Kyle Busch said he’s put the All-Star incident with Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin behind him, but his tone and subtle jabs at Hamlin on Thursday indicated he’s still unhappy.
Kyle Busch Says He’s Over Incident With Denny Hamlin, But Doesn’t Sound Happy
Last week, Busch felt Hamlin didn’t give him enough room while racing for the lead late in the All-Star event, and though the 18 car wasn’t alongside the 11 car yet, Busch was still infuriated with the lack of respect from his own teammate.
Busch said he was surprised because he expected a teammate like Hamlin or Joey Logano would give him the room, along with others who race him cleanly like his brother Kurt, Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin.
He said he wouldn't have put the 18 car in that position if the driver was Brad Keselowski or Jeff Gordon.
And, Busch added, "If the roles were reversed, I don't think I would have done the same thing. That's just me."
At the time, he was so angry that he told his team he wanted to “kill” Hamlin. The two met after the race in Hamlin’s hauler to talk things over.
And now?
“For me, I’m over the Denny Hamlin issue,” Busch said. “It’s done. We’re moving forward.”
But that doesn’t mean he’s happy about what happened. Busch also made comments such as:
- "I do what's best for Joe Gibbs Racing. And that's to race teammates as teammates should race."
- " His impression was it's the All-Star race and it's every man for himself. I wasn't under that impression."
- "Course I was heated after the incident. It surprised me the way my teammate wanted to race me."
- "I feel like we can move on and work together. A little disatisfied with his quote about how I would have done the same thing, because you can't put words in a person's mouth. I don't feel like I would have done the same thing."
When a reporter mentioned a previous incident between the drivers, Busch said that was another example of “how Denny Hamlin is as a teammate.” Reporters were left to infer that Busch believes he is a better teammate than Hamlin is, because as Busch emphasized, “I race with respect.”
“I’ve had my bad points, but since learning from Mark Martin, Tony Stewart, I’ve been better,” Busch said. “I don’t think I typically run myself into the fence.”
As far as saying he wanted to “kill” Hamlin? Busch said no one should take his comments literally.
“Do I regret saying what I said over the radio? Absolutely not,” he said. “That’s who I am. That’s heat of the moment. ... (Kill him) with what? With my great looks?”
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