the anticipation for another altercation, but it never happened.

Busch’s No. 18 Toyota was so strong the only time the two really raced near each other was late in the race when Busch lapped Keselowski. As expected, Keselowski made it extremely difficult for Busch to pass him, but Busch completed the move cleanly and sailed away to his third win this season and third in his last four Cup races at Bristol.

Asked after what he thought of Keselowski playing to the crowd, Busch replied:

“Who? I don’t know who you’re talking about.”

Told the driver of the No. 12 car, Busch still didn’t bite.

“I saw it, but I passed it,” he stated in a matter of fact tone.

And everything else in Bristol.

Busch led 514 of 956 laps run at the track since it opened on Wednesday to the Trucks. It gave him the accomplishment he’d been seeking since 2005, when he first started competing in all three national series at the same time.

In 2008, he made an ill-fated attempt at the record by traveling in between Pocono, Texas and Nashville over three days, and he stopped putting such a public focus on the feat.