Kyle Busch has got to be the most successful active driver in the Cup Series. But when he took all those checkered flags, there was rarely a cheer, it would often be booed. Remember the 2018 Chicago race? He bumped Kyle Larson to take the checkered flag. As he stepped out of the car to celebrate, there was nothing but “boos.” And Busch wasn’t one to hold back.

He hit back with a, “If you don’t like that kind of racing, don’t even watch.” And it’s no secret Busch gets so much hate. Or at least used to get it earlier. Things have changed in the past few years. The recent Truck race left him in shock!

Kyle Busch was running the #7 car for Spire Motorsports and he took it to victory lane. When he stepped out of the car, there were actually cheers. That felt odd to Busch, and he opened up about how this switch felt. He said, “I like noise. Noise is good. Someone else once said noise is a great thing. It’s cool. When I got out of the truck I was like wait what. I was like I just won a truck race but it felt good. I haven’t won a lot in a while.”

The switch happened ever since he swapped from Chevy to Toyota, with Chevy fans suddenly stopping the boos. And it was also the shift of him going from a young hot-blooded driver to one of sports’ greatest veterans, and a mentor to a fiery B-Rex.

On top of that, he wasn’t winning as much, so there was a lot of sympathy. Look at the 2024 season. Kyle Busch went winless first time since his NASCAR debut in ’04. The legendary 19-season streak was broken. Even the fans who hated him kind of wanted him to win…just to keep the streak going. And he came close, finishing P2 back-to-back in Daytona and Darlington. And after what happened at the Truck race, there is a question if the same will happen in the Cup Series or not, if and when he wins a race. And the Cup crowd is a tough one to please they have been booing for a long time now.

The perfect example of this has to be the Bristol Dirt race in 2022. Rowdy took the #18 car to victory lane. Fox Sports’ Jaimie Little was waiting for the pit interview. As Busch began to speak…there was a chorus of ‘Boos.’ So much so that he had to stop answering the question and say, “I mean, man, I feel like Dale Earnhardt Sr. right now. This is awesome. I didn’t do anything.” Back in the day you either were a Sr fan or you weren’t. Nothing in the middle It’s the same with Busch. However, ‘the Intimidator’ remained ‘the Intimidator’ till the very end. But fans seem to have gone soft on Rowdy.

However, Busch thinks he knows the reason for all the hate he received, especially after making his debut

Kyle Busch blames his brother for all the hate

It’s no secret that Kurt Busch and Kyle Busch don’t get along. And one reason could be because Kyle blames him for all the booing. In an old interview, Kyle had said, “When I came back to NASCAR, I came back in the Xfinity Series to run a part-time schedule and I was in 87 Ditech car, and by then Kurt wasn’t necessarily making the best of friends on NASCAR level. So when I got to driver’s intros for my first Xfinity Series race, I got booed out of there, and I was like, what the heck, I didn’t do anything; it’s Kyle, not Kurt.”

Kurt Busch and his aggression stories are legendary. Remember when Bob Pockrass asked him a question about the race, and it made Busch so mad? He even threatened to “beat the sh–” out of him. And this is just one of many incidents both on and off the track. This did not make Kurt Busch the most popular amongst the NASCAR community and when Kyle Busch came along, it was the same for him.

But with him moving to RCR in 2023, Busch thinks Denny Hamlin took on his role. And it was fun for him to be on the other side for once. “I applaud Denny for taking on the role, and it’s fun to see it from another side because I knew how to live it, and that’s the thing you just have to embrace it, roll with it, and go with it, and take it on. You hate me because I’m a bada– and you’re just jealous.” He had added.

What do you think about this change of heart that fans have for Kyle Busch now? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.