It’s not uncommon for things to turn sour between former teammates in NASCAR. The most recent case is that of Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin, and the war of words that began before Kansas has only intensified. This has prompted Dale Jr. to drop his take on the matter.

In a recent conversation on his "Dale Jr Download" podcast, he began by expressing skepticism about Busch’s reaction to Hamlin’s comments and whether the two-time Cup Series champion actually watched the entire segment of Hamlin's podcast.

"I’ll bet you $100,000 his a** ain’t watched the 13 minutes of it," said Dale Jr. "If anything, he probably got a text from somebody. Someone said, 'Man, this guy’s talking shit about you.' Then he goes to the racetrack, and the media asks him about it, and he goes, 'M*********** talking s*** about me, I'd swap cars with him any day.' That's kind of how it probably happened."

Though Busch is in a severe slump, it is hard to overlook what made him the successful Cup champion he is. Dale Jr. acknowledged the Richard Childress Racing driver's calibre and remaining hopeful for his future.

"Kyle is a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Dude is still a badass race car driver. He’s just not having a good time right now," Dale Jr. added.

Dale Jr tries to make sense of Kyle Busch's decline since Daytona pole

Kyle Busch opened his 2026 NASCAR Cup campaign with a bang. He secured pole for the Daytona 500, but the elusive victory remained elusive.

Since then, his results have only declined. After Kansas, the RCR driver is now on a five-race streak of sub-20th place finishes. On the aforementioned podcast, Dale Jr. also dove into the struggles of RCR, which, despite having Jim Pohlman join in as the crew chief, has struggled to consistent speed and performance.

Pohlman was previously associated with Dale Jr.'s JR Motorsport, where he led Justin Allgaier to the Xfinity Series championship in 2024.

“It’s odd to watch them struggle the way they have," Dale Jr. said. "Jim Pohlman went over there from here to be the crew chief. They came out of the gate with a great performance and qualifying at Daytona. It’s kind of been tough ever since. Kyle keeps having problems every week. I think they would probably run just as well as Austin Dillon if they weren’t having the issues.”

Kyle Busch is currently on track not to make the playoffs. After nine races, he stands 27th in the standings.

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Written by

Aaradhya Singh

Edited by

Yask Kotak