NASCAR star Denny Hamlin issues brutal assessment of Kyle Busch's shocking form

Denny Hamlin has suggested that Kyle Busch's time as a leading NASCAR driver may simply be over, as his winless streak stretches past 100 Cup Series races.

The two-time Cup champion has had a nightmare spell with Richard Childress Racing since winning three of his first 15 races with the team, not visiting victory lane a single time in the 101 races since that most recent win at Gateway nearly three years ago.

So far this season, things have been even worse than in 2024 and 2025. Eight races in, the two-time champion has yet to achieve a top-10 finish, and the last four races have ended in 28th, 21st, 24th, and 25th-place finishes, the latter of which came at Bristol on Sunday.

Now, Hamlin has pointed out on his Actions Detrimental podcast this week that Busch's decline actually started when they were both teammates at Joe Gibbs Racing, saying that the last couple of years of that partnership were 'not good'.

The 45-year-old insisted that Busch was a more talented driver than him, but that his extended decline means that fans shouldn't expect to see the NASCAR great's win total tick up in the future.

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Denny Hamlin on Kyle Busch decline

Speaking after another disappointing weekend for Busch at Bristol, Hamlin said: “We keep talking about this, but the last couple of years (at Joe Gibbs Racing) was not good; it’s been like this for five years.

"You’re a Hall of Fame, Mount Rushmore driver, and if you’re of the greatest, then carry better than your teammate that’s only won ten races. I think he should be able to do that, but it’s not happening.”

Hamlin continued: “This is just my opinion, and I can’t hold a helmet to Kyle Busch on talent, but I just think that this is not new. He’s struggled for five years now, so we just have to be honest about our expectations.

“If you’re expecting Kyle Busch to just go back to victory lane, you’re going to be very disappointed. I just think that, until we change the car or something changes, something has to change, and I have no idea. I’m not in his shoes. I’m not his crew chief. I’m not his engineer, and I’m not his team owner. I’m not in the weeds.

"I’m just a podcaster that happens to be on the race track around him, and I can say it’s not working. I don’t have the answers, and I think we have to live in this reality for the time being.”

Hamlin, nearly five years Busch's senior, concluded: "I genuinely don't like seeing one of the most polarizing and popular and talented guys in the sport running where he is at right now. But this is the new reality we have to set ourselves in until we see any kind of change.”

Kyle Busch 24th in Cup Series standings

Following Bristol and the poor run of form he's on, Busch currently sits 24th in the latest Cup Series standings.

The two-time champion heads to Kansas sitting on 131 points - 46 points shy of Shane van Gisbergen in 16th, who occupies the final Chase spot at present.

There is still plenty of time to turn things around this season, but with races coming thick and fast, and a contract that expires at the end of the year, Busch has some big weeks and difficult decisions ahead.