“Hindered Us a Lot More”: The JGR Factor in Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch’s “Hit and Miss Season” Explained

NASCAR unveiled the Next Gen car amidst a lot of fanfare. They were confident that it was the start of a new era. That move, however, has not been half as successful as they would have wanted. There have been major criticisms from teams and drivers – Kyle Busch and Joe Gibbs Racing being one of them.

Apart from Christopher Bell, all its other drivers – the ones with the truckloads of experience – such as Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, and Martin Truex Jr. had been less than satisfactory in their performances. Granted, if not for the Hail Melon in Martinsville, Hamlin could have made the top 4. But then again, they were far too dependent on things going their way than on them making things go their way.

Looking back at the team’s season, Busch told NBC Sports, “Martin Truex went winless for the season. Denny Hamlin was very, very, very hit or miss through the beginning two-thirds of the season until we got to the final 10 and they really hit their stretch and were consistent. But he only won two races.“

Despite Bell being in the final 4, he believed, “Christopher Bell was kind of like Denny. They only had one win going into the playoffs, and then they kind of found their way a little more toward the end of the year, and they had a couple of clutch wins at Charlotte and Martinsville.” 

He felt, “As a company, I would say that Joe Gibbs Racing was down for the year for wins and being as strong a Toyota conglomerate as we once were. I feel like the new car hindered us a little more than the other makes.”

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It may not have ended well, but it was great while it lasted.

How did it unfold between Kyle Busch and JGR?

Drivers of Kyle Busch’s ability and skill don’t come too often. His CV boasts of 2 Cup Series Championships, 102 wins in the Xfinity Series (a record), and a total of 224 wins in all 3 NASCAR national series.

There’s no doubt why he was with JGR for 15 years – he was simply so good! But for the past few years, since his 2nd Cup Series win in 2019, his performances had fallen. That laid the foundation for the divorce. It was combined with his sponsors leaving his side in 2022, and Busch found himself in the middle of the proverbial perfect storm.

His contract negotiations with the team didn’t start well – and it was noticeable as the driver began airing dirty laundry for the public to see. Busch had said, “The only thing I can say to that is it didn’t happen. Apparently, they’ve got other irons in the fire, maybe sponsors for other drivers, and that’s the road they’re going down.”

The team did well to not let emotions run amok and responded with a calm statement. “When you think about it with us, 15 years, that was awesome. Just really appreciate that so much. … We worked hard trying to get everything done there. [But] we couldn’t,” coach Joe Gibbs said.

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Busch might have left JGR with such bitterness. However, no one can remove his name from the team’s history – an absolute legend!