"He's not going to win one legitimately": Denny Hamlin doesn't see a well-earned Kyle Busch victory this season 

Denny Hamlin recently shared his thoughts on Kyle Busch's woeful 2024 season. Busch, a two-time Cup champion and a driver who won three races last season, currently finds himself winless and needing a win to make it to the playoffs.

And even though Hamlin can see Busch back in victory lane again, he doesn't see the #8 claiming a well-earned legitimate victory.

Speaking on Actions Detrimental recently, Busch's former teammate said:

"Can he win a race? Yes, absolutely, but not legitimately. He's not going to win one legitimately, and that's just a fact. I apologize to the Kyle Busch fans listening, but we have to be honest with ourselves. I'm not putting this on Kyle. Trust me, I've been teammates with him. The guy is elite; he's great. But you've got to show that you can at least consistently run in the top five to even have a chance to win, and we haven't seen that lately. The speed hasn't been there," Hamlin said. [21:15]

Hamlin pointed to Joey Logano's Nashville win from this season as a reference point for Busch winning a race. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver added that "some crazy s**t" would have to happen for Busch to win a race like Logano did from 17th place.

Hamlin claimed the odds of Kyle Busch winning from 17th place are "very, very low" as factors like fuel mileage and end race chaos would all have to come into play.

"NASCAR racing nowadays is half of what it is (end race chaos). So there's always a chance," the #11 driver said.

Hamlin added that for Busch, he cannot see "a legit possibility" of the #8 driver winning based on what he has seen so far this season from him. He added that he doesn't see Busch becoming the fastest car in one race all of a sudden.

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Denny Hamlin on what Kyle Busch should do in the remaining regular season races to win

As Denny Hamlin claimed he doesn't see Kyle Busch legitimately winning a race, his Actions Detrimental co-host Jared Allen asked him for his opinion on how the RCR driver should approach the remaining races in the regular season. Busch is currently in 19th place in playoff standings, behind Chase Briscoe and Bubba Wallace.

“The only way to approach it is to be a professional and you show up and do your job to the best of your ability. Control what you can control. That’s my advice... if anyone ever wanted to hear it... is that you do the best that you possibly can, and you let the chips fall where they may," Hamlin said. [22:50]

He said that if Busch doesn't have the fastest car, he should try to drive the car to be a couple of spots better.

Hamlin added that Busch could also put himself in a position from which he can capitalize on factors like fuel mileage.