HAMPTON, Ga.: Two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch was adamant that respect amongst NASCAR drivers might as well be out the window.
“We have completely lost any sense of respect in the garage area between drivers,” Busch said Saturday morning at Atlanta Motor Speedway. “That’s where the problem lies. Nobody gives two shits about anybody else.”
Busch’s comments stem partially from an on-track accident in the closing laps of last weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix (Ariz.) Raceway where Denny Hamlin and Ross Chastain continued an on-track feud that ultimately landed Hamlin with a monetary $50,000 fine and a 25 points penalty after admitting on his Actions Detrimental podcast that he had intentionally wrecked Chastain.
The Las Vegas, Nev. native flashbacked to a time in his Cup career where drivers embraced a certain manner when racing their competitors on track – a practice that stood with the veterans of yesterday but has continued to diminish over the past several years as the younger NASCAR generational drivers have flocked to the sport’s pinnacle level.
“It’s just a problem where everybody takes advantage of everybody as much as they can,” Busch added. “We’re all selfish, granted. But there was an etiquette that once did live here.
“Mark (Martin) started it. Tony (Stewart) lived by it. I think Jeff (Gordon) lived by it. Bobby Labonte, Rusty (Wallace) for the most part, Dale Jarrett, for sure. It did exist. That’s gone.”
Busch mentioned Hamlin and Chastain when asked Saturday if he understood the difference between hard racing and taking someone out.
“No,” Busch mentioned. “Last year at Gateway was a pretty good representation of cat and mouse and nothing was done. What do we do in those situations?”
Busch has a point – NASCAR did nothing and the on-track shenanigans between the two continued throughout the 2022 season.
Chastain made contact with Hamlin’s No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota at Gateway last June. Less than 20 laps later, Hamlin forced the Trackhouse Racing driver to the apron on the backstretch before the No. 1 Chevrolet finally cleared Hamlin’s battered car.
Hamlin later tried blocking Chastain. The on-track clash even forced NASCAR to step in and tell Hamlin he had made his point.
And while the on-track conflict continued through the checkered flag at Phoenix last November, the feud was resurrected at the Busch Clash in Los Angeles in February which partially ignited the tone which carried over to the fourth race of the season in Phoenix.
Busch explained that he felt like drivers should be held accountable.
“Drivers to be ethical and take responsibility for their action and race and race hard,” he added.
“If you make a mistake, OK fine, I get it. When you intentionally drive over somebody because they made a move on you or something you didn’t like, then you get punched in the face afterward.”
But Busch’s rant wasn’t just about Chastain and Hamlin. It also directed to the younger crowd moving their way through the ranks.
In particular, Busch vented frustration about his last lap incident with former Kyle Busch Motorsports driver Chandler Smith when the two connected on the last lap of the Xfinity Series race last Saturday at Phoenix.
Both Busch and Smith were driving for Kaulig Racing and ended up erasing the driver’s opportunities from a podium potential. Smith chalked the contact up to a “racing incident” after the race.
Busch added he believed his advice goes in one ear and out the other.
“I’ve tried to talk to guys,” Busch said. “They don’t listen, so I’ve lost interest in talking to them. I had a teammate that I talked to, a kid that raced for me two years in the Truck Series real recently who I got into it last week with and tried to talk to him about those exact same issues. Lo and behold, it happened to me three races into a new year somewhere else, so I’m done taking to them.”
Busch said one solution to the issues on track would be to do in NASCAR what happens at some small tracks and other short track sanctioning bodies enforce – including the CARS Tour which is now owned by several NASCAR drivers.
Involved in an incident, a driver is subject to being sent to the back of the field for the restart.
Busch added his son Brexton experiences that now.
“He already knows that he can’t run somebody over because he gets sent to the back,” Busch said of his seven-year son. “I think that’s something else, there’s no repercussions for running somebody over. If you want to do that, you get sent to the back, you get held a lap, something.
“But if you spin somebody out — and I’m guilty of it, I spun somebody out for the lead before or the win before or something like that on accident racing — but if it happens, then you get sent to the back.
“Caution comes out, you go to the back. There’s repercussions for that right now. That’s the short track adage and how these kids learn when they’re growing up. Maybe we need to implement that here.”
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01 and email: [email protected]
