Denny Hamlin disputes speculation that Next Gen car is holding Kyle Busch back

Denny Hamlin tried making sense of Kyle Busch’s struggles over the last year, but he’s not willing to blame the Next Gen car for any of them.

Some have theorized that a difficulty adapting to the new car has been the culprit for Busch’s falloff over the past season and change. However, Hamlin wasn’t willing to give into that reasoning, believing that “great race car drivers can adapt to whatever they’re driving,” and Busch is certainly a great race car driver.

“I don’t know, I don’t buy that,” Hamlin said, regarding whether Busch’s struggles can be blamed on the Next Gen car, via the latest episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast. “Simply because, great race car drivers can adapt to whatever they’re driving. I just feel as though, you know, he’s going running dirt now, like, surely he’s gotten much better at that, but like, you’re just going from Gen Six to Gen Seven, and while Next Gen, yes, is quite a bit different, I mean, we’ve been doing this now for three years. Surely you’ve been able to adapt by now.

“I just, I don’t necessarily buy that Kyle Busch’s style doesn’t fit this car. I just think that, as great drivers, they can figure it out and they’ll adapt. So, I think there’s been other factors now. I think, for the first couple years, I mean, he was at Joe Gibbs Racing, he didn’t win very much in those Next Gen times, but I don’t know. I just think, yes, there’s a learning curve for all of us there, you know, figuring out how much we can hang the car out. What does it need to go fast, but he’s got enough races under his belt now, where I just wouldn’t pin it on, ‘Well, it’s just, it’s his style, and it doesn’t fit.’ Everyone changes their style.

“You know, we have to change our style weekly, going from track A to track B, to then the following week track C. That’s totally different. We always have to change our style.”

Evidently, Denny Hamlin is expecting more out of his former teammate, and Kyle Busch would likely state the same belief in himself. That’s what’s been so frustrating for the No. 8 team.

Perhaps he can end a difficult season with a win, and extend his streak of winning in consecutive NASCAR Cup seasons to 20. If he’s unable to do so, it would be disappointing, as the veteran’s streak is one of the more impressive stats in not just NASCAR, but in all of sports.