For years, Kyle Busch was winning roughly 20 races a year across all three NASCAR touring divisions, ribbing fans in the process, and doing it all while being unapologetically himself.
He would bow to the crowds and get booed, and then wipe his cheeks, indicating to those jeering him that they were crying.
He was the villain, and now Denny Hamlin of the ‘I just beat your favorite driver, all of them,’ catchphrase is that villain, both drivers admitted during a Monday appearance on the Actions Detrimental podcast.
“Way to go, buddy. Way to go,” Busch said.
The thing is, Busch is no longer winning with the regularity that allows him to jab the fans, and in some ways, Busch has become a fan favorite in the face of adversity driving for Richard Childress Racing.
Carl Edwards even expressed surprise to both of them that their roles have flipped at a recent event.
“When you can be winning, when you can have the clout to be able to back up what you say, you can do it all. You can act a fool all you want because you can back it up,” Busch said. “I have nothing to back it up right now, so I had to put the black hat on the shelf and pull out the white one.”
Hamlin also thinks Busch, who just turned 40, is showing fans a different side of himself these days, especially through fatherhood and guiding son Brexton towards a NASCAR career.
“I think fans are seeing you — especially as a dad — for how you truly are,” Hamlin told Busch. “Sometimes, I thought when you were younger, your fiercest rival was yourself because you were so intense, that people would read that into that’s not really how Kyle is as a person, that’s who he is as a racer. That’s in the ring. You can do that when you do the things he does behind the wheel.”
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