Kyle Busch hasn’t exactly been a NASCAR fan favorite or a driver favorite over the years.
Busch has done his share of ticking off his opponents and even teammates over the years, so he knows what it’s like to get into a spat with a fellow teammate.
Busch talked about his run-ins with both Jeff Gordon and Denny Hamlin and their prior resoltions. In the past, the owners have had to sit down with Busch and whichever teammate he had an issue with and try to solve the issue.
“That has more to do with the team owner,” he said. “When I had an issue with Jeff Gordon a long time ago, Rick [Hendrick] brought us in and sat us down and we talked.
“Myself and Denny … that was where Joe [Gibbs] had to get involved and talk us through our differences.”
He has taken the same practice when dealing with his own race team.
“When I’ve had drivers at KBM that don’t get along, I talk to them individually, and then I bring them together and talk to them together,” Busch said.
This comes off the heels of Trackhouse Racing drivers Ross Chastain and Daniel Suárez, who are teammates, getting into an altercation last week after a race.
While Busch says there is a need to mend fences with teammates, Denny Hamlin it’s different if you’re not teammates. He says you can continue to avoid each other.
“You can just avoid it if you want to,” Hamlin said. “You don’t have to return calls or text messages back. You don’t have to answer them in person. … You’re forced to as teammates. You don’t have to the other way.”
Chastain and Suárez seem to be ok, at least they were for the NASCAR cameras.
About Stacey Mickles
Stacey is a 1995 graduate of the University of Alabama who has previously worked for other publications such as Sportskeeda and Saturday Down South.