Oh look, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch keep talking about each other.
Where is that eating-popcorn emoji when you need it?
Busch’s season is on a skid. He sits 27th in the Cup standings and his status as a free agent after this year is questionable. So it’s no surprise that the talk about the future of the two-time Cup champion is a hot topic.
Hamlin talked about Busch at length on his “Actions Detrimental” podcast on April 13. Busch then reacted during his media scrum Saturday at Kansas. Hamlin, on the FOX pre-race show, addressed those comments last Sunday.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver is a former Busch teammate, as Busch drove 15 seasons for JGR. Hamlin pretty much avoided the topic on his podcast on Monday. But Busch was on Sean Hannity’s “Hang Out With Sean Hannity” podcast this week talking even more about Hamlin.
Among the initial comments from Hamlin were him calling out Busch’s performance, even comparing it to Busch’s RCR teammate Austin Dillon — who is 25th in the standings.
“Clearly, RCR is not good right now. But you’re a Hall of Fame, Mount Rushmore driver. Carry it better than your teammate then. If you’re the greatest, then carry it better than your teammate who’s won 10 races [in his career]. Find a way. I think that that’s what he should be able to do. But it’s not happening. It’s time to be honest about what’s going on. I think he’s searching. I think that he doesn’t know how to get the speed out of the Next Gen car on a consistent basis.”
Kyle Busch is on a losing skid.
The drivers certainly have had their run-ins, but there had been mutual respect between the two. Hamlin, who has 61 career Cup wins and sits two victories behind Busch, said, “I can’t hold the guy’s helmet talent-wise.” And few would think that Busch is happy about getting outrun by Hamlin — especially considering Hamlin was able to stay at JGR but Busch couldn’t get a deal done to remain with the team after M&M’s left following the 2022 season.
“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 he can carry it better than I can,” Busch told The Athletic’s Jeff Gluck on Saturday at Kansas.
“In this instance, I don’t feel like Denny Hamlin even knows what he’s talking about. He can bash me all he wants, and I can certainly make his life hell.”
Hamlin was asked on the FOX pre-race show on Sunday about giving his opinion on his podcast while knowing there could be retribution for it.
“I felt like I was being gentle in trying to share the blame all around because I think there’s enough to go around,” Hamlin said. “I know this: I was teammates with Kyle Busch. And I know he taught me by far more than any teammate I ever was with.
Denny Hamlin has been openly critical of Kyle Busch recently.
“The reason I’m decent on these mile-and-a-halfs is because of Kyle Busch. I know what he’s capable of, and I know he’s not loving where he’s at because he is a tough competitor. I am rooting for him because the sport needs the old Kyle Busch.”
Busch, on Hannity’s show, said he doesn’t talk to Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Carson Hocevar. And then he was asked about Hamlin.
“He has got his own podcast, and he’s been running his mouth lately. So he might get run into again soon,” Busch told Hannity.
“He’s been telling me that I’m washed up and I can’t drive anymore … He wants to say I can’t drive this new Next Gen race car, and I’m falling behind and I’m slow and whatever — old-man syndrome.”
Both Busch and Hamlin said over the last couple of weeks that the bigger teams were able to separate themselves from RCR since the introduction of the Next Gen car. RCR was initially strong, Busch said on the Hannity show, because it played a pivotal role in the development of the car.
Happier days when Busch (No. 18) and Hamlin (No. 11) raced as teammates.
He also said after his third win for the team in 2023, that NASCAR saw something in the gray area that RCR was doing that it didn’t like and told the team it wouldn’t be allowed at future races.
“[RCR] were ahead of the game. They were ahead of everybody else [in 2022],” Busch explained. “As everybody has learned this car, the little tricks of the trade, the little things that you’ve got to do, now the Gibbs and Penskes and the Hendricks have got it all figured out. And they are the top teams and we haven’t really come up with any more advancements to it.
“And so we’ve fallen behind.”
On his podcast, Hamlin addressed the Busch situation briefly, as his producers were asking him who is the hardest driver to root for right now. They laughed, knowing that it was a way to talk about Busch.
“I was as gentle as I felt like I should have been. … I’m rooting for him,” Hamlin said, before referring to Busch by his car number. “Let’s go 8.”
