Unlike the good old days, modern NASCAR simply doesn’t have a great rivalry. But all of that could be about to change as two of the sport’s most popular, accomplished, and outspoken drivers might lock horns. Because Kyle Busch vs. Denny Hamlin could soon go from being a purist’s fantasy to a reality.
Kyle Busch fires back at Hamlin’s comments ahead of Kansas
Following Denny Hamlin’s scathing criticism of Kyle Busch‘s current state at RCR and his results, the #8 driver replied to his former teammate. Ahead of the Cup race at Kansas this Sunday, Busch was confronted with Hamlin’s comments on his podcast, to which Rowdy replied, “If Denny wants to switch cars, I’ll switch cars with him any day of the week, any time. I would love for him to show me that he can carry it better than I can.”
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The #8 driver was then asked if he checks or pays attention to the social media discourse about him, to which Busch claimed he has consumed some of it over time. And in doing so, he has reached a conclusion, and he didn’t spare Denny Hamlin in that response either.
“People don’t know what the hell they’re talking about. And in this instance, I don’t feel like Danny Hamlin even knows what the hell he’s talking about. So he can bash me all he wants, and I can certainly make his life hell,” Busch claimed.
Now, whether Busch makes Hamlin’s life ‘hell’ as he claimed is something worth seeing. But it is true that someone who isn’t in RCR or even in the Chevy camp like Hamlin would know what is going on in the #8 team that they’re struggling so much.
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But for now, the facts are that Kyle Busch is going through the driest and most difficult phase of his career so far. After all, it’s been three years and over 100 races since he last went to victory lane. This year, he has not finished inside the top 10, and his last four results have been outside the top 20.
Busch’s last win was at Gateway in 2023, his first season with RCR, when he won three races. A year before that, in his last season with JGR and the first year of Next Gen, Busch also managed just one win. In many ways, he simply hasn’t tasted success in the Next Gen era as he did in the previous cars.
And that was the central point of Hamlin’s analysis of Busch’s struggles at present.
Denny Hamlin doesn’t think Busch has adapted well to the Next Gen
Speaking on Actions Detrimental earlier this week, the #11 driver said, “We keep talking about this but the last couple of years was not good; it’s been like this for five years. You’re a Hall of Fame Mount Rushmore driver and if you’re of the greatest, then carry better than your teammate that’s only won 10 races. I think he should be able to do that but it’s not happening.”
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To Hamlin’s point, Austin Dillon, a driver with significantly less experience and success than Busch, has finished better than his teammate in the same equipment. In the last two seasons, Dillon managed to win a race each year but Busch simply couldn’t.
But Hamlin also claimed that expecting Kyle Busch to be in the victory lane, given his current form isn’t smart. But the JGR veteran, too, didn’t have any answers to what Busch needs to turn the page.
All he knew was that he didn’t like seeing one of NASCAR’s most popular and polarizing drivers struggle.
But clearly, his concern and comments have irked his former teammate. And if history suggests anything, it is that Denny Hamlin likes to respond.
So it’ll be interesting to see what the JGR veteran has to say now to Busch’s challenge.
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