Why would two fierce NASCAR rivals end up forming one of the most unexpected friendships in the garage? If you had told fans back in 2012 that Kurt Busch and Denny Hamlin would turn into close friends, no one would have believed you. During the 2012 Virginia 529 College Savings 250, Hamlin was closing in on Busch, desperately trying to make up lost time caused by a pit stop error. By that time, Kurt took the white flag, Hamlin was on his bumper, kicking off an intense battle Kurt won, and warned Hamlin after the race, saying, “There’s a (payback) list like that – and then there’s a list of good deeds that have been done. And you pay them back as well. Even a guy like Denny Hamlin, when we raced at Richmond in Nationwide, he raced me clean for the win. It could’ve gotten ugly and it could have gotten big.” Well, Hamlin is certainly off Busch’s payback list and even commending Kurt!
And while Kurt’s NASCAR career got cut short at Pocono, after a practice session injury forced him to retire, his return to the sport with the Hall of Fame Class of 2026 is a happy sight to see, not just for NASCAR fans, but for Denny Hamlin, too!
Denny Hamlin provided glowing remarks regarding Kurt Busch’s induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame, highlighting both Busch’s achievements on the track and his lasting impact across several teams and eras. He went on to say, “It’s an awesome honour for Kurt, certainly on his first try. It’s fantastic. He’s got pretty much everything. He reminds me a lot of Tony Stewart. His ability to pretty much drive anything.”
.@dennyhamlin says @KurtBusch’s adaptability as a driver reminded him a lot of @TonyStewart, and the newly elected @NASCARHall member was key in starting the No. 45 team for @23XIRacing. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/iXVEjKR7qd
— Peter Stratta (@peterstratta) May 24, 2025
Now, the comparison to Tony Stewart isn’t wrong. Tony Stewart made the switch from IndyCar to NASCAR and found a lot of success, winning the Cup Series championships, owning a team, and even making a switch to drag racing after his retirement. Kurt, however, went a different route. Fans remember his Cup Series victory from the 2000s, but Busch was much more than a NASCAR driver. Taking up a new challenge, he drove in the 24 Hours of Daytona, coming in at 3rd place during his second attempt at the race in 2008 with Penske-Taylor Racing. He even joined Andretti Autosport for an Indy 500 outing that saw him come in 6th place! But is that where the parallels end?
Stewart found some success owing and managing a team, and while Kurt didn’t buy one, he certainly helped get the 23XI Racing project off the ground. As Hamlin went on to say, “He was fantastic. Obviously he got that 45 team off the ground and kind of laid the groundwork of the things like our cars needed to make speed.” He gave the team a significant early victory at Kansas Speedway, which was the organization’s second-ever Cup Series triumph. For a team that was still developing its core chemistry and performance infrastructure, that moment was not only symbolic; it was also a technical and cultural confirmation.
For Kurt, the comparison will surely have struck a chord. Fans remember the infamous brawl between Smoke and Busch from the 2008 Daytona 500. And while there were initial fireworks, Busch went on to appreciate his competitor a little while later while in the hospital recovering from an injury. “Seeing him at the hospital, seeing him at his house recovering, spending time with him at track when he wasn’t racing — I got to learn a whole different Tony, versus the competitor Tony I had always raced against. So the timelines worked out really well.”
It’s not the first time Hamlin has spoken out in favor of Kurt. Just a few days ago, while talking to Frontstretch, Hamlin advocated for the Busch sibling, saying, “I just think his ability to perform at every race team, every manufacturer — I think he won with all of them. He was really good at what he did, and the biggest change that I noticed is that when we brought him over to 23XI, he made everyone else better. He made Bubba quite a bit better, got that 45 team (Tyler Reddick) off the ground and really changed the culture there.”
As for Busch, he had just thanked Hamlin and Co. for giving him a chance to round his career out with the team. He posted on X, in a post captioned, “Finishing my career with @23xiracing was the icing on the cake. Getting a call from @dennyhamlin@toyotaracing and MJ, asking me to come on board and start a new team meant the world to me. Perfect opportunity to give my two decades of experience to.”
Denny Hamlin breaks down the team’s struggles ahead of the Coca-Cola 600
Well, we’re finally at Charlotte, the crown jewel of NASCAR. With an average finish of 13.7 and only one win at the track in the last 3 years, Hamlin heads to the track with hope, aiming to repeat his heroics of 2022 and secure another visit to the Victory Lane at the track. However, things aren’t as easy as they sound, especially for Hamlin who is coming off a tough finish at North Wilkesboro.
Breaking down his performance, he said, “The mechanical stuff, you can’t be worried about carrying over. You just do what you’re able to do as a driver, right? The mechanical stuff is something that I can’t control. The last two weeks, we had that. I think if it would had gone more than 40 laps green, we would have gone a lap down. We were the worst car, by a long way. To oversimplify it, we just miscalculated on our adjustments overnight. We didn’t miss it, we literally missed a decimal point when it comes to measuring things.”
Having finished in 12th place, Hamlin sure wasn’t happy, and it showed. Issues with the car meant he couldn’t be up front, fighting alongside Bell for the win. “We should have still shown up closer than what we did. We missed it. It’s funny how the world and the universe kind of works. I was thinking this week, I was like, if everything can just stay together and I don’t have mechanical issues, I don’t have just something out of whack, running top five is the easiest thing in the world. I can’t remember the last time I had speed legitimately out of the top five.”
But with the Coca-Cola 600, Hamlin hasn’t gotten off to the best start. Qualifying in 20th place, he has his work cut out for him. Only time will tell if he can get one more win in the season.
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