#18-Kyle Busch says he is not taking back radio chatter in which he threatened to kill JGR teammate #11-Denny Hamlin after some hard driving in the All-Star race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Busch insisted Thursday that he and Hamlin have moved on from last week’s incident. Hamlin was leading late in the race when he blocked Busch’s run. The defensive driving caused Busch to hit the wall, and he later got a flat tire that led to a race-ending wreck. Busch was so angry afterward, he warned his team he was going to kill Hamlin. Busch went directly to Hamlin’s hauler after his accident, and team owner Joe Gibbs mediated a post-race meeting with his drivers. Busch says his threat was out of anger, but not literal, and he’s moved past the incident.(Associated Press)(5-27-2010)
Hamlin comments: Denny Hamlin didn’t just throw Kyle Busch under the bus Thursday, he ran over him with it. “For me, I’m over the Denny Hamlin issue,” Busch said Thursday at Charlotte Motor Speedway, where he made his first public comments on the issue. “It’s done, we’re moving forward and we look forward to the rest of the year and the [Coca-Cola] 600 this weekend.” Hamlin, however, was considerably more blunt when discussing his feelings towards his teammate. “I definitely wouldn’t change anything that I would do and nobody in my position would,” said Hamlin. “I challenge anyone to be in that position and to change the way that I drove. The thing is that he [Busch] was never there, there was never a hole for his car to fit in, so he has a gas pedal and a brake just like I do. He could choose to check up and pass me in the next corner or put his car in the fence like what happened.” And from there, he was off and running. Asked if he’d work with Busch, Hamlin indicated his displeasure with his hot-tempered teammate. “I’m not going to put too much effort in it, to be honest with you,” Hamlin said. “Kyle brings this stuff up himself and he gets mad at the media for asking him questions about his blow-ups and stuff, but he does it to himself. I don’t want to be part of it. Any drama that he wants to create or anything is on him. Anything he says on the radio is on him. [That’s] all I’m going to say and I’m going to be done with it. Each year I think Kyle’s going to grow out of it and he just doesn’t. Until he puts it all together, that’s when he’ll become a champion. Right now he just doesn’t have himself all together.” And then, for good measure, this little bon mot: “I didn’t say that I was going to take over this team or be the leader of this team, but somebody’s got to be the leader’Âit ain’t going to be Kyle.”(Ford Racing)(5-30-2010)
