JOLIET, Ill. -- Their haulers were located no more than 25 yards apart in the Sprint Cup Series garage.

But when they climbed out of their respective cars after tangling during Saturday night's LifeLock.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway, Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch were worlds apart in their opinions about what had just transpired between them on the 1.5-mile track.

An angry Busch thought Johnson wrecked him. A much calmer Johnson said Busch "body-slammed" him.

Race for the lead

The lead changes hands in just a few laps as Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin work the bumper and Johnson and Kurt Busch trade paint.

• Watch video

Objective observers of the incident on Lap 252 of the 267-lap event saw Busch, Johnson and Jeff Gordon go three-wide after Johnson had lost the race lead one lap earlier following contact he absorbed from behind by the No. 11 Toyota of Denny Hamlin. When Gordon got under Johnson's No. 48 Chevrolet on the inside, with Busch riding high on the outside in his No. 2 Dodge, Johnson appeared to get loose and bump Busch unintentionally.

Busch then appeared to retaliate by deliberately turning into Johnson.

Asked what happened between the pair shortly after climbing out of his car, Johnson replied: "I'm not really sure. I don't think there really was anything. We were all just racing up off of [Turn] 4. The 24 [Gordon] got inside of me and got me a little loose, and then the 2 and I touched. When we touched, he just came down and body-slammed me, trying to get some room from me. But it was just a racing thing. The 24 got inside of me and got me sideways."

Busch described the incident a whole lot differently.

"The 48, we got run into [by him] at Sonoma, we got run into again," Busch said. "I'm starting to lose faith in his ability to be a three-time champion on the track. I'm disappointed. I gave him room and we got pounded into the fence.

"Then we had a left-rear tire rub [as a result of the contact]. Luckily we got a yellow, got 'er fixed, and finished 17th. A couple of runs were spoiled by the 48, but we kept digging."

Johnson eventually recovered enough to finish eighth, but that was somewhat disappointing for him after losing the lead on the botched restart so late in the race.

"It was one of those days. I probably had this thing won at one point, and then one of those restarts didn't work out so well for us," Johnson said. "Everybody was out of control back there, racing and body-slamming. The 83 [Brian Vickers] and 11 went after it a little bit. We were bump-drafting down the straightaways. That was some wild racing right there. I didn't think we could race like that on a mile-and-half [track]."

“

I'm trying to decide what's going on with the 48. I've lost a little bit of respect for him.

”

KURT BUSCH

Busch was extremely upset about all the wild racing, which he blamed mostly on Johnson. He also indicated that he's wondering if Johnson has some issues with him.

"It looked like the 48 just ran out of room. We got spun together at Sonoma and got hit here again. I'm trying to decide what's going on with the 48. I've lost a little bit of respect for him. I gave him room -- and he pounded us into the fence coming off Turn 4," Busch said.

"Then we got a tire rub. Luckily we got a yellow to come in and fix it, instead of fencing it. ... I mean, we were running eighth-to-12th and had an OK car. But when he had that bad restart, man, he was like a ping-pong ball just bouncing off guys."

Johnson said he had no doubts that Busch hit him on purpose -- and was making plans to do so again when he thought better of it.

"I don't know if it cost me the win, but he certainly body-slammed me pretty hard," Johnson said. "What's funny is that he was coming to hit me again and he saw the 24 on the apron and I think then he realized I didn't run him up the track on purpose.

"You know, at the end of the race everybody's tempers are high. He's one of those guys whose temper can get away from him. When he first hit me, I was like, 'Man, this is racing. This isn't necessary.' But then he backed off."

Of course, Busch realized nothing of the sort. He made it clear after the race that he didn't appreciate the initial contact caused by Johnson. Asked if he deliberately gave Johnson a retaliatory shot immediately afterward, Busch replied: "I didn't wreck him; I got wrecked."

Busch then was ushered away by Tom Roberts, his public relations man, before he could answer any more questions. Johnson sounded like he thought the incident would be forgotten by the time the two race against each other again in two weeks at Indianapolis. The Sprint Cup Series gets a rare weekend off next weekend.

"First I have to find out if he's mad. I kind of thought it just was a racing thing. But the fact that everybody's asking about it makes me wonder," Johnson said.

"We'll see. We'll talk at some point. The good thing is that you always end up running into each other. You end up talking at driver intros or something. It never fails. You run into somebody on the track and the next week you get put in the back of a pickup truck with 'em [for pre-race driver introductions]."