Kurt Busch: "I overreacted and then we talked about it in the trailer afterwards." Credit: Getty Images/Ronald Martinez

Busch: Frustrating night led to Darlington tirade

RICHMOND, Va. -- Kurt Busch knows he overreacted last Saturday night in Darlington when he cursed out NASCAR officials on his radio then threw a water bottle that hit an official.

"Saturday was a frustrating day," Busch said. "Our car was very competitive. And there was a misunderstanding when a yellow came to get behind the pace car, so I was frustrated at the time.

Credit: Getty Images/Jeff Gross

Busch wrecked on the first lap of the Dodge Charger 500. When he returned to the track several laps later, he ignored a directive from NASCAR to let the leaders pass him on the racetrack.

Busch then cursed out NASCAR officials on his radio and later threw a water bottle out his window while on pit road that hit a NASCAR official.

"They reacted. I overreacted and then we talked about it in the trailer afterwards, which is the best way to talk about it.

"You can't talk about it over the radio."

And the water bottle?

KURT BUSCH •   Driver Page •   2005 Stats •   Gillette Weekly Challenge •   Superstore: Kurt Busch gear

"It was a frustrating moment in the pits," Busch said. "We wanted to get on with our day. We were 60 laps down, so I talked to NASCAR about that and apologized."

The defending Nextel Cup Series champ said even though no formal punishment was announced by NASCAR, he didn't get away unscathed.

"Any time you go in the NASCAR hauler, you don't want to go in there," Busch said. "It's a scenario where you listen quite often and speak in very short words.

"You get your point across quickly because the mother hand is on top and by no means did we escape anything."

Things brightened up considerably for Busch on Friday afternoon when he qualified fourth for Saturday night's Chevy American Revolution 400.

"This place is really cool to qualify if you're right and we were just right on the pins and needles of just hitting a turn here or a turn there and slipping a tire, but we stuck it pretty good.

"We're starting to understand the impound a bit more now," Busch said. "This track is similar to Phoenix in ways and we qualified second there.

"I thought we had a shot at the pole, but Kahne ran a ballistic lap and so did Stewart, so to start up front is key here at Richmond and I hope that puts us in a good pit cycle."

Busch's history at Richmond is far from stellar. In eight attempts at RIR, he has one top-10 finish -- an eighth-place run in the spring of 2003.

He said anything could happen Saturday.

"It's tough (to pick a winner) with this place being so close to a superspeedway, but yet it has a short-track atmosphere and background.

"(Kevin) Harvick won at Bristol, he'll be strong. And then you've got the Dodges that ran so strong last fall with (Jeremy) Mayfield, (Kasey) Kahne and (Ryan) Newman, who will probably be strong, as well.

"So it's anybody's ballgame this weekend."