Keselowski and Logano Reflect on Busch Clash Fiasco

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Days removed from the indescribable Busch Clash last Sunday, there were three drivers who were in the center of attention during Daytona 500 Media Day Wednesday and it happened to be three of the most polarizing drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series.

What started the overall madness for the 88-lap crash fest occurred on Lap 66 when a little block by Joey Logano to defend his race lead went haywire as Kyle Busch made a slight tap on Logano in Turn 3.

Consequently, the two ran out of real estate and tangled as they deserpately tried to hold onto their loose cars. It was too late as Busch got completely sideways entering Turn 4, turning Logano around for good while Brad Keselowski had nowhere to go as Busch’s car went sharp right into his No. 2 MoneyLion Ford Mustang. Both Busch and Keselowski’s days were done in that incident while Logano continued on until he was involved in another Turn 3 crash on Lap 78.

The most vocal of the three was Keselowski, who slammed his Team Penske teammate Logano, citing that dumb blocking was the cause of the accident and his day being diminished.

#NASCAR … Brad ⁦@keselowski⁩ with strong words about teammate ⁦@joeylogano⁩ after that incident pic.twitter.com/rGQgD8bAOt

— Dustin Long (@dustinlong) February 9, 2020

The madness settled down once both Penske drivers went to DisneyWorld Monday. However, neither saw each other down there but Logano did say that they’ve indeed spoken about their opposing views from the Clash and they’ll see how things go from there.

“That’s all you can do is just try to explain your side of the story of what happened,” Logano said. “There are different perspectives on the whole thing and I had no clue. I was like, ‘Hey, what are you mad about? Let’s talk about it.’

“There were things that I had no idea about and I just explained my side of the story. That’s all you can really do.”

Logano added that once Keselowski understands why the move was done when it did, it’ll strengthen their team chemistry and friendship just like most incidents they’ve had over the years such as their 2015 incident at Bristol.

“I think once he understands the whole side of the story, and you know how it is, you get out of the race car, you’re frustrated, you’re mad, your emotions are running high, you haven’t re-watched anything yet and they stick a microphone in your face and ask you what happened,” Logano said. “You don’t really know until you go back and study it and figure it all out. That stuff happens, but, like I said, we’ve been friends for a long time. We’ve been able to figure stuff out before he said afterwards. I’m not really that worried about it. It’s gonna be OK. We’re gonna figure it out. Everything always blows by. Everything gets better all the time.”

Hours later, Keselowski, who turned 35 today, spoke about it but that’ll be kept between the two.

“I think I’ve been pretty consistent and verbal about blocking on the race track. I don’t really have anything where I feel differently about with respect to that,” Keselowski said. “As far as the comments to Joey, I’ll keep those between me and I. I’ve said what I wanted to say and anything further than that, I’ll just keep it between me and I.”

Heading into Sunday’s 62nd Daytona 500, Logano has a win in “The Great American Race” back in 2015, but Keselowski is among the many champions that have yet to capture the greatest win the sport has to offer. Last Sunday’s accident is far from the worst thing Keselowski has ever endured at Daytona.

“By far no,” Keselowski said. “The 500 is what matters.”