Denny Hamlin has been actively talking about Kyle Busch lately throughout the past week. Just when the war of words seemed to be cooling, Hamlin took a jab in Busch’s direction. But this time, it is for his fandom.

Denny Hamlin tries to sympathize with Kyle Busch’s fandom

When he was asked about the driver whose fandom is suffering the most, Hamlin had a straightforward answer. Pointing fingers towards Kyle Busch on his podcast, Actions Detrimental with Denny Hamlin, the No. 11 driver says,

“I mean, the Kyle Busch fans are going through it right now. And that’s for sure. I was as gentle as I felt like I should have been. No, y’all are going to just keep going.”

It is a no-brainer statement by Hamlin. The fans of Kyle Busch were heavily inclined towards his ‘Rowdy’ demeanor and his success. But lately, Busch has been far away from the victory lane. His last victory came in June 2023. Since then, Busch has never been able to reach the speeds he once showed in his career.

For three years, Busch has failed to qualify for the playoffs. Hence, it is quite evident that fans are slowly starting to give up on his face. Many fans are actively asking Kyle Busch to end his career instead of disgracing it with last-place finishes.

If we take a look at his race results from this season, Busch has finished only three races in the top 20 out of the nine races this season. All while his competitor, Denny Hamlin, earns multiple top 5s.

Talking about Busch’s P35 finish from Kansas, Hamlin says, “It’s tough. I mean, I don’t need to know. Where’d he finish this weekend? I knew they weren’t having a good day because I saw them a lot. So, I don’t know. They’re just trying to figure it out. Son of a gun. Yeah, there’s not much you can say there. It’s just that I’m rooting for him. Let’s go. 8.”

But more than Hamlin’s support towards Kyle Busch and his empathy for his fans, there was something else worth noticing.

Hamlin was rather apprehensive about mentioning his name throughout the conversation. And rightfully so. After all, Busch publicly threatened to ‘make life hell’ for Denny Hamlin on track when he tried to poke his nose in Busch’s performance earlier. The NASCAR fandom has been witnessing a strange change in attitude among these former teammates for the past month.

At first, Kyle Busch was incredibly supportive of Denny Hamlin surpassing his NASCAR Cup Series legacy. On the other hand, Hamlin was nonchalant and confident that Busch’s legacy would not be easy to surpass. Yet somehow, one comment changed everything between them. When his co-host reminded him that many former drivers agree with his views, the JGR ace tried to connect with the fans in a more sympathetic way.

It is quite evident that Hamlin does not want to provoke Busch and end up making his days on track worse, even though he has a great car to support his pace.

While Hamlin feels sorry for Busch and his fans, it’s not like he was having a better day after what transpired in Kansas.

Denny Hamlin feels the Monday blues after a disastrous restart in Kansas

Perhaps Hamlin’s empathy for Busch’s fans stems from his own fresh taste of disappointment as he lost out on a straightforward victory at Kansas last weekend. He was leading comfortably, yet somehow, a back marker ahead of him spun out, causing NASCAR to raise the caution flags. It has happened with Denny Hamlin multiple times in the past, and it ended up happening again. Hamlin lost out on the restart and the race victory, too.

On his podcast, Hamlin reveals that the effect of the situation was so bad that his frustration knew no bounds on Monday. “Gosh, I am trying to figure out how I can. I woke up mad. And it’s Monday. Just not the way to be.” When his co-host pressed further, Hamlin also confessed that he went to sleep all frustrated about his race.

Kansas was definitely reminiscent of Denny Hamlin’s tough luck in the NASCAR Cup Series with its overtime finishes. The No. 11 driver was trying to put the entire blame on Rick Ware Racing at first and slam Cody Ware for being the guy who ruined his race.

After some explanation from the team and getting called out by the fans for being unfair to the backmarkers, Hamlin ended up backing down from his opinion. But in the end, it looks like the hurt from losing the win after coming close again never really left Denny Hamlin’s mind.