NASCAR’s most heated rivalries have often featured the sport’s biggest stars, from Kyle Busch versus Joey Logano to Denny Hamlin versus Kyle Larson. Yet one feud that seems to have cooled in recent years is the long-running clash between Busch and Brad Keselowski. The reason is simple: both drivers have gone through slumps that pulled them out of the thick of the fight.
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At their peak, Busch and Keselowski raced each other tooth and nail. It wasn’t long ago that Busch infuriated Keselowski by dumping him coming to the checkered flag of a 2013 Xfinity Series race at Kansas Speedway. Four years later, during the 2017 Cup Series Championship 4 Media Day, Busch, sitting just feet from his rival, dropped the blunt line: “Sometimes you just don’t like a guy, fact of the matter.” Their relationship never softened from there.
Recently, when Keselowski was asked by a Reddit user about his 2010 Bristol remark calling Busch an “a**,” and if he still believes that, the RFK Racing driver-owner didn’t dodge.
The RFK Racing driver replied, “K and I have had an interesting relationship over the last decade or so. Probably more lows than highs. Here’s the thing about rivalries. You cannot have a rivalry if the two drivers are not running in the top 10. It’s not a rivalry. It’s just a petty argument at that point.”
“Until either one of us are consistently running in the top 10, there is no room for me to worry about Kyle Bush. So, I don’t think about him being an a** or not an a**. If Kyle Bush and I are both in the top 10, yeah, he’s an a**.”
Ironically, just months earlier in May 2025, NASCAR released a video that featured Busch and Keselowski in a tongue-in-cheek time-travel skit. The two bantered outside NASCAR’s new production facility, shared laughs, and even capped it off with a high-five. Fans quickly wondered if the ice had thawed between the former champions.
Yet seeing the two shake hands and act like buddies on screen felt out of place for a rivalry built on elbows and sharp words. Now Keselowski has clarified why fans sensed that awkward energy between them in the video.
It has been years since Busch and Keselowski traded barbs or bent sheet metal, but there’s little doubt both men miss running up front, and perhaps miss sparring with each other when the wins were at stake. But right now, the duo is competing for wins and to get their consistency back. So, any type of rivalry would be a distraction to them, as per the RFK Racing co-owner.
