Dale Earnhardt Jr. has a long memory, and he sees a certain poetic justice in the struggles currently plaguing his old rival, Kyle Busch. In the world of NASCAR, where fortunes turn on a dime, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is pointing out that karma might have finally caught up to Rowdy, who once didn’t have many kind words to spare for Dale Jr.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. recalls when Kyle Busch said some inconsiderate things about him

During the latest episode of the Dale Jr. Download, Earnhardt Jr. recalled how back in 2009, when the former HMS driver was struggling to get results going and a crew chief crisis on the side, Busch made some inconsiderate comments.

“I’ll be honest, a long time ago, there was a bit of a spat between me and him that was kind of ongoing. I was struggling with Lance, and we were between crew chiefs. And he said to the media, he said, ‘It’s never the crew chief’s fault’, or, ‘It’s never Dale’s fault. It’s always the crew chief. It’s never Dale’s fault, is it?’ You know, really s***ty thing, and I mean, it’s kind of what he’s dealing with now. It’s very similar. He’s in a bad spot. He’s in a car that ain’t going. His teammate is doing better, getting the better results,” Earnhardt described.

To Earnhardt’s point, a lot of struggles for the #8 team this year have come because of the car itself. On many occasions this season, Busch has vented out his frustrations about the way his car has felt or behaved or set up, all of which is down to the crew chief. And because of the struggles they’ve had with the car, it has reflected in their results as well.

In the first nine races this season, Busch has just three finishes inside the top 20. The rest of the six are all outside the top 20. But in the same equipment, his teammate, Austin Dillon, has five finishes inside the top 20.

The comments from Busch, which Earnhardt mentioned, came in 2009 in the middle of the 2009 season, which was one of Dale Jr.’s most difficult at that point. The 2009 season was so bad for Junior that his crew chief, Tony Eury Jr., was shown the exit door in May, and in his place, Lance McGrew was brought in.

But things continued to stay bad for the #88 driver as McGrew’s pit calls and car setups often led to rants from Earnhardt over the radio, not to mention bad results. In 2009, he had a couple of top 5 finishes and three top 10s.

In May of that year, as Earnhardt was struggling with a string of bad results, a new crew chief, and mounting expectations from fans, Busch claimed, “If [Earnhardt] doesn’t run well, then he’s (crew chief) going to be the problem again. It’s never Junior, it’s always the crew chief.”

But then, Busch’s comments didn’t come without context. After all, it was right after the 2008 period when the feud between the two drivers also began.

However, years later, the two drivers have settled their differences. Earnhardt now hopes his former rival can figure out his woes. And one way the former HMS driver believes that could happen could be through a sensational move away from Richard Childress’ team as early as next summer.

Earnhardt Jr. makes major prediction for Busch’s future away from RCR

Speaking on his podcast, Dale Earnhardt Jr. expressed ‘a weird feeling’ regarding Kyle Busch ending up at Spire Motorsports sooner than later. “They would probably absolutely take him. I could see him getting over there. I believe it happens, and it could be next year. He’s not got a long-term deal at RCR that I know of. That is the story moving forward. And I believe that’s what happens in the summer,” Earnhardt claimed.

He mentioned that before his days in NASCAR are done, Kyle Busch would get in a competitive car once again and prove that he’s still the guy who has all the major records and wins to his name.

Moreover, Dale Jr. claimed that Spire is also a team that could satisfy Busch’s financial demands. Currently, he’s the highest-paid driver in Cup with a reported salary of close to $16M. Earnhardt believed Spire is the place Busch could land the contract he’s looking for, along with having a relatively fast car.

After all, Spire has already had four top 5s and three top 10s between the #7, the #71, and the #77 car this season. Earnhardt believed going to Spire would give Busch the opportunities to win again while also being able to race in the Truck Series as well.

So it’ll be interesting to see if Dale Jr.’s prediction about Busch’s future comes  true this summer. Either way, it is clear that, unlike Kyle Busch, Dale Jr. is being quite graceful about handling the #8 driver’s ongoing rough phase, something Busch didn’t do back in 2009 for Earnhardt Jr.