Two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch grinned and acknowledged that this season, his former teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing, Denny Hamlin, has essentially replaced him as the series’ resident “villain.” The three-time DAYTONA 500 winner and last week’s Bristol, Tenn. race winner is now receiving more boos during driver introductions than Busch, who for seasons essentially held the role of NASCAR’s “bad boy.”
“I’m sure I could put myself right back into that category pretty easily, it only takes something spectacular to do, right,’’ said a smiling Busch, whose four Texas wins are most in the field and goes into Sunday afternoon’s race ranked sixth in the championship in his first season driving the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.
“It’s different,’’ he said. “I don’t know if I’ve ever been in this spot because when I first came into this sport, my brother had made a lot of enemies on and off the race track so I was kind of thrown into that right off the bat. But it’s been good to just be in a different light. It’s been fun over at RCR and a lot of people have told me about the excitement around that and me being part of the 8 car.
“Just keep rolling with it. When you’re in that spot – like I was and Denny is – you’ve got to do what Denny is doing. You’ve got to just play with it and just roll with it.
“It’s fun to watch. I’m not the villain anymore.’’
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