Denny Hamlin Revels Brutal Truth as He Puts Kyle Busch’s RCR Struggle into Perspective
JGR veteran Denny Hamlin has shared his thoughts on ex-teammate Kyle Busch’s poor performance for the No:8 RCR Chevy team.
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Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch (Via IMAGO)
Kyle Busch left Joe Gibbs Racing to join Richard Childress Racing in 2023, hoping to secure his third championship. He had flying start, with three wins in the first half of his debut season before a massive performance slump the No:8 team is still stuck in. The two times champions’ ex-teammate Denny Hamlin has a bold take on RCR racers struggles.
In the latest episode of his podcast, the No:11 Camry driver shared his thoughts on Busch’s struggle, highlighting how on Sunday at Darlington, the veteran was performing worse than teammate Austin Dillon. For a Hall of Fame driver like him, it’s not acceptable to be behind a less talented teammate even when the team struggling.
It is noteworthy that last week, Austin Dillon was not as bad as Kyle Busch, right? I think we really gotta put everything into perspective and yes, the organization is probably not where they wanted to be, but if one of them is running last and the other is running 16th… if Kyle is great like we all believe he is, then he should be eighth, but he wasn’t.
Denny Hamlin said on his podcast.
This factor has made the Joe Gibbs Racing veteran realize that Kyle Busch struggle has more to do with the driver, who is desperately looking to find ways to get back winning form. Denny Hamlin believes RCR still is good enough to finish inside the top 10 and its error from the drivers that is holding them back at the moment.
I think he’s searching right now. It’s just my opinion, but he’s just trying to figure something out, and I don’t know, I can’t put it all on RCR. Yeah, they’re not race-winning teams right now. They don’t have that pace, but they don’t have 30th-place pace. That’s something that driver-individual team has a role in.
Denny Hamlin added on Actions Detrimental.
Denny Hamlin shares his thoughts on JGR getting smocked by 23XI in 2026
Everything is not positive for Kyle Busch’s ex-team JGR in 2026 as well. They are no longer the bets Toyota team, as with fours wins from six races, 23XI Racing co-owner by Denny Hamlin is upfront. The veteran talked about it and admitted that he doesn’t have an issue with it, as both teams have strong alliance that share information more than anyone.
What was 23XI saying last week when I just smoked them? Same thing, right? That’s why this partnership and alliance works with JGR and 23XI. I think that is a true alliance where information is directly going back and forth.
Denny Hamlin said.
It’s a win and win situation for Joe Gibbs Racing, as they finally have a strong partner within the TRD garage that can win races like them and have a crew capable of helping them succeed. The data they share among them will be key to success in the future.
(JGR) values this alliance because now they’ve got all the information right there. It’s like, ‘Clearly, that works, and that’s good. We didn’t know that.’ So that just helps them advance.
Denny Hamlin added.
The comments from the three times Daytona 500 champion about the alliance and common struggle for success is on point. It would be interesting to see how JGR is going to catch up with Tyler Reddick led 23XI in 2026.
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