What happens when two of the most polarizing drivers in NASCAR tangle on a road course? It warrants a whole lot of eyes is what it does. And so happened, as Ross Chastain spun out Kyle Busch on the very last lap of the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway.
Racing for a Top-5 after what seems like an eternity, Busch got Chastain’d out of Turn 4A, simultaneously extending his winless streak to the 37th week running. After the dust settled on a thrilling Wine Country wild ride, the Melon Man would grab that much-needed P5 spot, whereas Rowdy missed the top 10 by only two positions. Frustrated by another dismal outing for her husband, evenSamantha Buschtook to Twitter tochastise Chastain.
Surprisingly, faced with disappointments of his own at Sonoma, an unlikely Denny Hamlin added his voice to the chorus heard around the Busch family. And it seems like Denny’s siding with his former JGR teammate’s woes over Ross Chastain’s resurgence in this opportune instance.
Denny Hamlin weighs in on Ross Chastain’s bump-and-run on Kyle Busch
Most opine that the Melon Man dumped Kyle Busch out of the top 5 contention. Speaking to FOX post-race, the man himself, claimed total sincerity, as he said, “I’m not sure what happened with the 8, either…” The situation in itself is barely that simple. Trailing the #8 RCR Chevy, Chastain made a thunderous advance behind Busch’s car on Turn 4A of the repaved racetrack hoping to overtake on the corner. But as PRN later posted an update through social media, “Ross Chastain says he locked up the tires and hit Kyle Busch” on that same pass.
This irked Samantha Busch quite a bit. Owing to the recent dismal fortunes of her husband, and the constant scrutiny, Samantha came to Kyle’s defense with a condescending tweet targeted toward Chastin which read, “Locked up my tires” aka over drove the corner.” On the contrary, Rowdy was seen limping on fumes across the finish line.
This brought forth something else, Denny Hamlin questioned it best on the post-race release of his podcast as he told co-host Jared Allen, “I knew that a top five was on the line and honestly other than driver ego, and we definitely have that, like what’s the difference between fifth and sixth? It’s one point, but I just knew that the #1 was going to go for it. Now, I don’t know, what we don’t know, is that because he came from entirely too far back in turn four to run into Kyle. Was Kyle running out of gas?
After ending his day on Lap 3 due to a blown engine, it is safe to say, that the #11 driver had a much more stable perspective than those watching the action from their respective screens. Yet, he explained his thought process further giving Ross the benefit of the doubt, as he stated, Because he was two car lengths behind, entering turn four. There is no Rhyme or Reason you should even be close to being beside somebody in the middle of turn four. Just trust me on this. I drive, I race, I understand.”
Concluding his sentiments, Denny concurred with the first lady of the Busch household, albeit with some confusion on the follow-up: “You might close it to one car length if you really drive it in. There’s no Rhyme or Reason he (Chastain) should have been beside the eight unless he entirely missed the corner like by a mile, that is a possibility, or the #8 had stumbling issues…”
As a safety measure for his words often being taken out of context, Denny would reiterate himself one last time, clearly elaborating, “Listen the #1 blew the corner, no matter how you look at it. He wasn’t going to. I mean, he drove up way beyond the rumbles and there’s no disputing that. It’s just a matter of: did Kyle not help his own cause by running out in that spot.”
But Kyle was instead ‘frustrated’ for not claiming the finish that he “deserved.” However, some would agree that turning a P29 starting spot into a P12 finish is more than enough based on a dismal 2024 season overall for Richard Childress Racing. Nevertheless, they weren’t the only former champions struggling big-time at Sonoma. Denny Hamlin’s team, Joe Gibs Racing had their woes come out much similar to those faced by RCR on that given day.
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