Resurfaced Kyle Busch Partnership With Rick Hendrick Out Shadowed by 15-Years of Loyalty Triggers NASCAR Community

In his first year as a Richard Childress driver, Kyle Busch’s performance as the driver of the #8 Chevrolet surpassed all expectations. The driver seized three victories in the regular season and concretized his berth for the third championship run. Moreover, in his first year as a Chevrolet driver after transitioning from Toyota, Busch was able to end his 15-year drought of winning at speedways and earn his victory at Talladega.

Furthermore, this was not the first time that Busch had piloted a Chevrolet car in his Cup Series career. Before shaking hands with Joe Gibbs Racing under the Toyota banner for 15 years, the 2x Cup Series champion had been the representative of NASCAR’s winningest team Hendrick Motorsports. While this partnership seems to be a part of the soi-distant past, it seems that a post from Reddit unearthed old memories.

Reddit community reminisces Kyle Busch’s stay at Hendrick Motorsports

With a tenure that lasted for 15 years, and earning two championships for the team, Kyle Busch’s departure from Joe Gibbs Racing came as the most unanticipated announcement of the 2022 Cup Series season. The reason behind his limbo with the team was the result of the retraction of his primary sponsor, Mars. Inc. The brand had stated that it would depart from the world of NASCAR after the culmination of the 2022 season.

Owing to this, the 2x Cup Series champion was left without any sponsors to field his car. Although the team had assured that it would secure another deal for Busch and retain him, the organization eventually failed to seize one. As a result, RCR reached out their helping hand and provided a seat to the driver. However, before joining the camp Toyota, Busch had kick-started his career as a promising Cup Series driver, as an HMS driver. These memories were unearthed by a carousel of pictures of Kyle Busch in an HMS suit posted on Reddit.

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The collage also contained the images of his teammates, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and Casey Mears. Nevertheless, Busch made his debut for HMS as a part-time driver back in 2004. He eventually found his full-time seat a year later in 2005, before being let go by the team in 2007. Moreover, it was not long before Busch proved his mettle as a Cup Series driver. He became the youngest driver to earn pole position. While the NASCAR world seemed to rejoice in celebrating the young talent, there were stifling circumstances behind the scenes.

The circumstances finally reached its climax, with the 2007 All-Stars Race. Racing alongside his brother Kurt Busch, younger Busch’s on-track actions led to the wrecking of both drivers. Moreover, Kyle Busch also let his erratic emotions get the better of him. In an interview, with Graham Bensinger, Busch also asserted, “There was something not clicking with me, with the team. Also, the 2007 incidents at the All-Star Race. My outbursts and acting out a few times was ultimately the demise of the relationship.”

NASCAR enthusiasts try to unearth the possible reasons for Busch leaving HMS

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While these incidents were the eventual building blocks that led to the ousting of Busch from HMS, Reddit fans on the contrary seemed to delve deeper and bring forward the reasons that led to the sourness between the driver and the team.

Many fans on Reddit stated, “If he befriended Gordon (like how Jimmie did), he probably would’ve lasted longer there. After Ricky passed, he had no real close connections there.”

“As someone who was around when he started with Hendrick until 2007, I totally understand your reasoning of finding it weird after only seeing him in a Toyota with Gibbs for so long.”

“As someone who has watched since 2006, it’s so weird to think that Kyle Busch was once a Hendrick driver.”

“Won his first race in California in 2005 I think Won the first race in the Car of Tomorrow and then left and won the first race for Toyota.”

Others also wrote, “It’s too bad Hendrick didn’t have a place for him this year because I think he could have had a hell of a redemption arc with them right now..”

“If Ricky Hendrick were still alive you could say there’s a chance he probably still could be After he died no one really had his back there at HMS like he did before they gave his ride to Dale.”

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Having said that, it will be interesting to see if Kyle Busch ever returns to Hendrick Motorsports, before hanging up his helmet, but for now, the driver is on the verge of returning for the 2024 season, stronger and with the hopes of clinching his third championship.