After Kyle Busch’s win at Auto Club Speedway, many fans are pointing fingers at Joe Gibbs Racing for letting the talented driver go.
Kyle Busch is certainly happy with his first win of the 2023 season. And so are his fans. Not just because Busch won but also because it is a victory for Busch against JGR after the way departure from JGR came about. Now that Busch has already won his first race with Richard Childress Racing, people can say that they knew this was going to happen.
“Such a shame” – NASCAR drivers react to the last race at Auto Club Speedway
And that’s what is happening, pretty soon than expected, as Busch is now ahead of any other JGR driver in terms of winning.
Busch’s former teammate and JGR No. 11 driver Denny Hamlin, however, tried to give a bigger perspective to Busch’s departure. He said that JGR in fact wanted Busch to stay but the two-time champion didn’t. Speaking on Actions Detrimental with Denny Hamlin, the No. 11 driver said:
” … fans are having a field day with the JGR Twitter right now. ‘See, we told you.’ People have to understand Joe Gibbs wanted to sign Kyle Busch. They really tried, and they gave him a very, very good offer, but he did not want to take it.
” I see them all dragging JGR, and even if I’m unbiased here, this was a tough situation. It was a situation where they wanted him back. That company would cease to exist if they had to pay Kyle what he was demanding. Especially after losing Mars. It would be impossible.”
As Hamlin revealed, Busch’s demands were too much for the company. After Busch’s long-time sponsor, M&M Mars left NASCAR, the two parties failed to reach an agreement and Busch decided to pursue a career elsewhere.
Still driving at a high level, JGR must have expected that this day would certainly come this season.