Hampton, Ga. — Clean racing has historically been regarded as a sign of respectability, something Kyle Busch openly said the NASCAR Cup Series garage “completely lost” during his media availability Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Busch channeled his comments in response to questions about the latest on-track development between Ross Chastain and Denny Hamlin that resulted in an altercation late last weekend at Phoenix Raceway. NASCAR officials Confirmed Hamlin’s post-race comments on his weekly podcast, where he openly acknowledged that his actions were intentional, contributed to his eventual penalty for the incident.
Connected: Hamlin wrecks Chastain at Phoenix , Hamlin punished
“We have completely lost a sense of respect in the garage area among the drivers,” Busch said. “That’s where the problem lies. No two gives [expletives] About anyone else and it’s just a problem where everyone takes advantage of everyone else as much as they can.
Busch’s frustration was not exclusive to his former longtime Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, but the current culture in premier-series garages as a whole. And he openly admitted that it was not always like this.
“We’re all selfish,” Busch admitted. “But there was an etiquette that lived on here. Mark (Martin) started it, Tony (Stewart) really lived by it, I think Jeff (Gordon) lived by it. … So, I mean Yes, it did exist.
Still one of the veteran leaders in the garage, Busch says his effort at establishing value has fallen on deaf ears—to the extent that he doesn’t even try to fix it anymore.
“I tried to talk to people,” Bush said. “They don’t listen. So, I have lost interest in talking to them.”
As far as his solution and possible repercussions, Busch was straight to the point: “When you intentionally drive over somebody because they played a trick on you or did something you didn’t like, well, you know. , gonna punch you in the face later.