“It Is the Sport’s Most Popular” – When Kyle Busch Called Out NASCAR’s Bias Towards Dale Earnhardt Jr

It was a time when the famous rivalry was still prevalent in NASCAR. We’re obviously talking about the epic feud between the household names of the NASCAR Cup Series, Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

It was the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Matt Kenseth was not happy about being black-flagged. Alongside him, #18 driver, Kyle Busch, was also upset with the NASCAR officials when he finished third in the race.

The #18 driver believed that he finished second and was ahead of Dale Jr.

As just before the race ended, wrecks erupted behind the top fives, which ended the race in caution. Jimmie Johnson ended the race as a winner in an overtime finish and this led to an in-car radio chatter between Busch and #18 team.

“You should be P2,” Busch’s spotter Tony Hirschman said. “It’s official.”

Although Dale Jr’s spotter T.J. Majors disagreed and told Earnhardt, “Get it slowed down here, I believe you beat the 18 as well. Yep, 88-18, good job buddy, P2.”

After this, the crew chief of #18, Adam Stevens, said, “You were ahead of him the whole time, he (Dale Jr) was never ahead of us.”

To this Busch replied, “He did get ahead of us, but when the caution came out, they’re supposed to go by video, not by loop data. And when the caution came out, I was ahead of him. So — it is the sport’s most popular.”

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JGR driver claimed that it was a biased result and was done by NASCAR on purpose, because of Dale Jr’s fanbase. The same fans who spoke evil of Busch back in 2008.

What happened with Kyle Busch in 2008?

Back in 2008, at Richmond Raceway, both the NASCAR Cup Series driver, Kyle Busch, and Dale Jr was battling for the lead.

The battle resulted in a crash with only a few laps remaining when Busch spun Earnhardt Jr while the latter was looking for his first win since 2006.

Because of this incident, Dale Junior fans all over were extremely unhappy. And they started sending out death threats to Busch for the rest of the 2008 season. After a decade-long feud, both the drivers and the owners of NASCAR teams finally talked about their rivalry in a podcast by Dale Jr.

WATCH THIS STORY: NASCAR journalist clears the air on the controversial Denny Hamlin-Kyle Busch disqualification

However, as things stand, the rivalry is finally over and both of them have moved on. They even shared donuts and beers while talking on the podcast in 2018.