For the first time in 2026, Richard Childress Racing's Kyle Busch was actually having a decent Sunday afternoon at Texas Motor Speedway. He ran inside the top 10 for much of the race after qualifying sixth, and it was beginning to look as though the crew chief change from Jim Pohlman to Andy Street was paying off straight from the get-go.
Then came the race's final caution flag for a spin by 23XI Racing's Corey Heim. Busch was among those who came into the pits for new tires, in an attempt to gain ground following the restart with only a handful of laps remaining.
Legacy Motor Club's John Hunter Nemechek, who competed for Busch's Kyle Busch Motorsports in the Craftsman Truck Series in 2021 and 2022, also took tires.
Following the restart, the No. 8 Chevrolet and No. 42 Toyota made contact with each other and the wall on the back straightaway of the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) Fort Worth, Texas oval, when Busch failed to clear Nemechek coming out of turn two.
Busch then proceeded to slam into Nemechek going into turn three, sending him into the wall. NASCAR stayed green and allowed the race to finish without a caution.
not freaking clear. great day going. and just got wrecked. what an ass https://t.co/D8HpSe8EAr
— John Hunter Nemechek (@JHNemechek) May 3, 2026
Busch responded to Nemechek's "what an ass" criticism.
I did not start this. The 42 apparently doesn’t know where the RS of his car is and where he is in relation to the outside wall. There was 2 ft outside him and I was judging my left side tires to the hash marks. Always know who your racing beside. 🤬 https://t.co/7IxSUMePzm pic.twitter.com/AqSl5TlNsa
— Kyle Busch (@KyleBusch) May 3, 2026
Busch was probably better served to keep quiet here, not because he doesn't have the right to tell his side of the story, but because his side of the story arguably only hurt his case.
No, Nemechek was not riding the wall. But he is under no obligation to do so. He held his line all the way, and even had been up against the wall, Busch would not have cleared him, and the contact would have occurred when Busch cut across the nose.
Not clear is not clear, and Busch absolutely would have known that there was a car to his outside.
When your spotter literally tells you there’s a car still outside maybe don’t come across his nose. Just take accountability unc it will be okay
— Justin Champagne (@ChampagneRacin) May 4, 2026
But for whatever reason, he moved up anyway. He was driving his race in relation to where he thought Nemechek should have been running to make things easier for him, rather than where he was actually running in his own best interest.
Blaming the guy who did nothing but hold his line, because you made the mistake of expecting him to be closer to the wall is a choice https://t.co/AOcRZMYLav
— Gary Owen (@GOWENYT) May 4, 2026
That does not matter in any scenario, JHN isn’t obligated to be right against the wall and most importantly, he held his line
— Gary Owen (@GOWENYT) May 4, 2026
In other words, if there was anybody who wasn't away of where the "RS" (right side) of the car was, Busch is basically admitting it was him, not Nemechek, in an attempt to pin that exact mistake on Nemechek.
It's not Nemechek's responsibility to slow down to make sure Busch has a place to go, much less with a lap and a half to go in the race (while on new tires). It's not like he turned into him or intentionally changed his line to affect Busch.
Busch wrongly took for granted that the driver to his outside would do exactly what literally nobody else in the field (Busch included) would do, and he paid the price for it.
Then after effectively wrecking himself, he retaliated against the driver who did nothing wrong.
Busch finished 20th, which was a disappointing result on an otherwise strong afternoon. Nemechek was 21st, and he was understandably not happy with his former boss.
Kyle Busch temper getting the best of him?
It's not the first time that Busch has placed blame on another driver for his own mistake, and it's oddly not the first time he's done so when that other driver used to compete for him.
Busch wrecked himself at EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta Motor Speedway) when he misjudged a gap to Noah Gragson, then took a cheap shot at Gragson in his post-race interview.
He also retaliated against Riley Herbst with only a handful of laps remaining in the race at Bristol Motor Speedway, leading to overtime.
It'd be great if we could say that the old Kyle Busch is back, because from a villain/temper/soundbite standpoint, that's certainly true. The difference is that this version Kyle Busch is considering top 15 days moral victories, so quite literally the only reason anybody cares about the fuss is because his name is Kyle Busch and he used to be elite.
Instead of talking about him duking it out at the front with drivers from Joe Gibbs Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, and Team Penske, we're now talking about his squabbles with guys like Nemechek, Gragson, and Herbst, whose good days are anything inside the top 25.
How the mighty have fallen.
It's clear that the frustration of his win drought, which is now at more than 100 races, is mounting. While it's not safe to say that he's "washed" like many on social media believe, given the obvious struggles of Richard Childress Racing, it's also clear that Richard Childress Racing (specifically Jim Pohlman) isn't the only issue here.
He may have some plausible deniability on the second contact with Nemechek because of the damage from the initial run-in, but we're kidding ourselves if we suggest that he didn't mean to completely wall him there.
That'd be one heck of a coincidence, not just because of Busch's history, both recently and long-term, with losing his cool, but because the obvious post-race frustration and unwillingness to admit his misjudgment basically confirmed the intent. Telemetry data won't pull any punches.
Nemechek might not either, with Watkins Glen International next up on the schedule. If Busch manages to make a move on him for 28th, don't be surprised to see Nemechek not cut him a break, or possibly even intentionally dump him later on.
The Go Bowling at The Glen is set to be shown live on Fox Sports 1 from Watkins Glen beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, May 10. Start a free trial of FuboTV and don't miss it!