There’s no denying that NASCAR is a sport of families. There’s the Pettys, the Earnhardts, the Allisons, and so on. But is it also a sport of friends? While there could be a case made for both sides to that question, Kyle Busch believes it’s not a sport of friends. And the reason for that is his upbringing.

Kyle Busch has a very Rowdy outlook towards other NASCAR drivers

In a recent interview, Sean Hannity asked Busch if he is friends with other drivers, to which he replied negatively. This humored Hannity, who said he assumed there was ‘a camaraderie’ in the garage.

Busch claimed NASCAR is like ‘a travelling circus’ or ‘a travelling trailer park.’ And because they all have to be in the same place every weekend, some drivers become friends, and some are beforehand, as they grew up racing together, something he also sees happening for his 10-year-old son, Brexton.

But when it comes to him, Kyle Busch revealed how his childhood affected his view on friendships in racing. “I grew up in Vegas, and when I went to the racetrack, I kind of grew up the way of, like, you bring your friends with you, and you hate everybody else that’s there because they’re your competition, right? You want to beat those guys. You want to beat them into the ground. You want to go home with the trophy and the money and come back and do it all again next week,” he described.

Over the years, Busch did go home with a lot of trophies and came back to do it again every weekend. In fact, he has done so over 200 times, more than any other NASCAR driver in history. However, that is not to say that he doesn’t have friends in the sport. It is just that his definition of what a friend is is different.

For someone like Ryan Blaney and Bubba Wallace, who grew up through the ranks of racing each other and progressing all the way up to NASCAR, they remained and maintained their close friendship along the way. In Busch’s case, that came in a different form.

For instance, Busch revealed in an interview about the friendship he shared with the late driver Greg Biffle. “Myself and Greg, we had a really fun relationship; it was really cool. We would go to the sand dunes and stuff like that. He had a big passion for all of that. And he kind of got me hooked in it when we were doing the sand cars and the side-by-sides and stuff. So we spent a lot of time out there,” Busch said.

He has also hashed it out with his former rival Dale Jr., with whom he shared an intense beef in 2007-2008. But a decade later, Busch and Junior cleared the air on an episode of the Dale Jr. Download.

Another driver Busch has shared a long relationship with is Denny Hamlin. He and the #11 driver were teammates for 14 seasons. During that time, while they didn’t develop a friendship where they became best buddies, they did develop a mutual respect for their craft and achievements.

However, Busch’s long-standing relationship built on respect for Hamlin might have taken a big hit recently.

Is the Busch vs. Hamlin rivalry on?

Amid Kyle Busch’s ongoing period of difficulty and winless streak of 101 races since 2023, Denny Hamlin shared his take on the struggles of his former teammate after Bristol. Speaking on Actions Detrimental, Hamlin claimed that Busch simply hasn’t adapted to the Next Gen car.

This led to Busch being confronted with Hamlin’s comments ahead of Kansas, to which the 2x Cup champion said, “He can bash me all he wants, and I can certainly make his life hell.”

Busch’s comments prompted a response from Hamlin first on his X account. The #11 driver stated that as a podcaster, he is doing what the role expects of him, to talk about compelling storylines in the sport.

However, ahead of the race on Sunday, Hamlin provided further clarity on where he stands with Busch’s reaction. “I know that he’s not loving where he’s at because he’s a tough competitor. I’m rooting for him because the sport needs the old Kyle Busch. We need Kyle Busch,” Hamlin said.

So while there could’ve been a potential KB vs. DH in the cards, it doesn’t seem likely after the comments of the JGR driver.

Nevertheless, what remains clear is how Busch views his competition, including Hamlin on any given Sunday, which is that he wants to beat his rivals into the ground, irrespective of them being his friends or former teammates.