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“.. Because He Could Fit the Sponsor” – Hendrick Motorsports Kicked “Punk” Kyle Busch Out To Make Way for “Wholesome” Dale Earnhardt Jr

Published 10/06/2022, 1:15 PM EDT

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Before Kyle Busch spent 15 years with Joe Gibbs Racing, he used to race for their bitter rivals, Hendrick Motorsports. But after racing with Hendrick for a few seasons, he found himself without a ride. During an interview, Busch explains the reason why he was replaced by none other than Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Busch said, “So, from 2000, yeah 2000, I was in Hendrick from 2005, six, seven, and during that time frame, I was a little bit of a punk and I’d make myself an idiot on TV here or there whatever. I had Kellogs as a sponsor and they didn’t really like that too much and they wanted a more wholesome type guy and whatever right, so yeah.”

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Busch essentially pointed it out that Hendrick chose someone who was boring after being unable to handle his punk-like personality.

Kyle Busch explains why he was kicked out when Hendrick brought in Dale Earnhardt Jr

Further, into the interview, the future Richard Childress Racing driver explained how he was kicked out over the other driver at Hendrick Motorsport. Despite the fact that Busch had already won multiple Cup Series races while the other had not even won a single Cup Series race yet.

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Busch stated, “Anyways I was gonna lose my sponsor, so that was essentially gonna lose my job. But Junior was also leaving DEI and trying to find somewhere that he was gonna go and have his new home to race. So him coming in and me having a kind of a rough patch going, it was easy for them to say, Kyle’s out, over.”

He continued, “The other guy that was there, they kept another guy that ain’t never won a Cup race. I was a winner and I was a four-time winner in the Cup Series and the other guy never won a race. So they kept him over me just because he could fit the sponsor. Kellogs stayed with that other guy.”

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WATCH THIS STORY: What Is the Kyle Busch Rule?

However, since that, a long time has passed, but the animosity towards Hendrick cars on track remains. Busch eventually came out on top, if the number of championships won in the series is to be a determining factor.

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Written by:

Srijan Mandal

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Srijan Mandal is a NASCAR author at EssentiallySports. He is currently pursuing his Master’s in Journalism and has been writing for his own blog as well, covering NASCAR, F1, F2, W Series, MotoGP, DTM, IndyCar, WRC, and WEC. Following motorsports for more than a decade, he has become a devout supporter of McLaren Racing, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Bubba Wallace, Sir Lewis Hamilton, and Ayrton Senna.
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Edited by:

Nizamul Haque Bhuyan