I figured the list would be longer, to be honest.
Kyle Busch is a polarizing figure in NASCAR. For most of his career, I think it’s safe to say he was one of the most hated drivers in the Cup Series thanks to his hard-nosed racing and unapologetic – and even defiant – attitude. He rubbed people the wrong way, but he won races. A lot of them.
Over the past few years, Kyle has struggled to find the same level of success that he expects, and that fans expect of him, as a two-time Cup Series champion. But it seems like fans have softened on him some, and while he’s still not exactly a fan favorite, I think it’s safe to say that most NASCAR fans want to see him get back to old form and compete for wins again. (Personally I think when he does finally get back to Victory Lane it will be one of the more popular wins we’ve seen in recent NASCAR history).
Of course Kyle is also closer to the end of his career than he is to the beginning, and over his 22 seasons in the Cup Series, he’s made his fair share of enemies along the way.
Just last week at Bristol, Busch was involved in an incident with 23XI Racing driver Riley Herbst, admitting that he intentionally spun out the #35 car at the end of the race after Herbst had wrecked him earlier in the day. And over the years he’s been involved in several high-profile feuds, with drivers like Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin (while the two were teammates), Kevin Harvick, and more recently, Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Of course his most notable feud came with Joey Logano, which came to a head back in 2017 when Logano wrecked Busch coming to the checkered flag at Las Vegas. Busch confronted Logano on pit road after the race and walked away bloody after the #22 crew jumped into the brawl.
Busch also had a heated rivalry with Brad Keselowski after numerous on-track incidents, with Keselowski even dropping an all-timer during his driver intro at Bristol in 2010:
So you probably won’t be surprised to learn that Kyle isn’t exactly a fan of either of those drivers.
During a recent appearance on FOX News Media’s Hang Out with Sean Hannity podcast, Busch was asked about his NASCAR “hate list,” and both Logano and Keselowski were the first to names to come to mind:
“Logano is on it, and Brad Keselowski. He was on it really hard and heavy a few years ago. Him and I got into a few battles, probably some of the YouTube videos you’ve pulled up and watched. Hocevar’s probably another one that I just don’t see – I just don’t see eye to eye with those guys.
They’ve got different ways of how they go about their business versus what I do, and I just don’t like it.”
Busch admits that the rivalries stem from other drivers who are as aggressive as he is, but that given his competitive nature, it doesn’t really lend itself to making friends with his fellow drivers:
“I mean, we’re a traveling circus — or a traveling trailer park, whichever you want to call it — because we’re in the same motorhome lot every single weekend. … The general gist is we’re all a traveling trailer park. But no, there are some guys that are friends, and they’ve hung out together because they grew up racing together. So like my son — he’s 10 years old — he started racing with some of his buddies, and they hang out and they talk and whatnot.
But 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.”
(Hannity also admits that he has the same mentality with his rival networks like CNN and “MSDNC”).
It’s pretty clear that Busch hasn’t lost any of his competitive fire, which makes it all the more frustrating to see him struggle on the track. But I have a feeling when he does finally find his way back to Victory Lane, it’s going to be a pretty popular win. Well, unless you’re Logano, Keselowski, or Hocevar.
The full interview between Hannity and Busch comes out tomorrow, April 21, and I have a feeling it’s going to be a must-watch.
