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Dale Earnhardt Jr. (88) spins out after making contact with Kyle Busch (18) during the Crown Royal Presents the Dan Lowry 400 at Richmond International Raceway on Sunday, May 4.

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Deal or no deal?

One of the greatest concepts in motorsports is “the racing deal.”

That’s the catchall explanation for something that happens that is not intentional or the fault of any one driver.

Racing deals often happen when two cars are racing side-by-side, or vying for the same position on the track. Maybe one driver goes a little high, one a little low … or one lifts too early or too late … one gets loose, etc.

The end result is all too often one, or both, cars wrecking.

Afterwards both drivers will explain what they saw and what they did, what they think the other driver did or could have done, and then chalk it up to being — yes indeed — a racing deal.

It’s not limited to big-time racing, either. You’re as likely to hear the term used at Evergreen Speedway as you are at Daytona.

In fact, I wish we could expand the concept to everyday life and not just the track.

The next time my editor confronts me because someone complained about a misspelled name or that I mis-quoted them, I would like to be able to give the following reply:

“Well, Kevin, you know that was just a journalism deal. The Herald notepad and pencil were working real good — and the supply folks made me better all day by getting those mechanical pencils I like — and I thought I had a good chance at making the front page.

But while I was doing the interview both the driver and I were distracted by another late-model revving up and at the same time I had to click the pencil for more lead … I suppose I could’ve asked them to repeat or they could’ve slowed down when they saw me clicking away. But that’s not how it went down.

It was just a journalism deal.”

Anyway, you know where this is going, right?

In my opinion, the incident between Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr. near the end of the Sprint Cup Dan Lowry 400 on Sunday was — you guessed it — a racing deal.

Both were trying hard to win. Busch got a little loose under Junior, who maybe came down a little far (although let’s face it, side and rear vision is limited, and Fox didn’t let us hear what the spotter may or may not have said) and Junior ended up in the wall.

Busch was not trying to dump Junior, and Junior wasn’t trying to squeeze Busch. Both were trying to win (and anyone who saw Junior’s post-race interview on TV could see he really, really wanted to snap that winless drought).

A racing deal.

I will add that the only reason Busch was running for the win was because his teammate, Denny Hamlin, lost a tire after leading nearly the entire race to that point.

I think Busch would have been very content to finish as runner-up to Hamlin. Busch knew how much Hamlin wanted to win in Richmond — Hamlin’s home track — and so he played the good teammate and rode shotgun for a good part of the race.

There was one point where Busch seemed to challenge Hamlin, but I think that was more about Busch seeing how good the No. 18 was, or maybe he was trying to get extra points for leading a lap. But I don’t think there is any way in the world Busch would have tried to steal the win from Hamlin as long as Hamlin could contend.

That’s just another sign of how comfortable and happy Busch is at Joe Gibbs Racing. Let’s face it, a 1-2 finish for JGR at Richmond would’ve been a good deal, and Hamlin joining Busch with two sets of winners’ points for the Chase would be, too.

By the way, the late-race incident between Casey Mears and Michael Waltrip? Well, that was a racing deal that turned into something else entirely.

Waltrip had just pitted and put on new tires and Mears drifted up and into him, putting Waltrip into the wall (which he’d done to himself quite a bit, by the way).

Waltrip responded by ramming into the back of Mears’ car and NASCAR responded to that by parking Waltrip.

Now, you may ask, what did I think of the incident between Busch and Steven Wallace in Friday’s Nationwide race?

A racing deal — what else? Both were running hard for the front and Wallace got just a little too anxious and hit Busch.

It could’ve turned into something just like Waltrip-Mears deal. Busch said after the race (click here) that he was going to spin Wallace, but Wallace did the smart thing and moved aside to let him by.

Too bad Wallace didn’t keep making the right decisions.

Later when Busch walked up to Wallace’s’ car in the pits and tried to play the elder statesman by giving Wallace some “advice,” the younger driver should have sat and taken it. Instead, young Wallace grabbed Busch’s helmet and — viola — we have a rivalry.

One thing is for sure. There's another "racing deal" in the future for those two.