Amidst adversity, Busch hits back at Hamlin's criticisms

Times have been tough for Kyle Busch and Richard Childress Racing. But if you think you’re qualified to criticize the two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, he respectfully disagrees.

Busch became a point of conversation this week after last weekend’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway, where the 40-year-old found himself caught up in a two-accident day with 23XI Racing’s Riley Herbst. He paid the struggling sophomore back for an early spin in the closing laps, sending the race to overtime. It was the lowlight of a challenging day that saw Busch come home 25th, dropping him to 24th in the championship standings after eight races.

His former Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Denny Hamlin, gave a blunt assessment of Busch’s struggles in the Next Gen era on his Actions Detrimental podcast early in the week. He acknowledged that Busch is a “Hall of Fame, Mount Rushmore” driver, but acknowledged that he isn’t outperforming teammate Austin Dillon as expected and “doesn’t know how to consistently get speed out of the Nex Gen car.”

“This is just my opinion, and I can’t hold a helmet to Kyle Busch on talent, but I just think that this is not new,” Hamlin said. “He’s struggled for five years now so we just have to be honest about our expectations.

“If you’re expecting Kyle Busch to just go back to Victory Lane, you’re going to be very disappointed. I just think that until we change the car or something changes - something has to change, and I have no idea.

“I’m not in his shoes. I’m not his crew chief. I’m not his engineer and I’m not his team owner. I’m not in the weeds. I’m just a podcaster that happens to be on the race track around him, and I can say it’s not working. I don’t have the answers, and I think we have to live in this reality for the time being.”

Asked about Hamlin’s comments in a pre-qualifying media bullpen at Kansas Speedway, Busch had a simple request for Hamlin.

“If Denny wants to switch cars, I’ll switch cars with him,” Busch told The Athletic’s Jeff Gluck. “Any day of the week, any time. I would love for him to show me he can carry it better than I can.”

Asked if he sees the commentary on social media in a followup, Busch said he had “consumed some of it over time, and I’ve consumed that [in about] 80 percent of it, people don’t know what in 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."

“He can bash me all he wants,” Busch added. “I can certainly make his life hell.”