Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch, former teammates, have had their fair share of ups and downs together. These days, they tend to keep things pretty neutral when they talk about each other, but let’s roll back to 2010. That year, during the nail-biting closing laps of the Sprint All-Star race, Hamlin made a sharp move to the right to block Busch from taking the lead. Busch was fuming because Hamlin gave him a tough race in an event that didn’t even count towards the championship but had a cool $1 million on the line for the winner.

Kyle Busch might have had a flashback to that intense moment after Ricky Stenhouse Jr‘s nudge in Lap 1. And perhaps Denny Hamlin hasn’t quite let go of that old clash either, which could explain why he seemed to side with Stenhouse while discussing the incident.

Denny Hamlin has some words of support for Ricky Stenhouse Jr

Hamlin seems to totally get why Ricky Stenhouse Jr ended up in a tangle with Kyle Busch after going three-wide, which, according to Busch, led to Stenhouse Jr nudging him. On his podcast, Hamlin came to Stenhouse’s defense, explaining,  “My opinion is that you’ve got 200 laps […] if you think that that is your only shot to get a couple of spots because you know that we’re probably not going to be competitive so I at least got to just look good on these restarts.”

He added, “[…] If Ricky was driving my car he probably would be more patient Rick’s doing the most he can with what he has and I’ll die on that Hill I believe in Ricky’s Talent um I’m just saying that it leads to incidences more than not.“ Hamlin argued that if a driver decides to barrel through and grab two spots on lap one, they’re playing a risky game because cars just aren’t as steady as they are by lap 20. And while it’s a shot at gaining positions, it’s hard to argue with that logic.

Hamlin clarified he’s not knocking any of Ricky Stenhouse Jr’s moves. However, he pointed out that while he’s not just blindly siding with Stenhouse, he does back the initial maneuvers because they were strategic plays to snag a few spots. Hamlin mentioned, “Ricky’s pissed because he has a valid point I’d never hit you until you hit the wall and then we make contact. Ricky’s right he is 100% right.”

Denny Hamlin went a step further, giving Stenhouse props for being a man of his word.

Denny Hamlin respects Ricky Stenhouse Jr’s straightforwardness

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When Stenhouse got knocked out of contention in Lap 2, he told Bob Pockrass, “You can just watch afterward,”  when the latter asked about what was he going to do about Kyle Busch, hinting at his plans for the RCR driver. He even quipped to another reporter that “maybe Richard would hold my watch after the race,” signaling he was ready for a showdown.

Hamlin has voiced his appreciation for Stenhouse’s direct approach, noting, “Ricky is one of those standup humans that when he tells you he’s going to do something he’s probably going to do it.“ True to his word, despite Kyle Busch trying to defuse the situation later with “Well if that happened…“ and not even finishing his sentence, Stenhouse landed a punch on his jaw.

Hamlin commended Stenhouse’s follow-through, saying, “And he [Ricky Stenhouse Jr] says well I said it I guess I got to do it. So, I just think that he’s a man of his word and he told us he was going to do it that’s why all the cameras were following Kyle.”

What’s your take? Is Denny Hamlin still holding a grudge from his past with Kyle Busch, or is he just backing Ricky Stenhouse Jr’s actions?