Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch tussled on the final lap of Stage 2 in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Gateway, causing a bit of a stir. Both past champs were cruising in the top 10 when they clashed. They each had their own take on the multiple bumps. Kyle Busch wasn’t too happy, questioning, “Not sure what that single point was really gonna mean for him, but certainly hurt us a lot,“ since the move did more harm than good. On the other hand, Larson shrugged it off a bit, saying, “Left (Turn) 4 to side-draft him and barely touched his quarter panel. I don’t know. I’m guessing it ticked him off.”

Denny Hamlin, however, pinned the blame squarely on Larson, suggesting the double-duty driving might be getting to him, sparking #8’s emotional reaction on the track once again.

Did Kyle Larson just step on Kyle Busch’s toes at the worst possible time?

Larson was edging to the left of Busch heading into Turn 1 when his #5 car suddenly went sideways. This slide sent him crashing into Busch, who then hit the outside SAFER barrier in Turn 2. The crash cut Busch’s day short after leading 15 laps, his first time in the lead since Kansas on May 5. Given that Busch hasn’t had many leads lately, losing this one to a tangle with Larson definitely rubbed him the wrong way.

Denny Hamlin shared his take on his podcast: “While this is all an opinion, I think that it’s pretty accurate that… he [Kyle Larson] pissed Kyle [Busch]off by running into him straight away. Kyle then turned left, while the #5 was beside him and wanted to show them. ‘Hey dude, like don’t. That’s bullsh*t. And then… They both crashed into the next corner. I mean that that was it. Bush’s day was over and Larson ended up 10. Bush got into the bad end of that deal.”

The JGR driver suggested that after Larson got doored entering the corner, he should’ve ideally thought, ‘Okay, I’m just gonna back up my entry here, make sure I don’t slide into #8 again after that initial move.‘ But he didn’t, and it seemed like the #8 left enough room. However, the #5 was so tight on him that it got loose, tapping the left rear of the left quarter panel again, and they both spun out. The #5 initiated the first contact, #8 the second, and #5 the third. Ultimately, “Bush had the most to lose and did lose the most. He didn’t want to get run into anymore.”

Before this, in the All-Star race, his run-in with Ricky Stenhouse Jr was kicked off by Stenhouse, and eventually, Busch just ran into his door on the second lap, which ended the #47’s race right there. The incident even escalated into a physical altercation. What Hamlin pointed out seems accurate: Busch isn’t looking to be everyone’s bumper car, especially now that he’s trying to keep his racing clean week after week. But everyone else seems to be taking advantage of that.

The retaliation from Busch could be seen as a build-up of frustration, but Hamlin thinks it’s more about Busch’s emotional response.

Denny Hamlin thinks #8 might be feeling a bit emotionally triggered

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Kyle Busch is a legend in NASCAR, topping the charts with 63 wins in the Cup series and ranking among the top-10 drivers with the most victories. Despite such an illustrious record, this season hasn’t been great for him, and it seems to be getting under his skin.

According to Denny Hamlin, Busch is feeling the pressure. He explained, “It’s just an emotion of- He’s spent the greater part of you know, 15. 16 years, just… Be in the man and dominating, you know. […] He’s one of the best that our sport has ever seen and now he’s in a situation where it’s like he’s not upfront every week anymore.”

“They’re battling. […] And Kyle is probably frustrated that I don’t have time to work on getting better at. I’m as good as I need to be and… I’m driving the cars as fast as they’ll go, but they’re not going.”What do you all think? Does that explanation by Hamlin sound about right?