Denny Hamlin Dismisses Accusations Against Kyle Busch’s Inability to Adopt to NASCAR’s Evolution

Kyle Busch either has the worst luck among the Cup Series drivers, or he’s trying too hard to overcome his recent slump. He had everything going his way last Sunday at Kansas and seemed to be knocking on the door of his 64th career win. But with 32 laps to go, he lost his cool and tried to force the issue to maintain his advantage.

Next thing you know, he’s slipping and sliding down the racetrack after bumping into Chase Briscoe, who was a lap down. This led experts and former players to share their thoughts on Rowdy’s on-track approach. Prominent NASCAR journalist Jordan Bianchi went on to highlight Busch’s troubles with the Next Gen car. He argued that his skills do not match with NASCAR’s newest invention. However, his former teammate, Denny Hamlin, wasn’t buying any of it and shared his take on Rowdy’s struggles.

Great drivers adapt to new trends of racing, says Denny Hamlin

Lack of practice, change in the style of racing, or adapting to the new trends of Next Gen racing has been a challenge for almost everyone in the Cup garage. Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson from HMS themselves had to do some soul-searching after success in the Gen 6 era. But in Busch’s case, he’s just struggled to get up to speed. Despite that, he still has three wins at RCR after jumping ships from JGR. So, he does know how to park his car in the victory lane.

Bianchi’s criticism was that Busch shot himself in the foot trying to thread the needle against Briscoe. “That, to me, is indicative to Kyle Busch’s troubles in this car. Sometimes he forces it a bit too much.” He said this on the Teardown. But does this mean Kyle Busch isn’t skilled enough to compete for wins in the Next Gen car? Well, Denny Hamlin doesn’t think so; rather, he stated that Busch needs to regain his confidence to reinvent himself.

“I don’t buy that. Just simply because great race car drivers can adapt to whatever they’re driving. I just feel as though he’s running dirt now, like surely he’s gotten much better at that. You’re just going from Gen 6 to Gen 7, and while Next Gen is quite a bit different, we’ve been doing this now for three years; surely you would be able to adapt by now,” Hamlin said on the Actions Detrimental podcast.

He further highlighted that everyone has undergone the learning curve with this new car. And Busch, like everyone, is trying to figure out his strengths. “There’s just a learning curve for all of us, figuring out how much we can hang the car out; what does it need to go fast? But he’s got enough races under his belt now, and I just wouldn’t pen it on; well, it’s his style, and it doesn’t fit. Everyone changes their style, we have to change our style weekly.”

Meanwhile, Hamlin’s potential top-5 finish at Kansas was marred by pit-road troubles. And while he was frustrated with his team after the race for throwing away a potential win, he’s now moved on from the on-off bad day.

No time to complain and quarrel for the #11 team with Talladega lined up next

Usually, the #11 pit crew is one of the strongest and most consistent performing ones. However, they dropped the ball, hampering Denny Hamlin’s run at Kansas. The first issue happened during stage 1 where he lost the track position from running inside top 5 to restarting outside the top 10. Hamlin reminded his team on the radio that he couldn’t afford any more mistakes on the pit road.

But, at the end of the stage 2 run, Hamlin had to restart at the end of the field after having a loose wheel. He was fuming about how his team performed in the pits, which severely cost him a good finish in a crucial playoffs race. “They know that today was one of their worst days ever.” The veteran driver said this after the race. But his frustration was in the heat of the moment, and he’s ready to bury the hatch on this dismal run, focusing on the task ahead.

“We’ve had many days where the 11 team has been P1 on pit road. So while I can be upset and frustrated in that moment, which I think I’m allowed to do, you’re also allowed to turn the page the next day and say, let’s go to work; let’s figure this out. Because I need you this weekend,” the veteran JGR driver added.

It is fair to say that the #11 team is far from securing their spot in the Round of 8. So, Hamlin’s approach to focusing on the next race is understandable.