Kyle Busch said on the eve of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway that there were ways he could respond to Denny Hamlin’s recent critiques by making “his life hell.”
Busch’s on-track actions in the late going of Sunday’s event might have been more heck than hell, but the torment was there.
Advertisement
Busch made his No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet a more difficult pass for Hamlin in Sunday’s AdventHealth 400, holding up his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota as he led eventual race winner Tyler Reddick down the stretch. Reddick eventually passed Hamlin, then surrendered the lead back to Hamlin before gaining the upper hand in NASCAR Overtime.
RELATED: Kansas race results | Cup Series standings
Busch appeared to make good on his promise with 27 laps to go in regulation as he rode last in the 37-car field, four laps down. With Hamlin approaching to place him another lap in arrears, Busch fought hard in a side-by-side battle for nearly a full lap instead of giving way to the race leader, costing him precious time as Reddick closed in.
No. 8 spotter Derek Kneeland seemed to acknowledge his driver’s intent and attempted to pacify Busch over the radio. “I hear it, but let’s be smart here,” Kneeland said as Hamlin’s faster car gradually drove by on the way to a fourth-place result.
Advertisement
Busch eventually finished four laps down in a season-worst 35th, prolonging his free fall to 27th in the Cup Series standings. Hamlin’s assessment of that decline in last week’s “Actions Detrimental” podcast was the crux of their Kansas disagreement.
“Things are not going well in the Kyle Busch camp,” Hamlin began before touching on Busch’s future with the Richard Childress-owned organization, his performance relative to teammate Austin Dillon, and how his struggles have dated back the last five years. “So we just have to be honest about our expectations,” Hamlin said, “and if you’re expecting Kyle Busch to just go back to Victory Lane on a regular basis, you are kidding yourselves, and you’re going to be very disappointed. I just think that until we change cars or something changes, something has to change. I don’t know what.”
Hamlin couched his remarks by lauding Busch as a “Hall of Fame Mount Rushmore driver” and saying, “Man, I hate seeing it, because Kyle is a competitor who hates losing.” He doubled down on that notion in Sunday’s FOX Sports pre-race broadcast, adding that he was rooting for him to turn it around.
Busch, however, responded to the podcast commentary before Saturday’s practice at Kansas: “If Denny wants to switch cars, I’ll switch cars with him any day of the week, anytime. I would love for him to show me that he can carry it better than I can.”
Read the full article here
