- Busch takes a jab at Hamlin over comments the JGR driver made on his podcast.
- He then goes on to reveal his complete list of NASCAR drivers he now dislikes.
- Hamlin addressed issue on his latest podcast episode, taking a subtle approach.
A few months ago, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin shared the same space on Hamlin’s Actions Detrimental podcast, trading notes on the state of NASCAR.
In that conversation, Hamlin went as far as to credit Busch for teaching him how to navigate intermediate tracks. Fast forward to the present, and the same platform has turned into a spark plug, lighting a fuse between the two former teammates.
The latest turn in that back-and-forth came when Busch appeared on Hang Out with Sean Hannity, where he did not mince words while addressing Hamlin.
Busch says there has been no direct conversation with Hamlin
The tension traces back to remarks made by Hamlin, who suggested that Busch might be among those drivers whose edge is slipping, hinting that age may be catching up. The irony is that Hamlin himself is 45, but continues to win and contend, while Kyle Busch, at 40, finds himself under the microscope.
Busch did not take kindly to the suggestion and made that clear ahead of the Kansas race. He carried that stance into his appearance with Sean Hannity, where he said, “Denny Hamlin, I think, is the oldest on the tour. He’s either 45 or 44. Well, because he’s with Joe Gibbs Racing, and he’s with Toyota, and he’s the winning driver there right now. So he’s me. He took over my role.”
When Hannity floated the idea that the shift might ease the burden of being cast as the villain, given that Hamlin has taken over the title now, Busch leaned into it. “Yeah, I passed it over to him. I gave him the playbook.”
Pressed on whether the two had spoken directly, Busch clarified that there had been little contact. “Not a whole lot. No, I haven’t talked to him a whole lot.”
He also acknowledged a few on-track run-ins with the No. 11 driver, but the real sting came from Hamlin’s words off the track. Busch said, “He’s got his own podcast, and he’s been running his mouth lately, so he might get run into it. He’s been telling me that I’m washed up and I can’t drive anymore. Yeah.”
Busch names drivers he does not see eye to eye with. Is Hamlin among them?
If there was any doubt about where Kyle Busch draws the line, his remarks on Hannity’s show cleared that up as well. In his view, a driver he wants to beat is not a friend. While he remains on civil terms with a few he grew up racing against, there are others he would rather not engage with at all.
Naming names who he clearly does not like at all, Busch said, “(Joey) Logano’s on it. And Brad (Brad) Keselowski, he was on it really hard and heavy a few years ago. Him and I got into a few battles, probably some of the YouTube videos you’ve pulled up and watched.
“(Carson) Hocevar, probably another one that I just don’t see. Yeah, I just don’t see eye to eye with those guys. You know, they’ve got different ways of how they go about their business versus what I do. And I just don’t like it.”
When Hannity suggested that the feeling might be mutual, given Busch’s style behind the wheel, Busch did not dispute it. He pointed out that those drivers are cut from the same cloth, and when two aggressive drivers race side by side, space becomes a battleground. At times, that fight spills over into contact, and from there, rivalries take on a life of their own.
How did the Hamlin-Busch flashpoint take shape?
At the heart of the issue lies Busch’s slump, one that has stretched across three seasons. Despite knocking on the door more than once, he has not returned to Victory Lane, with the drought now past 100 races. That was the backdrop when Hamlin addressed Kyle Busch’s situation on Actions Detrimental, and it struck a nerve.
During a media scrum ahead of the Kansas race, Busch fired back in no uncertain terms. “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… People don’t know what the hell they’re talking about. And in this instance, I don’t feel like Denny 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.”
Hamlin, for his part, did not let the remark sit idle. He reshared the clip on X and responded with a mix of defense and disbelief. “Not really sure what I’m supposed to do. I host a podcast, and I have to answer questions about relevant topics. Should I just say I dunno, everything seems fine to me? Not sure where he felt I ‘bashed’. I’m walking a damn tight rope here.”
The exchange traces back to Hamlin’s original stance on the podcast. While he acknowledged Busch as one of the sport’s all-time greats, he argued that reputation must be backed by results, especially within the same team. In his view, Busch needs to put distance between himself and teammate Austin Dillon if the claim is that Richard Childress Racing equipment is the limiting factor.
‘Where’s Busch gonna go?’
Hamlin also pointed to a shift across the sport. With parity tightening the field, the margin for error has shrunk, leaving drivers exposed without the cushion of machinery. Performance now rests on execution, race after race. In that light, Busch’s downturn is not a sudden dip but part of a longer trend.
As Hamlin put it, “This is not new news… this has been like this for five years. We have to have an honest conversation at some point.” He then raised the question that now hangs over Busch’s future. “Where’s he gonna go?” At 40, and without results to match his past run, the road ahead is no longer clear. Top teams have their lineups in place, and the market shows little patience for sentiment.
On the latest episode of Actions Detrimental, Denny Hamlin chose to steer clear of pouring fuel on the fire. Instead of revisiting the back-and-forth, he kept his comments measured, pointing to the reality of Kyle Busch’s current run. Hamlin noted that, given the form Busch finds himself in, it may be a hard sell for fans to stay on board, with a slump and a winless stretch casting a long shadow.
Even so, the tone was not all edge. When word came in that Busch had finished P35, Hamlin seemed pretty disappointed, as “Damn” and “Son of a gun” almost instantly came out of his mouth. Yet, in the same breath, he indicated where he stood in that moment. “Let’s go No. 8,” Hamlin said, backing Busch despite the results that continue to slip through his fingers.
