NASCAR Star Breaks His Silence After Ugly-Looking Tussle With Teammate Kyle Busch

The recent Phoenix Raceway event for the NASCAR Xfinity Series United Rentals 200 saw a bit of controversy on the final lap. The incident occurred between Kyle Busch and his Kaulig Racing teammate, Chandler Smith.

In a video posted by Dustin Long from NBC Sports, Chandler Smith stated, “When you’re that close on each other’s door, there’s no side force, so you’re just free, and there’s no saving that. It doesn’t matter who it is, but there’s no saving that. So it’s just racing incidents, it sucks that both our cars are tore up now … at least we got a top five out of them.”

Smith added that he would talk to Busch to clarify that he wasn’t doing anything intentional or trying to do him wrong, he was just racing hard to get a top-three finish as they were racing for points.

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Both were fighting for a top-five position when Busch slid into his Kaulig Racing teammate and made contact, and almost ended up spinning himself around. As Busch attempted to correct his position, he nearly collided with Smith, who managed to hold on and finished fifth.

18-year-old Sammy Smith wins amid the Kyle Busch incident

Although the incident caused a bit of drama, it was an exciting race overall, with 18-year-old Sammy Smith winning his first-ever NASCAR Xfinity Series race. Smith led 92 out of the 200 laps and took the checkered flag. Ryan Truex and Sheldon Creed came in second and third, respectively. Riley Herbst finished fourth, and Chandler Smith, despite the last-lap incident with Kyle Busch, finished fifth.

Smith has had a strong start to the 2023 season, getting to his third consecutive top-five finish. During the Las Vegas Motor Speedway race last weekend, he won the pole position and led an impressive 118 laps, setting a record for the most laps led by a Kaulig entry in 434 starts.

He currently leads the series by the number of laps led (122) and sits in fourth place in points. Ironically, after the race at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway last weekend, Kyle Busch praised Smith’s performance, saying, “He was fast. He did a great job for what he had. I was driving something similar, and I couldn’t make it work like that.”

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The Kaulig Racing team has much to cheer about and much to look forward to, particularly with respect to rookie, Chandler Smith. Although incidents like the one at the Phoenix Raceway should be avoided, it is important to understand that, as Chandler Smith put it, “it’s just racin’ incidents.”