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Denny Hamlin Discloses How 2003 Cup Champ Pushed Kyle Busch’s Buttons Over Age Old Feud: ”No Way He Actually Wanted to Fight Carl [Edwards]”

Published 05/16/2023, 4:19 PM EDT

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via Imago

Roll back a couple of years and you’ll see how tough the competition was back then in Cup Series. And one team seamlessly captured fans’ imagination by incorporating some of the best drivers alongside each other, racing for the same team. Joe Gibbs Racing has always been a top team in NASCAR as they always come out with an excellent array of drivers.

Recently, JGR driver Denny Hamlin has come out with his super popular Action Detrimental. This time around Hamlin has shared a lesser-known tale from his early days in the team involving none other than the “rowdy.”

Joining his co-host on the studio floor. Hamlin shares a rather fascinating story about his former teammate, Kyle Busch, and his former rival, Carl Edwards, mentioning an unsuspecting instigator.

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Denny Hamlin recalls the time when Kyle Busch almost fought Carl Edwards as a former champ called for a showdown

Speaking to his friend and co-host, Jared Allen on the podcast, the community witnessed the driver reminisce about the good old days at JGR. Reflecting on a recent brunch organized by NASCAR where prominent drivers came down with their families, Hamlin shared a fascinating tale about the 2003 Cup Series champ, Matt Kenseth.

Allen urged Hamlin to speak about the event, he even poked the 42-year-old to come up with something for the fans about Carl Edwards. Starting off his response Hamlin briefed about the events and mentioned the “dream team” including Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, and himself.

via Imago

Further, the #11 driver recalled the age-old feud between the “bad boy” and Edwards that rocked the community. While he described the intense confrontation between the two following their Richmond race back in 2016, he also vividly described Kenseth being the instigator, as he perfectly described him as “he wouldn’t shove you not a fight but he’d definitely give you a help.” 

While things got heated between the two after the race, overwhelmed with nostalgia, Hamlin recalled the hilarious rant by Kenseth,They are shouting at each other and Kyle’s like trying to say he wants to fight Carl. There’s no way that he actually wanted to fight Carl and then like saying alright let’s go whatever and then Matt from the top rope over in the corner of the room is like, ‘Let them fight! Let them fight!'”

Edwards took retirement from the sport the next year.

Hamlin reflects on the “dream team” as he shares his gratitude

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Soon as his co-host ticked him off about Edwards, Hamlin went down memory lane as he reminisced about the then-formidable JGR team. As he talked about the event and how everyone was drawn toward Kenseth, excluded with passion, Hamlin reflected on the “dream team.”

It was me, Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch all talking, this was the dream team Joe Gibbs Racing had like 10 years ago.” Furthermore, DH revealed how grateful he was to be a part of such a talented squad for drivers. He said, Holy cr*p, in retrospect thinking, I was like, I can’t believe I was teammates with those three guys like they were so good in like push each other like crazy.”

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Yet another interesting and engaging episode. This is exactly why fans love their champion. It’s these minor untold stories that make their day. What do you think, let us know in the comments below.

WATCH THIS STORY: Denny Hamlin rubbished NASCAR’s fan-favorite $116 million effort with iconic trophy, ready to be dragged. 

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Written by:

Kishore R

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Kishore is a NASCAR Writer at EssentiallySports. With a degree in engineering, Kishore's love for automobiles, particularly the roaring naturally-aspirated V8s, naturally led him to NASCAR. Kishore's writing is characterized by his intense passion for the sport, as well as his ability to conduct in-depth research and analysis.
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Edited by:

Nischal Kandpal