After his landslide victory in Bristol, edging out his friend-turned-rival Kyle Larson of HMS, NASCAR’s newly proclaimed villain Denny Hamlin has developed a reputation for himself. Unlike his former JGR teammate Kyle Busch who switched sides to Richard Childress Racing, Hamlin is riding on a hot consistent streak, currently perched 2nd in the rankings compared to Busch who stands in the lowest (12th) rank.

Besides riding the hype train, Hamlin stole the 2-time Cup Series champion’s thunder, emerging as NASCAR’s new antagonist. In fact, he threw a straight right at the crowd in Bristol, brutally roasting the booing crowd.

While the “Rowdy” Busch has made a name for himself, racking up three wins in the regular season, the #8 RCR Chevy has lost its oomph. Struggling with his sub-par equipment, bad luck once again found its way to the “bad boy” as he wrecked out of the race early in Stage 1. As for his former JGR teammate, Hamlin barely avoided a Kyle Busch-like fate after a mishap with his teammate in pit lane.

Denny Hamlin slips a knockout blow, barely avoiding a Kyle Busch-like scenario

2023 started out strong for the former JGR driver, Busch. Unlike a dull season with his former team with just 1 to his name, Busch claimed 3 stellar wins in the halftime of the season to advance into the playoffs. But ever since his last win in Gateway a couple of months back, the #8 Chevy hasn’t been the same.

In fact, it looks like Busch is having battles on two fronts. One is his inadequate Chevy that at times even struggles to hold the line, the other being bad luck and unfortunate circumstances. While Rowdy’s fans were excited to see the driver ace the superspeedway in Talladega and WWT Raceway in Gateway, they certainly did not anticipate such a terrible and sudden turnaround. After his awful wreck in Texas last Sunday, Busch is now 61 points below the cutline in a precarious position.

On the other hand, Hamlin who got a hole on the right side of his Toyota thanks to his rookie teammate Ty Gibbs, barely dodged a bullet there, finishing in the top 5, avoiding his former teammate’s fate. Speaking on his popular Actions Detrimental podcast, Hamlin gave his take when his co-host Allen felt like the veteran too was going in that direction.

Hamlin said, “I mean you can look at it two ways, right? You can look at it in the sense of half full, half empty. Half full, it’s that we avoided one there, Ty (Gibbs) just got knocked out he hit a wheel and his race is over. Or you know we just got hit in the door while it affects us aero-wise. It didn’t hurt the chase so you kind of got away with one there.” 

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Kyle Busch’s agonizing streak continues as the driver’s Texas hopes turn into tragedy

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Hamlin and Busch are two unique personalities. While both are pretty brash, outspoken, and straight in your face, the numbers and statistics tell a very different story altogether. Unlike Busch who is right now caught in a rut, struggling to rack up a win to advance further to the next stage, Hamlin has found his rhythm.

Heading into the race at the intermediate track in Texas, Busch had the upper hand until the race. The young Busch has had four wins at the venue along with the RCR Chevy’s proven track record at the track (Tyler Reddick’s last season win). Looking to catch some wind in his sail, Busch set out for an adventure. Instead of catching the gust and getting forward, Busch was caught in a whirlwind when the #8 Chevy lost traction early in the race.

With just seven more laps to end Stage 1, the RCR Chevy hit the wall as it lost traction in the middle of turn 2. Battered by the impact, receiving the brunt force of the impact to the rear, fans knew the driver’s number was up as soon as the car hit the wall. But what enraged the community was his team’s ignorance. Even after relaying there was something wrong with the car, Busch was forced to stay in the race and asked to tough it out for another 14 laps till the stage ended.

Ending his day early, Busch said, “I’m at a loss for words, I don’t get it.” He further stated his disappointment saying, “I hate it for all my guys on our 3 Chi Chevrolet, the car was fast, I felt like it was going to be a good top-5, top-10 car for sure and nothing to show for it.”

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Busch is now 61 points below the cutline and desperately needs a win to keep his championship hopes alive. With the next race heading to Talladega where he kissed the gold earlier this summer, Busch certainly has a chance if not for another bad day at work.