Kyle Busch blames Goodyear for Daytona crash

Goodyear found itself on the defensive when Kyle Busch, who was understandably upset when he wrecked out of the 59th annual Daytona 500, took his frustrations out on the tire manufacturer and its product after his crash.

Busch spun on his own entering Turn 3 on Lap 106, collecting his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Matt Kenseth, Erik Jones and Ty Dillon. He said he had no indication a tire was going down, otherwise he would have given those behind him a warning.

"But it happened just as soon as we started picking up load into Turn 3," Busch said. "Just spun around, and you know it actually felt like I hung onto it for a long way and then finally [the tire] went. I don't know if it was the left rear that went down or the rear that went down, but man, tore up three JGR cars in one hit and also [Dale Earnhardt Jr.). So, I feel bad, horrible, for those guys, but man, nothing that we did wrong.

"You know obviously, Goodyear tires just aren't very good at holding air. It's very frustrating when we have that down here every single year we've been here. Last year [in the July race] we had it as well. It wrecked us in practice and tore up a car – a few cars actually were in that."

Goodyear responded that its tires do hold air until something hits them.

Goodyear director of racing Greg Stucker said it was inconclusive at this point which tire might have been the problem. Looking things over in the garage, Stucker said there is evidence of an impact on the right rear, which the company plans on investigating further once taken back to Goodyear headquarters in Akron, Ohio.

"There's also damage on the left rear, which we feel could have contributed, but again, until you know exactly what it looks like inside [the tire], it's tough to say for sure," Stucker said.

"But certainly, both tires were completely intact with regard to components or any obvious issues that we feel could have led to any sort of premature air loss. It was obviously an outside impact or source that created it; we just don't know exactly what yet and which tire."

The only issues Goodyear has seen during Daytona Speedweeks is from fender rubs and flat-spotted tires from drivers aggressively maneuvering to make it onto pit road.

"[Busch] obviously just reacted," Stucker said. "Didn't have all the facts and that's what we're going to try and do, make sure we have all the facts and give them a good answer so the team knows how to react and can move forward."

Busch had led three times for 18 laps before the accident. In his 11 preview Daytona 500s, Busch's best finish was third last season.

"This M&M's Camry through, we were just bidding our time, playing it out, trying to see what the strategies were going to do at the segments," Busch said. "Thankfully, we have I guess a segment point out of this day. That's a positive. But man, you're trying to win the Daytona 500 here, you know? It's just so disappointing."