Harvick, Newman not particularly thrilled with Busch’s speeding

You knew this was coming. At Thursday's Coca-Cola 600 media sessions, Kevin Harvick offered a few perfunctory answers to perfunctory questions, and then the main event began: What, exactly, did he think of the fact that certain race car drivers might cross a line when they're driving on public roads?

"I think some people are their own worst enemy when it comes to being responsible as a person or as a business person or anything that comes with life's responsibilities," he said, obviously speaking of Kyle Busch. BoomRoasted.

Oh, but he wasn't done: "For me, they [his family and team, presumably] won't even let me drive down the highway because I drive five miles per hour over the speed limit, and it tends to take us a lot longer to get to places. Since I've been about 16 or 17 years old, I haven't been into really driving fast down the highway or anything reckless on the road. It's not really the place to do that."

He added that driving triple the speed limit "could put a lot of people in a bad situation."

Busch, who spoke immediately after Harvick, offered up a predictable comment: "I'm certainly sorry for my actions and for my lack of judgment," he said. "This is something that I can take and learn from and hopefully move forward and not let happen again."

Naturally, the speeding incident was quite the topic of discussion among other drivers. Dale Earnhardt Jr. offered a little candid admission: "Sometimes you go a little fast, even away from the race track, I guess. I've been guilty of the same thing myself, just been lucky enough not to get caught."

But did he get it up to 128? He's not certain. "I didn't know if we had enough straight road in North Carolina to get going that quick," he laughed, "but, apparently there is a piece somewhere."

On the other hand, Ryan Newman took the point of view of many NASCAR fans, when he noted that everyday folks might not have been so lucky to get away with their freedom. "Being professional race car drivers," Newman said, "we don't make stupid mistakes like that on the road."

As for Busch's apology, Newman said "it sounded like somebody else wrote it, not him." Yep, we'd buy that.

Clearly, this is a story that won't be going away anytime soon. Busch noted that penalties from Joe Gibbs Racing could be in the offing; yet to be determined is whether NASCAR will take independent action.

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