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Kyle Busch talked to Chase Elliott after Coke 600 to tell him he could relate to losing a race in tough fashion

Kyle Busch wanted Chase Elliott to know that he’s gone through what Elliott experienced on Sunday night.

Busch had a post-race conversation with Elliott after Brad Keselowski won the Coca-Cola 600. Elliott could have, and arguably, should have been the driver in victory lane. But he ended up finishing second after he pitted from the lead following teammate William Byron’s spin with just over two laps to go.

“Just that I’ve been in that situation way too many times,” Busch said after winning Monday night’s Xfinity Series race. “I felt bad for him and obviously through everything that happened the week before and how bad that situation was, him and I both felt that there’s a heck of a lot of different ways to lose these things and disappointment — he’s taking it a heck of a lot better than I ever have. I certainly was not very good at disappointing races. He’s doing good and I just told him to keep [moving] forward and he’ll get the next one.”

Busch and Elliott have been frequent talkers over the past week. Elliott went spinning off Busch’s bumper on Wednesday night at Darlington as the two were racing for second (and a possible win) late in the race. After Elliott flipped him off when he exited his car, Busch admitted after the race that he made a mistake and discussed the crash after the race with both Elliott and his crew chief Alan Gustafson.

Sunday night, Elliott had a two-second lead over Keselowski when Byron caused the caution. As clean air ruled the night — nearly any driver who got the lead was hard to pass — Gustafson brought Elliott to pit road for fresh tires for the final two laps.

“When you are leading the race like that, people behind you are going to do the exact opposite of what you do,” Elliott said Sunday night.

“That was the situation we were put in. [Gustafson] made the decision, we stuck with it, and it didn't work out.”

Had Elliott stayed out on the track he would have kept the lead. And with the benefit of hindsight it’s hard to see that everyone else would have pitted. Eight cars, including Keselowski, stayed out on track. Elliott restarted 11th. And he couldn’t get close to the lead over the final two laps as Keselowski held off Jimmie Johnson for the win and Elliott crossed the finish line third.

Elliott was bumped to second after the race when Johnson was disqualified because his car failed post-race inspection.

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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.

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