

Safe to say, 2022 hasn’t been a year that Kyle Busch would feel nostalgic about. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has not only been through a whirlwind of uncertain stages about his future, he also exited the playoffs in the Round of 16 only.
On top of that now, Busch’s #18 team, which arguably has the best pit crew in all the Cup Series, is now being handed over to his teammate Denny Hamlin, who advanced to the next round of the playoffs.
In return, the two-time champion would get the pit crew of #11.
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This led to a lot of speculation on somewhat of a conspiracy theory against Busch by his own team in the NASCAR fan base.
Coupled with his engine failure in Bristol that showed him the way out of the playoffs, the pit crew swap didn’t exactly sit well with Rowdy fans, something that was reminiscent of what Hendrick Motorsports did to their drivers a decade ago.
JGR and Toyota have betrayed the driver who made them relevant. So sad
— Josh C (@joshc018) September 19, 2022
AND THERE IT IS. Coincidence they made sure he didn't make it to the next round? I think not
— Radar1107 (@radar1854) September 19, 2022
Wow. They really are giving Kyle Busch the shit stuff
— Luke Smith (1-1) (@xLukeSmithx) September 19, 2022
So now we know why they wanted kyle to be out.. it’s all coming together
— Evan Gibson (@EvanG959) September 19, 2022
Wow, sounds like there trying to give Kyle a huge bad send-off, first questionable blowing engines,seems like they wanna do him dirty since switch to Chevy. He doesn't deserve that shame Joe Gibbs has gone down hill fast .
— Deepsix0069 (@deepsix0069) September 19, 2022
Pulling a @TeamHendrick from 2010, I see.
— Jon Iaccino (@ji711) September 19, 2022
Watch This Story: Video Unseen Footage of Scary NASCAR Crash Missed by the Broadcasters Fox Amidst Ongoing Argument
Kyle Busch feels his team doesn’t deserve where they are right now
After the unprecedented engine failure at Bristol, which meant he was going out of this season’s championship contention, Kyle Busch was naturally quite upset. But not in a way you’d expect him to be.
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Rather, Busch felt sorry and annoyed for his #18 team as he emphasized on “two engine failures in three weeks” that have done it for him.

USA Today via Reuters
Jun 26, 2022; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Busch (18) during a pit stop during the Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
“I don’t even know what to say, I’m flabbergasted,” he said after the night race at Bristol. “I just feel so bad for my guys. They don’t deserve to be in this spot, we’re too good of a group to be this low down on the bottom and fighting for our lives just to make it through.”
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“This is not our normal.”
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