Kyle Busch: 'Probably took way too much blame' for teammate's elimination

MIAMI BEACH — Kyle Busch initially took the blame for Matt Kenseth’s wreck at Phoenix International Raceway last week, but he later concluded he was “definitely hard on myself” after getting a chance to review the incident.

Kenseth, Busch’s teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing, had wrecked in overtime while leading the race when he cut down on Alex Bowman, who Busch had bumped from behind moments earlier. But Kenseth’s spotter Chris Osborne later took blame for clearing Kenseth which is what led to the crash.

Chase drivers' performance on 1.5-mile tracks could decide Sprint Cup title

“I feel like I had way less to do with it, yeah,” Busch said Thursday of his reaction after seeing the replay. “I thought when I got into Bowman, that shot him off into the corner and he cleaned Matt out like two lanes up the track, which wasn't the case.

“I probably took way too much blame, but I think there's still some blame for all of us to take. If you look what percentage of blame should be given to everybody, I think we all have a piece.”

James: And the winner of the 2016 Sprint Cup championship is ...

Busch said he exchanged texts with Kenseth this week (Busch was unable to attend the weekly JGR meeting due to his championship media obligations) and “it’s as good as it’s going to be right now with him still being rightfully upset with how it all went down.”

“I mean, he was what, 30 seconds away from taking the white (flag)?” Busch said. “That’s a pretty bummer situation.”

Follow Gluck on Twitter @jeff_gluck