The 2023 NASCAR Cup Season has seen its fair share of controversies, but the new trend of drivers taking each other out looks to be the biggest issue in NASCAR, and Kyle Busch believes that last Sunday's race at Pocono only added more fuel to that fire.
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The two-time Cup Series Champion already made it very clear earlier this season that there isn't much respect around the garage area in the Cup Series. Well, now it seems things are far worse than that. According to Busch, this new "dirty" racing style isn't helping the sport.
Busch made an appearance on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio to share his growing concern about what he calls a dirty racing problem, and why Sunday's incident between Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson only proves his point.
Busch was also very critical of his former teammate Hamlin, and believes he could have handled the situation better.
"Could Denny have done that differently, and race it out, and raced it clean, and done a side-draft down the backstretch, and seen where everybody kind of positioned in the next turn," Busch said. "Sure, there's a way that you can run clean, and you can race side-by-side, but all you're going to do is draw in the competition behind you."
Kyle Busch Says Denny Hamlin Isn't The Only One Racing Dirty
Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
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Busch then further elaborated on how concerning the way the younger drivers in the Cup Series tend to race more aggressive, and are being taught in a way that makes a dirty driving style more common.
🗣️ @KyleBusch points to the younger generation and "a vicious cycle" as a big reason why Cup races unfold differently nowadays.
💭 "It's just a different form of racing. I don't know whether you call it dirty or call it greedy. I think it's both of those things." #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/9ZodoTOWd7
— SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) (@SiriusXMNASCAR) July 26, 2023
"It's just a different dynamic," Busch said. "With the competition being closer and the cars being closer, you have to mess up the guy that you're racing, that you're around. You have to push him out of the groove."
It's far from the eras of old, and Busch mentioned how some of the veterans drivers raced when he was a rookie and an upstart youngster. The NASCAR driver feels that Hall of Fame drivers used to race a lot cleaner and with respect.
"It's a hell of a lot more damn exciting I guess, than it once was in the Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, Rusty Wallace, Bobby Labonte era, where you know, the racing was a lot cleaner. You gave each other room, and if a faster car caught you, you let them go. You hoped for the same favor later," Busch said. "Nowadays if they catch you, your to busy trying to hold them off for a long as you can, and mess them up so they can't get by you, because track position means everything."
Busch makes a very valid point, and it sure seems like this is the new normal in the sport. The real question that remains is how long before NASCAR steps up and steps in and puts a stop to what seems to be weekly nonsense.
