Busch refutes Bodine's 'driving dirty' claim

HAMPTON, Ga. -- Kyle Busch doesn't think he's a dirty driver.

"I don't feel like I'm a dirty racer. I feel like I'm a hard racer and an aggressive one, but I wouldn't call it dirty," Busch said Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway. "Dirty is when you run in the back of someone on the straightaway and put them in the fence."

Kentucky Highlights

• Busch, Bodine in Victory Lane
• Bodine calls Busch 'dirty'
• The spin that started it all

Todd Bodine disagreed, accusing the Cup Series championship contender of "driving dirty" in Friday night's Truck Series event at Kentucky Speedway. Bodine blamed his spin on Lap 82 of the event on Busch, even though the vehicles didn't make contact and the Truck Series points leader rallied to win the race on fuel mileage.

Still, the hard feelings were evident in Victory Lane. "I'd like to thank Kyle Busch for driving dirty, sucking me down and getting me spun out," Bodine said in his post-race comments. Busch was in his transporter changing from his firesuit into street clothes when he heard the comment on television, and immediately went to Victory Lane to confront the winner.

"I was in the hauler changing, and saw him spout his mouth off on TV, and went straight over there and confronted him right then and there," said Busch, whose bid to win five consecutive NASCAR national-series events ended in a seventh-place finish. "I had to [leave], so when was I going to do it? I didn't have to go to the media center, so I didn't have a chance to battle there, which I don't need to battle in the media. I'll beat him on the race track."

Coincidentally, Busch caught a ride to Atlanta on the airplane of Bob Germain, the owner of Bodine's truck. Busch said Bodine was not on the plane, and that the flight was not awkward. But it was evident Bodine's comments made him bristle.

"I thought that was kind of low, but that's how Bodine is," Busch said. "The Germains are great people. I have the utmost respect for them. Bob gave me a lift down here [Friday] night, I appreciate that. It was just a matter of hard racing, I thought. If he didn't want me racing him that hard, maybe next time I'll lift."

Well, maybe not. Busch said the two drivers had made contact earlier in the event, and that he tried to give Bodine room by moving up the race track. The two were running side-by-side through Turn 4 when Bodine spun.

"I went into [Turn] 3 knowing I had to give him a little bit of room," Busch said. "If I spin him out and he spins me out, what good is that for me? That doesn't do me any good. I actually had the courtesy to think about him spinning out, and he did. I thought I gave him room."

Related:
• Bodine turns bad luck into a victory at Kentucky