Elliott keen to move on from Busch clash

Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott have talked since their contact in Wednesday night’s race at Darlington, and Elliott doesn’t regret his reaction.

With 28 laps to go, Busch spun Elliott down the frontstretch in a battle for the second position. Elliott promptly climbed from his mangled Chevrolet and gave Busch the middle finger as he drove by under caution.

“No, no regrets,” said Elliott on Friday. "I thought it was warranted, and I thought he was deserving.”

Busch took full responsibility for the accident, telling Elliott’s crew chief Alan Gustafson and the media that he simply misjudged the gap when getting into Elliott’s left rear quarter panel. Busch said that his conversation with Gustafson went well.

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“He’s a class act, we’ve all seen that,” said Busch. “Conversation overall was good.”

NASCAR has said it will not fine Elliott for his actions. The accident ended the race as it started raining under caution. Busch finished second, and Elliott was scored 38th.

“I don’t think he wrecked me on purpose,” Elliott said. “I think that he was trying to make a spot that wasn’t there, and much like I told him, I get that mistakes happen and that’s a part of life, and I get it, he’s just not a guy that makes many mistakes. For me to be on the poor end of a rare mistake on his end, at the end of the day, [is] unfortunate for me and my team.”

Both Busch and Elliott acknowledged they have never had issues with each other before. When asked if he would retaliate against Busch, or if it was over, Elliott said that he simply wants to win races for his Hendrick Motorsports team.

“I want nothing more than to go and run well and try to put ourselves in position to win a lot of races, and we’ve been lucky to have been in few positions this year,” said Elliott. “We’re fast enough to win, just hasn’t worked out. I’m hopeful our day will come.

“The whole reason Wednesday was as unfortunate as it was is because we were all battling for a win. Nobody is perfect; I get that. Everybody makes mistakes. I’m sure I’ll make plenty of mistakes as time goes on. I get it. I just hate that I was on the wrong end of a rare one on his end.”