Kyle Busch Rips NASCAR Drivers, Denny Hamlin Fights Back, Hooters Girls Miss Chase Elliott, Wife Airs Dirty Laundry
Everybody is angry, NASCAR is no longer in a forgiving mood, there's no respect in the garage and all of Hendrick Motorsports is on an unpaid vacation.
And they said spring was the season of hope and optimism!
What a week of tension in the NASCAR world. From Denny Hamlin basically incriminating himself in the name of ratings, to Kyle Busch trashing everyone in the garage, to NASCAR dropping the hammer on its winningest team, it was a doozy.
Hell, that was all before the green flag dropped at Atlanta!
Elsewhere, we had pesky little race Sunday, which was pretty boring for the first two stages and then took off like rocket ship over the final hour. In the end, Joey Logano whipped out the restrictor plate racing textbook and perfectly executed a last-lap pass to take the checkers.
Yeah, there's obviously a lot to get to this morning. So let's get the ball rolling, huh?
Four tires, enough fuel to get us where we're going, and maybe a sweat rag because the temp is turned way up right now ... Monday Morning Pit-Stop - the 'It's Only March And Everyone Is Already On Edge' edition - is LIVE.
Denny Hamlin ain't going down without a fight. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)
Denny Hamlin chooses to fight NASCAR
This was the big story all week, and it ain't over yet.
For those who don't listen - or know how to listen - to Denny's podcast, he went on it last week and basically said he tried to wreck Ross Chastain on the final lap at Phoenix.
If you read this award-winning column last Monday, you'd know what he's talking about. Feel free to check it out here and then come back to class more prepared next time.
Anyway, here's the clip that NASCAR flagged as an 'Uh-Oh' and led to the sanctioning body fining Wreckin' Denny a measly $50,000 and docking him 25 points.
Now, was there an actual wreck with Chastain spinning and NASCAR throwing a caution? No. Definitely not.
But, NASCAR deemed that footage, combined with Denny's admission on his podcast, enough of a smoking gun to lay down the law.
Hamlin, by the way, ain't happy about it, either. He initially said he was gonna let it go, but then said JK and instead is appealing the decision.
And you know what? I think I'm Team Denny, here. Stop being such a stick in the mud, NASCAR. My God. The garage notoriously polices itself and doesn't need daddy to step in and whip some ass, so don't start now.
Momma don't lie!
Daniel Suarez rips Hamlin, who then nearly rips his pants
While we await NASCAR's decision on Denny Hamlin, let's check in with Chastain's Trackhouse Racing teammate, Daniel Suarez.
And I'm sure Danny will give us the usual PR line, right?
Whoops!
Love Daniel Suarez, by the way. Guy is so good for NASCAR. Not afraid to take a little jab at anyone in the garage, and now that he finally won a race last year he has the street cred to really let it rip.
Suarez makes a decent point here, too, although I'm still not swayed. Instead of NASCAR throwing down a petty fine, why don't the white suits let Chastain punt Denny into next week at some point down the road and it'll all be even? That's the way my grandaddy's NASCAR was, anyways.
OK, here's a video of Denny Hamlin nearly pooping his pants to lighten the mood. Didn't see that twist coming, did you!?
Kyle Busch says NASCAR is out of control
Denny isn't the only one taking a sh*t on the sport right now! Old teammate Kyle Busch decided to pop a squat right next to him and, presumably, right on him!
"Nobody gives two sh*ts about anybody else," Rowdy said. "That's where the problem lies. We're are all selfish, granted, but there was an etiquette that once did live by here."
How about that legendary list of names Kyle Busch just rattled off, too? Dale Jarrett, Mark Martin, Tony Stewart, Rusty Wallace, Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte. Unreal lineup right there.
Speaking of Tony Stewart, for those of you who despise him in the FOX booth - and there's a lot of you - good news! He's gonna be at several more races over the next few months, FOX announced Sunday.
While we're in that broadcast booth, here's Mike Joy with a WILD brain fart on air over the weekend where he called the cars the "Nextel Cup cars."
Nextel Cup! You know when the series was the Nextel Cup Series? 2004-07. Hilarious.
Jeff Gordon is next in line to torch NASCAR
What a commercial. God, this used to be such a great country before Steve Jobs ruined it with his iPhone. Give me the Nextel walkie-talkies, Motorola razors and Boost Mobile brick phones any day of the week over those dumb things.
Anyway, moving on!
When NASCAR was done suspending Denny Hamlin, the sport then turned its attention to Hendrick Motorsports. In short, all four HMS cars were nabbed last week at Phoenix for having an illegally modified part on the cars, which was removed prior to the race.
Now, William Byron - an HMS driver - still won, so clearly it didn't mean anything. That's neither here nor there, though.
Jeff Gordon, the four-time Cup champ and Hall of Famer, did NOT like the optics of what the sport did - including suspending all four crew chiefs and docking all the drivers billions of points - and decided to sprinkle some gas on the fire.
"We just look at how this was handled, and it could have been handled in so many different ways from NASCAR," said Gordon, Hendrick's Vice Chairman. "For us, it feels like it wasn’t done in (the right) way. We feel like if our integrity is going to be questioned, we are going to push back and appeal this for that reason."
Joey Logano used a textbook NASCAR pass on the final lap at Atlanta. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
Erik Jones makes insane passes on the final lap at Atlanta
OK, couple quickies before we pack up for COTA.
Remember when we all used to play NASCAR Thunder 2003 on PS2 and plow through the entire field on the last lap for a miraculous win? It was either that or drive the opposite way and murder everyone. Both fun!
Luckily for everyone involved, Erik Jones did the former Sunday at Atlanta, and it looked incredible.
That, by the way, is like 10 spots on the final lap to go from 18th to eighth. And they say NASCAR driver aren't athletes.
Yeah, OK. Whatever you say.
Josh Williams is a legend
I know OutKick touched on this Saturday, but how do I possibly leave it out of this column? This, boys and girls, is why this column exists. For drivers like Josh Williams.
Get this cat in the Cup Series, stat! Not sure Kyle Busch would like him, though. But Denny does!
Hooters girls miss Chase Elliott, Samantha Busch dances
Finally, on our way out, here's NASCAR Queen Samantha Busch dancing while she picks up Kyle's laundry.
What a world. Social media is WILD.
Speaking of social media, guess who was weirdly active on Twitter for Sunday's race? Someone named Chase Elliott!
Remember him? NASCAR's Most Popular Driver? Former champion? Ring a bell?
Chase has been gone for weeks now, and I'm afraid we still have a few more races to go before he returns. That being said, I'm all for seeing him (allegedly) drunk tweet on race day.
Was he tanked yesterday? Probably. Who knows? But, Chase Elliott NEVER tweets, and all of a sudden he wouldn't shut up!
I'll be honest with you, I miss Chase, too. I feel like I haven't seen the No. 9 NAPA up front in weeks, and it's probably because I haven't. Nothing against Josh Berry, but, um, we need Chase Elliott back behind the wheel ASAP.
Anyway, here are a couple Hooters racing posts to start your weeks and hopefully will Chase back to the car.
Don't say I never did anything for ya.