Denny Hamlin Apologizes to Kyle Busch Fans After Damning Verdict on Former NASCAR Teammate

Denny Hamlin may admire Kyle Busch but he doesn’t believe his former teammate is going to win a race this season. On a recent episode of the Actions Detrimental podcast, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver assessed Rowdy’s season. He didn’t hold back while critiquing the winless year of the two-time Cup Series champion. It even led him to apologize to Busch fans for his harsh assessment.

Hamlin has not seen anything from his former teammate that would suggest a victory in the upcoming races. The Richard Childress Racing star’s playoff chances are already hanging by a thread. This season, Rowdy has had an average finish of 19.43 and only had two top-five finishes. That is nowhere near race-winning form.

“I apologize to the Kyle Busch fans listening but we have to be honest with ourselves,” he said. “You’ve got to show that you can at least consistently run in the top five to even have a chance to win and we haven’t seen that lately.”

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The driver of the #11 car does not believe that Rowdy can’t win a race this year. But there’s got to be a lot of luck involved and the odds of everything falling into place are quite astronomical. Hamlin invoked Joey Logano, who hadn’t run well all year but won at Nashville from P17. Busch could have something similar but it is not very likely.

“The odds are very low,” he explained. “You’re going to need fuel mileage as a factor, you’re going to need chaos at the end. NASCAR racing nowadays, that’s half of what it is so there’s always a chance. But realistically…it’s not a legit possibility right now from what I have seen.”

The NASCAR Cup Series will go to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway next weekend. At this point in the season, Busch must win a race to qualify for the playoffs. He is 98 points behind the cutline and it’s clear that points are not going to be enough to secure qualification. But he has a good record at the Indy Oval. 

The two-time Cup Series champion won back-to-back races at the track in 2015 and 2016. Apart from the two race wins, Rowdy has earned 12 top-10 finishes in 16 starts and three pole positions. NASCAR’s return to the Indy Oval might see Busch return to form. 

Given how he has run all year, however, Busch fans can only hope that is the case. It has been an utterly dismal season for them. Hopefully, the two-time Cup Series champion will come back stronger in the 2025 season.