The history between Denny Hamlin and Ross Chastain is common knowledge among NASCAR fans and even though they have spoken about their issues, the Joe Gibbs Racing star did not hesitate to use him as an example to elevate Kyle Busch as a driver. On a recent episode of the Actions Detrimental podcast, Hamlin said he believes that Rowdy is the cleanest driver in the Cup Series despite being the most aggressive, a quality that Chastain and himself are yet to develop.
Denny Hamlin is in awe of how Kyle Busch manages his aggression
The conversation began with Hamlin’s co-host Jared Allen bringing up the incident between Busch and Christopher Bell. While a lot of people slammed the Richard Childress Racing driver for being out of line when he confronted Bell, the driver of the #11 car understood his former teammate’s stance. One can be aggressive and clean at the same time, just as Rowdy is today, and he probably expects other racers to have a similar level of skill.
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Hamlin said, “I think that Kyle, whilst one of the most aggressive racers in the Series is by far one of the cleanest. By far. I don’t know how he balances his aggression level and not get into people. That’s a special skill that you can have. You see others, not to pick on anyone in particular but like Ross Chastain. He is really aggressive but he makes mistakes in his aggression and runs in and he’ll hit you. I do it as well too. But Kyle is able to be really aggressive and still keep his car in control and not run into whoever he’s racing with really hard. That’s what impresses me the most out of Kyle”.
It may sound like he is taking his former teammate’s side over his current but Denny Hamlin had words of praise for Christopher Bell as well, especially about the way the driver of the #20 handled that whole pit road altercation with Rowdy.
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Kyle Busch can be a pretty intimidating figure and not because of how aggressive he used to be. He is a multi-time Cup Series champion and one of the most senior members in NASCAR today. So when he speaks, you listen. That’s exactly what Christopher Bell did and was called all sorts of things by fans who felt that his character was weak. Denny Hamlin was having none of that.
“People were like, ‘Aww he looks terrified’. I’m like, no, that’s just Christopher Bell listening. I’ve been in those kinda interactions with Christopher Bell, and I thought he was just being very respectful and taking it…He might have a different opinion, but I think he has at least given Kyle the respect to let him vent to him face to face,” he said.
“If you’re Kyle Busch, I understand the frustration for sure. If you’re Christopher Bell, I think he’s earned that he’s not a dirty racer. Was that a mistake? Sure, but certainly unintentional…I think Christopher Bell has been clean enough like you can be upset with him. That’s okay, but also you know it’s not intentional by any means,” the Joe Gibbs Racing star added.
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Hamlin can be a lot of things but he fiercely stands behind his team whenever that is necessary. That’s one of the best qualities of the #11 driver. However, if the whole situation with Busch and Bell carries on into the Richmond race, it will be interesting to see how the JGR star analyzes it then.
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