Kyle Busch reveals Jimmie Johnson's connection in his hatred of NASCAR’s playoff format, and Denny Hamlin doubles down

Kyle Busch shed light on how Jimmie Johnson's dominance in NASCAR's 10-race playoff era shaped his disdain for the format. Denny Hamlin echoed his thoughts with how the system benefitted a steady driver like Johnson.

NASCAR's 10-race playoff format, dubbed "The Chase", lasted from from 2004 to 2013, a period where Jimmie Johnson took home five straight Cup championships from 2006 onwards. Johnson's consistency left little room for error for the other drivers, with Busch facing the brunt of it in his 2008 title bid.

Busch led a dominant run through the regular season with 8 wins and 1,673 laps led, a feat that was second only to Johnson. In addition, he led the Driver's standings for most of the regular season. However, his campaign took an ugly turn with the Chase, where he immediately fell victim to mechanical gremlins that derailed the momentum he built throughout the year. This brought Johnson back in contention for the title.

In a recent podcast episode of Hamlin's Actions Detrimental podcast, Busch discussed his frustrations with NASCAR's playoff format, beginning with the current system of three race rounds.

"I kind of think the three or four race one is pretty cool, but if you have one bad race in those three or four races, then you automatically sort of eliminate yourself unless somebody else eliminates themselves by having a bad race." Kyle Busch said. [5:38 onwards]

"I always kind of hated the the 10 race thing because how many times did you or I have a bad race or two in that 10 race format and then you're fifth in points. You know what I mean? Like you don't have the opportunity to win it cuz Jimmy perfects it, you know, and he's good all the way through it," he added.

Hamlin doubled down on the sentiment and shared his take of Johnson's dominance.

"He didn't he didn't have many like just bad races like 30th or worse where he crash out," Hamlin said.

Denny Hamlin's closest bid for the title came in 2010, where he finished as runner-up to Jimmie Johnson. He was leading Johnson before falling outside the top-ten in the final two rounds, allowing the Hendrick Motorsports driver to secure his fifth title without even winning the two events.

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Kyle Busch takes a jab at NASCAR over it's Next Gen car at Kansas

Kyle Busch got stuck behind a lapped Bubba Wallace at Kansas Speedway and took to the team radio to vent out his frustration. In a candid outburst, the two-time Cup champion let out a sarcastic thank you to NASCAR for producing a subpar Next Gen package.

"Un-fucking-believable. These cars suck so bad. Thank you NASCAR!" he said via Steven Taranto on X.

Kyle Busch began outside the top-30 but made his way to the midpack, before getting stuck behind Wallace at 13th. As he looked to overturn his recent slump with a top-ten finish, misery struck in the final stage when he was forced off-track by a contact with Noah Gragson. Consequently, the Richard Childress Racing driver finished a lap behind himself, as he wheeled his No.8 Chevy to 21st.