Former Teammate Denny Hamlin Could Threaten Kyle Busch’s Victory Bid in Richmond

Missing the times of rivalry between the former teammates, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin? Well, there’s something in store for you. There’s a lot of hype among fans going into the NASCAR Cup Series race at the Richmond Raceway this coming Sunday, as the two could be locked in a battle for the win. Busch is yet to win a race this season so far and given his record at the Virginia short track, it could be the perfect place to achieve one. However, Hamlin has been running fairly well on short tracks as of late, and thanks to his win at Bristol, the driver of the #11 car will be a confident man going into Sunday.

Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin have fantastic records at Richmond Raceway

There’s a good reason why Rowdy would want to eye up Richmond as the place to book his spot in the playoffs this season. The veteran race car driver has started 36 Cup races at the venue so far and finished in the top five 19 times and in the top 10 28 times. Even for a man of his talents, such numbers are exceptional. Kyle Busch has six race wins at the track as well and he would like nothing more right now than to make it 7.

However, things are not going to be easy and one of the biggest obstacles standing in Rowdy’s way will probably be his former Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Denny Hamlin. The driver of the #11 car has had 34 starts in Cup races at Richmond and has earned 4 victories. His record at the track is also quite impressive as he has 18 top-five and 21 top-10 finishes there. Pair that up with his latest short-track success at Bristol and it’s not difficult to see why a strong case can be made for the 43-year-old driver.

Hamlin was the victor in the Clash as well which was held at the LA Memorial Coliseum, another short track. If the two do tangle on track on Sunday, it will be one heck of a show for race fans. These two drivers are veterans of the sport and have had their differences in the past.

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Former Joe Gibbs Racing teammates have somewhat of a history

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When Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin used to be teammates, they were each other’s biggest rivals. That’s the thing about teammates. Back then, NASCAR did not have this mandate that all cars have to be the same. So really, the only person you could truly measure yourself against was someone with the same machinery and that would be a teammate. As a result, there were a few tense moments between Hamlin and Rowdy.

The driver of the #11 car said on a recent episode of the Happy Hour podcast, “I never really had a lot of confrontation, I did have a few moments. I mean there was the All-Star race at Charlotte where he thought that I air-blocked him into the wall. I was in the lead, I don’t know how that happened. And then there’s other, at Atlanta where we were kind of racing each other a little silly at times during the race where there was a difference of opinion”. 

It will be interesting if these two rekindle their old rivalry and come door-to-door once again at Richmond Raceway. Who do you think would win in a straight race to the line between the two? Let us know your thoughts.

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