Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin double down on NASCAR’s problematic fix: "It’s the composite bodies"

Kyle Busch didn't mince words about his chaotic Kansas crash and who he sees as the real culprit behind the rising frustration among drivers. Speaking with Denny Hamlin on their Actions Detrimental podcast, the Richard Childress Racing driver believes NASCAR's systemic issue with the composite bodies of the Next Gen car encourages reckless contact and reduces the overall skill threshold.

The crash in question occurred late at the Kansas Speedway, ending Busch's promising comeback drive through the field. But as Busch and Hamlin see it, the wreck was simply a symptom of NASCAR's current direction, where the car's durability has ironically made racing more fragile.

"We all don't know how to freaking drive. It's the composite bodies. That's what it is. Everybody just runs into everybody and runs over everybody and hits everybody, hits the wall because we all just bank on the fact that the body's just going to pop back out and we're going to be fine." Busch said in the podcast (1:05:39 onwards)

This Sunday at the AdventHealth 400 in Kansas, Kyle Busch was running four-wide when Ross Chastain dropped down to avoid the wall, triggering Josh Berry to check up. This led to Berry making contact with Noah Gragson, who then clipped the left side of Busch's car and sent him spinning across the backstretch.

Though he avoided the wall and major damage, Busch's No. 8 Chevrolet car slid down the bank as he experienced a jarring sense of deja vu, recounting his Daytona 500 wreck.

Ever since the Next Gen car's debut in 2022, NASCAR has promoted it as designed to level the playing field, offer better racing, and reduce team costs. While it has succeeded in creating parity, it has also drawn criticism for how it handles dirty air, the sensitivity of its underbody, and how its composite panels rebound from contact without much consequence.

Both Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin believed this led to the contact-heavy nature of modern Cup racing. Hamlin explained that the old Gen 4 and Gen 5 cars punished light contact with the wall, bending fenders, upsetting aerodynamics, and slowing cars instantly.

"These clowns would not have any clue how to drive a steel body car. Plowed... You touch the wall and it plows. Put them back in the Gen 4 cars," Busch added (1:05:55 onwards).

Hamlin and Busch weren't necessarily calling for a full return to the past, but highlighted that NASCAR's intention of increasing parity may have dulled the art of racing itself.

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Kyle Busch still chasing elusive Daytona 500 dream

Kyle Busch (R) and Kyle Larson during drive introductions before the Daytona 500. Source: Imagn

Kyle Busch's Kansas frustration added another chapter to his 2025 season woes, but one goal continues to sit quietly atop his bucket list. With 232 national series victories and every other major accolade to his name, the two-time Cup champion admits winning the Daytona 500 still lingers after 19 starts.

When asked about what remains on his checklist, the RCR veteran replied in the Actions Detrimental Podcast:

"Daytona 500 obviously... I don't know that it would even solidify everything. If I were to retire yesterday, I don't know that means anything. But... would love to have that trophy and accolade and checkbox." (49:19 onwards)

For years, Busch hoped to also add an Indianapolis 500 appearance to his resume but his double-attempt plan was crushed by Joe Gibbs, his former team owner in 2017.

His Daytona heartbreaks, meanwhile, are well-documented. In 2023, Busch came agonizingly close to victory until a late-race caution wiped out his lead, as Ricky Stenhouse Jr. took the checkered flag. Denny Hamlin, a three-time Daytona 500 winner, believes the modern version of the race has become more unpredictable and less reliant on skill than it once was.

"If I'm you, makes the Daytona 500 more frustrating, right? Because you don't necessarily get to decide your fate as much as what you used to. The skill level of what it took to win a Daytona 500 is so different now than what it used to be," said Hamlin (54:38 onwards).

Both drivers agreed that contending for a Daytona win has become as much about luck as it is about performance. Whether Kyle Busch ever checks that box remains to be seen.