Dale Earnhardt Jr. joins in Kyle Busch’s “hate post” discourse following Darlington heartbreak

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has chimed in on Kyle Busch's "hate post" thread initiated by Dirty Mo Media's X (formerly Twitter) page. The Richard Childress Racing driver was in a must-win situation at Darlington but lost the battle to Chase Briscoe by 0.361 seconds.

The Cook Out Southern 500 disappointed several drivers in the playoff bubble. This included Busch, Bubba Wallace, Ross Chastain, and Chris Buescher, to name a few. Wallace was the polesitter but couldn't maintain dominance throughout the 367-lap battle and settled in 16th place.

The RCR driver, on the other hand, started from the rear of the pack in the 17th but caught up with the frontrunners in the final stage. The final 17 laps saw the two-time Cup Series champion fiercely chase Briscoe for the win. However, due to the underbody aerodynamics of the NextGen car, Busch found it hard to pass the Stewart-Haas Racing rival while being in the wind of the latter's car.

After the Southern 500 got done and dusted, Kyle Busch stood beside his #8 Chevy, sipped electrolytes, and was seemingly frustrated for failing to make the playoffs.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Dirty Mo Media posted a short clip of the same on their X (formerly Twitter) account.

"Defeat for Kyle Busch. He does not qualify for the Playoffs," the caption read.

Busch replied to the video, asking.

"Hate post?"

The podcast's co-host Andrew Kurland clarified the Tweet's purpose and wrote,

"No disrespect was intended. Just a tweet capturing the drama of the regular season cutoff," Kurland replied.

However, Dale Earnhardt Jr. poked fun at Kurland's response and commented.

"Not what you said at the water cooler this morning."

Kyle Busch, Andrew Kurland, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. on X

The 2024 season marks the first time since 2012 that the 39-year-old won't be able to fight for the championship.

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"You just kind of scratched old wound there": Dale Earnhardt Jr. on Alan Kurland's post featuring Kyle Busch

Kyle Busch had a lackuster year since the season-opener at the Daytona International Speedway. Though he missed the win by a slim margin of 0.007 seconds and posted a third-place finish at the next race in Atlanta, his performance dropped in the successive races. He showed signs of promising outcome, but only in a handful of weekends.

Several factors like lack of preparation by RCR, wrecks and mechanical failures plagued his regular season. Busch has collected five top-5, nine top-10s, and has succumbed to five DNFs, thus far.

He inched closer to securing his playoff berth at the Daytona International Speedway, but the last-minute push to Harrison Burton turned the tables in the latter's favor. Busch went flat out to regain the lead but fell shy by 0.047 seconds. The RCR driver got another chance at Darlington but Chase Briscoe disappointed the former.

While discussing about Alan Kurland's post on Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr. said that the two-time Cup Series champion is a "sensitive guy" and that Kurland's social media update "kind of scratched old wound."

"Very sensitive moment. He's a sensitive guy, very defensive guy...You just kind of scratched old wound there, but I know you didn't intend anything. Unfortunately it's Kyle who's in that position but you were pointing out," Junior said via Dirty Mo Media on YouTube (33:24).

If Kyle Busch fails to etch a win this year, it will be his first winless season since his full-time debut in 2005.