Kyle Busch reacts to Denny Hamlin taking over NASCAR villain role

Once upon a time, Kyle Busch was the biggest villain in NASCAR. That title now belongs to Denny Hamlin, Busch’s former Joe Gibbs Racing teammate.

You see, these days, Busch finds himself getting cheered more than ever; perhaps it’s a newfound appreciation for his highly decorated career. But with Hamlin, there’s no confusion; the crowd loves booing him and Hamlin enjoys riling ’em up. Busch joked on Monday’s “Actions Detrimental” podcast that he gave Hamlin the manual.

“Way to go, buddy. Way to go,” Busch said.

Here’s the thing: there are fans who despise winners. Particularly, winners who aren’t afraid to speak their mind. That was Busch, a two-time Cup Series champion who ruffled plenty of feathers in the garage. But that winning part has been hard to come by as of late.

Busch is riding a career-long 69-race winless streak. The Next Gen era hasn’t been kind to “Rowdy,” and he admits it’s part of the reason he’s traded out his black hat for a white one.

“When you can be winning, when you can have the clout to be able to back up what you say, you can do it all. You can act a fool all you want because you can back it up,” Busch said. “I have nothing to back it up right now, so I had to put the black hat on the shelf and pull out the white one.”

Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin dive into villain talk

Hamlin, on the other hand, is one of the more competitive drivers in the field every week. He tells it like it is. And let’s not forget Hamlin’s victory at Martinsville Speedway in March, where he proudly waved an “11 against the world” flag on the hood of his car. Easy to hate, right?

Hamlin is embracing the villain role. Perhaps one day he’ll become the hero, just as Busch has become.

“I think fans are seeing you — especially as a dad — for how you truly are,” Hamlin told Busch. “Sometimes, I thought when you were younger, your fiercest rival was yourself because you were so intense, that people would read that into that’s not really how Kyle is as a person, that’s who he is as a racer. That’s in the ring. You can do that when you do the things he does behind the wheel.”