Denny Hamlin says Kyle Busch would have been 'p****d' with him matching NASCAR record

NASCAR star Denny Hamlin joked that Kyle Busch would have been p****d off with him matching his Cup Series win total on Sunday.

Hamlin took the 63rd Cup Series victory of his career in Sunday's Firekeepers Casino 400, tying Busch's tally to move joint ninth on the all-time win list.

Honoring his former teammate after matching his record, Hamlin flew a flag with the number 18 (Busch's number while they were teammates at JGR) on while doing his burnouts at the track, with the numbers combining Hamlin's stylized 11 and Busch's stylized 8 used at RCR.

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Denny Hamlin talks matching Kyle Busch record

Speaking after the race, Hamlin was asked whether Busch would have been p****d with the fact he was now tied with him in ninth spot, and he concurred.

"He would have been p****d today, absolutely," Hamlin told the media.

"But I would have said to him, you’ll be around here longer. You’ll get me back."

Hamlin also touched on his celebration, revealing when he came up with the idea to do it and when the plans for it were put into motion.

Denny Hamlin's Kyle Busch tribute

"It started Monday morning, right after the race," Hamlin said, referring to his win at Nashville the week prior. "It was like, okay, it’s something we probably ought to get on because we might win next week, right? So we wanted to be prepared for that.

"Then I’m thinking do I put the 8? I know him as the 18. I don’t know the right thing, right? Then this person owns this font. That person owns this trademark. It’s like we had to have some collaboration, and I appreciate RCR letting us use the stylized 8 with the Joe Gibbs Racing 1. It was just a happy balance that I felt good about when it all came out.

"NASCAR community has kind of just been through it over the last — certainly the last few weeks, but then just generally in the last six, eight months. It’s been tough.

"I just wanted to pay my respects to someone that I really did look up to and taught me so much as a teammate. There’s nothing we can say or do that’s going to make his family feel better, but at least during that little time, you can pay him the respects that he deserves."