“Keep Me Away From Denny”: When Kyle Busch Was Furious With Teammate Denny Hamlin After On-Track Incident

In a competitive sport like NASCAR, rubbing is an unmistakable nuance. However, when the rubbing ensues between two teammates, the heat just goes up a notch. Back in the 2010 All-Star race at the ROVAL, the then teammates Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch found themselves in an on-track skirmish.

But what actually happened that made Kyle Busch radio to his team, “Somebody better keep me away from Denny Hamlin after this race. I am going to kill that motherf****r. … I had this race won. Won”? Let’s take a deeper dive into it.

During the closing segment of the 100-lap-long race, the fans witnessed a 10-lap shootout that had Hamlin leading the race as Rowdy closed in from behind, trying every trick up his sleeves to pass the Pied Piper of Pocono.

However, as Rowdy attempted to clear Hamlin from the outside, the latter nudged Busch which ultimately had him ram into the outside wall, losing all the air in the front of his Toyota Camry. Needless to say, Busch was infuriated.

The aftermath of the action was well about to unfurl when Busch parked his car not in his own hauler but in that of Hamlin’s, as he waited for the latter to finish his race to give Hamlin a good piece of his mind. Joe Gibbs followed, and the three spent a good 20 minutes discussing what they had to say about the brawl.

“They talked it over and I think both of them expressed what they felt about what happened on the racetrack,” said Joe Gibbs. “I feel good about it and I think they’re ready to go race as teammates.”

“This can happen and it can happen again. You’ve got good cars. You’ve got good drivers. It can happen between teammates because they’re competitive and both of them are wanting to win a race. We love that in both guys,” he added.

Despite Joe Gibbs putting his thumb up, Denny Hamlin blamed Kyle Busch for everything

The most unfortunate part of the entire episode: none of the two Joe Gibbs Racing drivers got to win the race as Hamlin finished 4th and Kyle Busch had to settle for a P14 finish. Moments after the race, Denny Hamlin pulled no punches, bashing his own teammate.

According to Hamlin, Busch “gets mad at the media for asking him questions about his blow-ups and stuff, but he does it to himself.”

“I don’t want to be part of it. Any drama that he wants to create or anything is on him. Anything he says on the radio is on him. Each year I think Kyle’s going to grow out of it, and he just doesn’t. Until he puts it all together, that’s when he’ll become a champion. Right now, he just doesn’t have himself together,” he added.