When Joey Logano applied learnings from the Matt Kenseth feud to diffuse Kyle Busch's fallout

Three-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion Joey Logano learned a valuable lesson from his 2015 feud with the JGR driver Matt Kenseth. Two years later, Logano applied his learnings from his clash with Kenseth to deal with his clash with then-JGR driver, Kyle Busch by communicating his side of the story.

During the final lap incident at the 2017 Las Vegas race, Busch threw a punch at Logano for knocking him out of the race. Joey Logano later called Busch and explained to him what happened during the final lap.

"At least tell him my side of the story. We’re going to have two sides to the story. Really the bottom line, we’re two passionate race car drivers. We’re two of the best in the sport that are going to go for wins and we collided. It’s tough. It’s going to happen. You want to get through it as quick as you can and try to talk it out. The bottom line is it wasn’t intentional, and we’re going to have to work through it somehow," Joey Logano said (via NBC Sports).

Martin Truex Jr. won the race and the Team Penske driver finished P5, bagging 39 points, whereas Kyle Busch finished in P30.

A year after the Kenseth-Logano feud, crew chief Todd Gordon discussed how lack of communication escalated the situation between the two drivers:

“I probably steered him (Logano) the wrong way on how we handled the Kansas incident. He asked me what I thought, and what we did and how we handled it. My impression (and) how I read the situation, I steered him the wrong way," Gordon said (via NBC Sports).

Joey Logano had wrecked Kenseth during the closing laps at the 2015 Kanas Speedway. The latter was in a do-or-die situation to secure a win to advance to the next round of the playoffs but Logano made contact with Kenseth and sent him spinning, ending his championship berth chances.

This resulted in growing tension between the two drivers, with Kenseth retaliating by making contact with Logano's car at the Martinsville Speedway, sending both cars into the walls and ending Logano's Championship Four run.

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"He's trying to take food off my plate": Joey Logano commented on his relationship with Kyle Busch

In 2023, Joey Logano sat down with Graham Bensginer to discuss his rivalry with the Richard Childress Racing driver Kyle Busch. The interviewer asked Logano what caused the tension between them, despite Logano attending Busch's wedding.

The Connecticut native said he doesn't share a bad relationship with the #8 Chevy Camaro ZL1 driver. However, Joey Logano pointed out that he tended to get selfish while on the track and saw Busch as a competitor.

"I want to be a nice person. I want to be somebody that makes people better for knowing me. I can flip the switch. He's [Busch] trying to take food off my plate, I'm trying to take food off his plate. That's just competition. He should hate me; I should hate him on the racetrack."

Logano later added that while he feels they should be able to get along off track, it seldom happens.