"Kyle Busch's frustrated in general" - Denny Hamlin on how RCR driver could have avoided fight with Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

NASCAR veteran Denny Hamlin believes that his former teammate Kyle Busch could have avoided the All-Star clash with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. if not for "his emotions getting the better of him." Busch and Stenhouse were engaged in a frantic brawl post the All-Star race on Sunday.

With NASCAR action returning to the iconic North Wilkesboro Speedway, the limelight was on drivers competing in the exhibition race to claim the coveted $1 million prize. However, despite Joey Logano's emphatic victory on Sunday, it was Kyle Busch and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. who stole the spotlight.

The drama began when Busch, piloting his No. 8 Chevy, bumped into Stenhouse's No. 47, sending the car slamming into the perimeter wall. As a result of the crash, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was knocked out of the race after just two laps.

In retaliation, Stenhouse walked up to Busch's trailer post-race before engaging in a verbal confrontation with the RCR driver. The altercation quickly turned physical as the JTG Daugherty Racing driver connected a right hook on Busch's face, resulting in a massive brawl.

Reflecting on the incident following the race, Joe Gibbs Racing veteran Denny Hamlin dissected on the reasoning behind Kyle Busch's actions in the second lap. Speaking on a recent episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast, Hamlin highlighted Busch's poor run of form this season, stating:

"I think that Kyle's frustrated in general, right now, in life. He's frustrated on track because he feels he should be running better than he is. I think he should be as well. I think that he's in a different situation than he was in for many many years. [48:30 onwards]

"He's trying his best to carry this thing as far he can carry it. But your emotions get the best of you at times, and I think it got the best of him in Turn 2 when he knocked Ricky into the fence."

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver added:

"Did he think that Ricky was going to get loose and nose it in? No. I think that he thought, 'I'm just gonna spin the f*** around here and we're just gonna go our way.' But it certainly was more than that."

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Kyle Busch was about to apologise to Ricky Stenhouse Jr., states Denny Hamlin

Recounting the moment when Busch and Stenhouse were engaged in a verbal battle before Stenhouse turned physical, Hamlin believes that Kyle Busch could have avoided the physical confrontation by apologising to the former Daytona 500 winner. Hamlin said:

"When they first met face-to-face, Kyle saying ‘Oh my god Ricky, I am so sorry. I screwed up. You are so right,' that was the only way he was not going to get punched. [50:30 onwards]

"It was the only way because I thought Kyle didn’t really justify anything. He was like, right before the punch, you heard him saying, because Ricky said, ‘Go look at it. I never touched you.’ (Kyle said) ‘Well, if that happened,’ — boom."

Denny Hamlin believes that, at this juncture, his former teammate was about to apologise to Ricky Stenhouse Jr. before he was smacked in the face. Hamlin said:

"He was just about to make the turn into the relationship where he was like, ‘Okay, you’re right, I’ll apologize, I’ll look at it. If that what happened, sorry.’ He just never got the chance to say it, because Ricky saw the opportunity to throw this punch, starting to dwindle."

Kyle Busch is ranked 13th in the NASCAR Cup Series this season. He finished 10th in Sunday's All-Star race.