Kyle Busch: “Funny How Denny Hamlin Changes His Mind”

It was very emotional in Joe Gibbs’ garage after today’s Daytona 500 race. Emotions were mixed, and both sorrow and joy could be seen on the faces of all who are in this team.

Joe Gibbs’ Racing marked this episode of the Great American Race, with a dominant 1-2-3 sweep conquering the podium. Denny Hamlin won again after two years of absence, and his win had a totally different purpose today.

Some of the people were crying. One of the greatest achievement in the history of NASCAR, will be celebrated without a person who set the foundations of this team. J.D. Gibbs lost his battle against a vicious neurological disease previous month, and for all the personnel in JGR, today was the day to honor their late owner.

“We are desperately going to miss him the rest of our lives. His legacy still lives on through Joe Gibbs Racing and proud to do this for them,” said Hamlin about J.D. Gibbs.

RT TO CONGRATULATE DENNY HAMLIN ON HIS DAYTONA 500 WIN! pic.twitter.com/KCSDG0ewVq

— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) February 18, 2019

This was a huge deal for a guy who was discovered and established by his late boss. Back in the days, Hamlin was trying to make a name for himself having test drives at North Carolina’s Hickory Motor Speedway when J.D. Gibbs noticed the 23-year old youngster at that time. He was willing to give him a chance, which eventually turned out to be a great partnership ever since.

It is why Hamlin couldn’t be cool while giving the interview after the race and was constantly under a huge rush of emotions.

“The whole family, they did so much for me over the course of my career, and this one is for J.D,” he said.

Besides, now 38-year old Hamlin, his teammates Kyle Busch and Erik Jones were second and third, making this a perfect weekend for JGR, and a wonderful tribute to J.D.

An achievement like this one hasn’t been seen since 1997, and Hendrick Motorsports when Jeff Gordon, Terry Labonte, and Ricky Craven did the same thing.

Unlike Hamlin, Kyle Busch didn’t win for the 14th straight time here, and he was a bit disappointed after the race, saying that this was the perfect chance for him to finally clinch a victory here.

“This was probably the best shot to win,” said Busch, who led four times for 37 laps. “Being up front that much at the end of the race and having the track position and being in those positions on those restarts.”

But what drew a lot of attention was his remark on Hamlin’s behavior. During the race, the winner refused to work together with Buch, saying that he wants to race when was behind his teammate.

But in the moments, when he got the lead, and the battle was entering the final stage, Hamlin suddenly changed his mind about being competitive and asked the team “to go back into teammate preservation mode,” to cite the exact phrase.

Busch didn’t want to get into details a lot, but his reaction was very well recorded, and the social media are already full of responses and comments about this situation.

“Kind of funny how it swaps back and forth a little bit, but it is what it is,” Busch said about his teammate’s opinion.

The race was also marked with a huge 21-car crash chaos which started after Paul Menard turned Matt DiBenedetto’s vehicle, which later hit into the wall, causing all the hell to break loose behind.

Cars kept aiming to one another, some of them were spinning and rolling, but fortunately, nobody got injured.

The track was covered with numerous parts of demolished vehicles, and it was very hard for all the drivers to give their best under these circumstances. When we add the fact that one of the trucks in charge of cleaning the surface from oil stains broke down, you might get a better picture of the turmoil that happened today in Florida.

All in all, another spectacle is over, and we are anxiously waiting for the next one to begin. The upcoming event is scheduled for 24th of February in Atlanta – Folds of Honor Quiktrip 500.