Kyle Busch felt robbed. The Richard Childress Racing driver was on the verge of breaking his 57-race winless streak at the Daytona 500, which would have been his first triumph in the crown-jewel event in 20 years. However, fate hate other plans, as the No. 8 Chevy driver was involved in a multi-car wreck with just 15 laps to go, forcing his damaged vehicle to go in for repairs. To make matters worse, NASCAR’s new Damage Vehicle Policy (DVP) kicked in, forcing ‘Rowdy’ to park his car and settle for a 34th-place result.

It was far from the result Busch wanted, and the 39-year-old didn’t hesitate to let his displeasure known on social media. However, Denny Hamlin expressed his disagreement with the two-time Cup Series winner after speaking to Elton Sawyer, senior Vice President of competition of NASCAR.

Denny Hamlin consults Elton Sawyer for DVP clarity

Kyle Busch was on the verge of emulating Dale Earnhardt Sr. ‘The Intimidator’  won his first Daytona 500 in 1998, twenty years after making his Cup Series debut. ‘Rowdy’ found himself in a similar situation ahead of the 2025 season-opener, and was determined to let his run of bad luck end at ‘The Grea American Race’. However, Joey Logano’s aggressive move on Lap 186 resulted in a crash, and the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevy was not allowed to continue after the race. Disgruntled by the outcome, the racer tweeted, “Parked by @nascar officials. The rule says you have 3 attempts to make minimum speed. The race never went back green yet. I don’t even think they know their own rules or procedures.”

However, Denny Hamlin didn’t agree with Busch’s assessment of the situation. Sharing his thoughts on the Actions Detrimental podcast, the veteran driver said, “I have to disagree with Kyle here. You guys know I called Elton Sawyer because any time you have these controversial things — I appreciate Elton taking my call this morning. I wanted to be educated on this whole Kyle situation. Kyle was incorrect in saying you get three attempts to make speed. That is not the case.”

Despite avoiding significant damage, Busch’s Chevy had four flat tires, prompting a race official to use the air jack system. However, for reasons not known at the moment, air couldn’t be filled in the tires, forcing the vehicle to be towed into the work area instead of the garage, where the No. 8 team replaced all the tires. According to Hamlin, since Kyle Busch’s seven-minute DVP lapsed on the track, any repair after the car was released from the garage was considered invalid. That’s why the sanctioning body did not allow the 39-year-old to resume the race.

Clarifying the rules, Hamlin went on to say, “I think Kyle was just a little mixed up on the rules there. … To me, it’s pretty simple that when you go to the garage and you come back out, it has to be right. That’s why they give you as much time as you need to fix it.” It was a sad end to Kyle Busch’s race, who will now shift his attention to the 2025 AmBetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway to turn his winless streak around. Rowdy narrowly missed out on victory at the track last year. Could lady luck be on his side this time around? Time will tell.

Kyle Busch criticizes Logano for ending his race

Kyle Busch was looking good. With just 14 laps remaining at Daytona International Speedway, the Richard Childress Racing driver was steadily closing into the top spots to challenge for the lead and potentially snatch a win. After a frustrating 2024, the No. 8 Chevy finally looked like a car capable of competing against the heavyweights, and ‘Rowdy’ was eager to take advantage of the situation. However, that’s where it all went wrong.

Logano, who had led 49 laps in the Daytona 500 tried using the middle lane to squeeze past Ricky Stenhouse Jr. In the blink of an eye, the Hyak Motorsports driver and the reigning Cup Series champion collided, catching Kyle Busch in the crossfire. Sharing his thoughts after the race, the 39-year-old racer said, “It looks like the fastest car got in a hurry to get to the wreck. Logano was by far the fastest car today. He could about do anything. The Penske cars were very strong. With a few laps to go, he’s trying to make a hole through the middle that wasn’t there and created chaos.”

As things stand, Busch is 0-20 in securing race wins at the Daytona 500 and will need to wait another year to turn that unflattering record around. The Nevada native has been busy plying his trade in other motorsports disciplines during the offseason and was hoping to hit the ground in the Cup Series. While the result at the season-opener didn’t go according to plan, the season has just begun for the two-time Cup Series star to change his difficult circumstances around.