It sounds like it, although Busch doesn’t seem too worried.
“Probably for Brad being who Brad is, I guess I should be worried because he’s stupid enough to do something,” Busch said on SiriusXM’s NASCAR channel Friday during Joe Gibbs Racing fan day at the team shop. “But in all reality, to myself, I don’t know, I guess I had more respect for drivers than that.
“I got wrecked (by him) at Watkins Glen last year. He could have given me an inch and we could have made it through that corner and not been spun out at Watkins Glen.”
Keselowski said last week at Kansas that the only good thing about him not making the Chase for the Sprint Cup is being able to retaliate against Busch.
“That's as dirty as it gets -- when someone wrecks you down the straightaway, that's as dirty as it gets," Keselowski said. "I got wrecked by a dirty driver. There's no other way of putting it."
Busch said he possibly could have avoided the wreck.
“I probably could have gave Brad an inch at Kansas, but when you’re raced as hard as you are and you get side-drafted and doored down the front straightaway, all those things start to go out the window and you start losing respect for that person and the next time you get to them, you just don’t get care,” Busch said on SiriusXM.
“That’s essentially what happened. I had an opportunity, I could have lifted when I got tight but I didn’t. I just drove through the tight.”
And what happens now?
“But all in all, if he pays it back, he pays it back and that will just bring on a heck of a lot more fireworks,” Busch said.
After reading Busch’s comments, Keselowski took to Twitter to respond, pointing to his avatar with the tweet “Small/stupid ogre?” -- a reference to Busch’s calling Ryan Newman an ogre after an incident earlier this year.
He then followed that by mocking Busch with the tweet:
“You forgot- #MoreClass” for Busch’s comments last week that Busch had more class than Keselowski.
KENSETH STRUGGLES
Kurt Busch and Kevin Harvick led the final Sprint Cup Series practice Friday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
But the bigger news might be who was 23rd -- series points leader Matt Kenseth.
Kenseth, who will start the Bank of America 500 from the 20th spot Saturday night, has struggled throughout the weekend as he clings to a three-point lead on Jimmie Johnson, a 25-point lead on Kevin Harvick, a 32-point lead on Jeff Gordon and a 35-point lead on Kyle Busch with six races left in the season.
His competition fared much better in final practice with Harvick second, Kyle Busch fifth, Johnson eighth and Gordon 10th.
Kenseth’s fastest lap as 187.363 mph, much slower than that of Kurt Busch (190.759) and Harvick (189.613). Dale Earnhardt Jr., preparing for his 500th start, was 16th.
Kurt Busch also had the top 10-lap average, followed by Ryan Newman, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr.
No drivers wrecked during the practice sessions Friday.
KANSAS GETS NIGHT RACE
Kansas Speedway isn’t just getting a Sprint Cup night race in 2014, it’s also getting a later spring date -- Mother’s Day weekend -- in hopes that the weather will be more pleasant.
Kansas and Darlington Raceway will swap their spring dates in 2014, with Darlington moving from Mother’s Day weekend to Saturday night, April 12. The Darlington race remains a night race and would avoid a head-to-head television battle with The Masters.
The Kansas spring date will be on Saturday, May 10, the day before Mother’s Day. It will keep its traditional October date with its Chase race scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 5.
Darlington fans are no strangers to having their dates moved as their traditional Labor Day date was moved to California in 2004 and then Atlanta in 2010.
Officials at Kansas, whose seating capacity is 74,000 compared to Darlington’s 60,000 and which has a casino that overlooks the track, had been hoping for a night race since the installation of lights in 2011.
“Fans continually ask me about a night race and I know that we will have tremendous support from our fans throughout the Midwest for our first Sprint Cup Series night race,” Kansas Speedway president Pat Warren said.
NASCAR is expected to announce its full Sprint Cup schedule next week.
EARNHARDT: 500TH NO BIG DEAL
Dale Earnhardt Jr. will make his 500th career Sprint Cup start Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
That milestone indicates longevity but it’s not a big enough milestone to have Earnhardt thinking that the Bank of America 500 will be a race he will remember as a big deal unless he ends up in victory lane.
Earnhardt, 39, will start sixth in his 500th start, which ironically comes at the same track where he made his first Cup start May 30, 1999.
“It’s not that big of a milestone to me,” Earnhardt said. “I just hope I’m around for at least 250 or 500 more.”
That’s not to say that Earnhardt isn’t happy about making his 500th start. He has 19 career victories, 111 top-five and 199 top-10 finishes in his 499 starts.
Earnhardt, the son of a seven-time Cup champion who died in the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500, also has won 10 consecutive Most Popular Driver awards.
“It’s truly been a dream career for me and I never took it for granted that I would be driving racecars all my life and be able to make a living doing it,” Earnhardt said. “I’m real thankful and it makes me reflect on that kind of thing.”
In another “milestone,” Earnhardt turned 39 Thursday. He joked that he felt 20.
“It’s been great,” he said about his birthday. “Getting older is not awesome, but it’s all how you feel, I suppose.”
STEWART RELEASED
Tony Stewart was released from the hospital Thursday after having surgery on his broken right leg Monday morning.
Stewart was released three days after the surgery to examine and close a wound on his right shin.
His Stewart-Haas Racing team characterized the surgery as a “proactive measure” and would not impact his scheduled return for the start of the 2014 season.
The three-time Cup champion broke his leg Aug. 5 in a sprint-car crash at Southern Iowa Speedway. A torque tube, part of the driveshaft, pierced his right leg, breaking his tibia and fibula.
He had two surgeries in the week following the accident. The surgery Monday was the third on his right leg.
RCR PARTNERS WITH GERMAIN
Germain Racing will switch from Ford to Chevrolet in 2014 and have an alliance with Richard Childress Racing.
The partnership includes technology sharing, engineering and research and development for Germain, which will lease ECR Engines.
Germain Racing driver Casey Mears, who is signed along with sponsor Geico through 2015, is 23rd in the Cup standings and is a former RCR driver. RCR has announced two alliances for 2014 -- Furniture Row Racing and Germain -- and is expected to announce another with JTG Daugherty Racing, which is expected to make the switch from Toyota to Chevrolet.
DIABETIC TO RUN NATIONWIDE
Ryan Reed, a 20-year-old driver diagnosed two years ago with Type 1 diabetes, will drive a full Nationwide Series schedule for Roush Fenway Racing next season.
Reed will have sponsorship from Lilly through the American Diabetes Association Drive to Stop Diabetes campaign. He will drive the No. 16 car.
Reed had three Nationwide Series starts heading into the race Friday night at Charlotte. He finished ninth in the Richmond race in September driving for Roush.
Reed uses a sensor attached to his stomach to monitor his glucose levels during a race. He is expected to be the only Type 1 diabetic to compete full time in a NASCAR national series.
TWEETS OF THE DAY
What sports figures are cramming into 140 characters or less
“Lite-en up. It’s Friday.” — Brad Keselowski, schilling for sponsor Miller Lite
“Hate it when you wash your car. Go 5 mins down the road and the biggest bug in the world lands right in the middle of the windshield. #Bugs” – Austin Dillon, presumably talking about his passenger car
PHOTOS OF THE DAY
Something you don’t see everyday: Joe Nemechek fans.
Though NAPA is leaving the disgraced team after this season, Michael Waltrip is still hard at work for the sponsor:
This reporter for a high school newspaper got to interview “The King.”
WHAT WE’RE WATCHING
The Bank of America 500 (7:30 p.m., ABC) is the fifth race of the Chase and it is critical for several drivers, including the top five. Points leaders Matt Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick can’t afford a mistake with wild-card races coming up at Talladega and Martinsville, where anything can happen. All three have won Chase races and one of them could get a big boost with another win at Charlotte. Check out the favorites and our picks here.
Contributors: Bob Pockrass, Sporting News staff
