Johnson calls Kurt Busch a crybaby and smartass

Kurt Busch thought it was just hard racing. Jimmie Johnson thought it was unnecessary. But both of them can agree on one thing: They don’t like each other, and even less after they traded side-swipes on the final lap of the Good Sam 500 at Pocono Raceway. Busch won the battle by finishing third, a spot ahead of Johnson.

“If a five-time champion doesn’t know how to race, forgive me," Busch said about Johnson. “I was racing hard."

This is not the first incident between the two drivers, who have a long history of run-ins, including at Pocono last year and then in 2009 at Infineon Raceway and Chicagoland Speedway.

“He’s a big crybaby and wants to take shots at me when he can," Johnson said. “He’s good for running his mouth. He can keep running it. I’ll shut it for him."

Because of their history, Johnson said he went over to confront Busch after the race. Their heated exchange lasted for about a minute while Busch was inside his car and about another minute after Busch got out of his car.

“I should just pull over?" Busch yelled at Johnson. “You came down and you jerked me … What about last year when you pushed me off the grass?"

As Johnson walked away, Busch screamed: “You can’t stand losing can you?"

Johnson: “No I can’t."

Busch: “Neither can I."

Johnson: “I raced you clean all day long. All day long."

Busch: “I raced you clean, too. It’s OK to race every now and then."

Neither driver believed he did anything wrong late in the race.

“He’s pretty much a smartass and wants to run his mouth so I had to go over there and say something," Johnson said.

Busch said he has no regrets with the way he raced Johnson.

“I didn’t know we were supposed to pull over when it came down to five to go," Busch said. “I raced him hard. I raced him smart. I raced him clean. And he wants to come over here and bitch about it."

“He came off the turn and did a jab to me left; I did a jab back to the right. It was as clean as I’ve ever seen it. Why can’t we race like this and put on a show for the fans and not have a problem with it."

Johnson had a problem because he felt he had treated Busch with respect.

“I took a lot of patience and gave him a lot of courtesy throughout the course of the day running him down," Johnson said. “I could have run into him, I could have moved him a lot of different ways to get that position. But I didn’t.

“I went down there and passed him and off of 2, he ran me up into the wall, or tried to, and I held my ground so I wouldn’t get smashed in the fence."

Johnson agreed with Busch’s assessment that he can’t stand getting beat.

“I hate losing," Johnson said. “But that wasn’t the deal today. That wasn’t it. I spent an entire fuel run working by him and got by him and he runs into me off the corner. … I had a few chances to play dirty and I didn’t."

Busch did not believe Johnson raced dirty, he was just miffed that Johnson was angry about their on-track exchange.

“We were racing hard," Busch said. “I think that's what we saw on TV and exactly that's what should be reported. There are a lot of times when the 22 is on the short end of the stick of the 48.

“And I raced him hard today. I'm glad I did. I have no regrets in it. … Just accept it. It was great racing."

But Busch also wants Johnson to accept that he started it.

“If we watch the tape, we'll see that the 48 swerved into us first and I know that before even watching the tape," Busch said. [URL :SceneDaily.com]http://www.scenedaily.com/news/articles/sprintcupseries/Jimmie_Johnson_calls_Kurt_Busch_a_crybaby_smartass_following_last-lap_tangle_at_Pocono.html[/URL]