Look, I’m not sure how it would look, but … have we ever thought about maybe giving Kansas some bigger responsibilities during the NASCAR Cup Series season? As in, the championship race? I know we’re going to start rotating those bad boys moving forward. I’m thinking Kansas should be on the list.

No offense to Miami. Yes, offense to Phoenix. Kansas might clear them both.

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Tough to argue with THAT Tyler Reddick win, right? I know I give Tiny Tyler a hard time, and it’s nothing personal, I promise. I just don’t know that Tyler Reddick winning a BILLION races is great for ratings.

But, Sunday’s win was impressive. Any time you pass Kyle Larson on the final turn, you’re doing something right.

That’s five wins in the first nine races for Reddick. Five. He’s won over half of ’em, for those who don’t do great with math. And how about this for a stat that may or may not sit well with the old-timers … Reddick is the first driver to win five of the first nine automobile races in a season since someone named Dale Earnhardt did it back in 1987.

Goodness gracious.

Anyway, congrats to Tiny Tyler. Nothing negative from me today. But, we’ve got bigger matters to attend to …

Like, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch nearing a boiling point. That’s right. I think they might kill each other soon. When I tell you that Kyle Busch is MISERABLE, this is what I mean. Head on a swivel. You’ll see.

What else? I’ve also got more #content out of the race wives, including Tara Allmendinger competing for “America’s Most Beautiful,” and one of the nastier wrecks you’ll see down in the O’Reilly (Busch) Series.

KYLE LARSON STEALS NASCAR CUP SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP, DELIVERS HEARTBREAK FOR DENNY HAMLIN

And if that’s not enough, I’ve got Jeremy Mayfield (remember him?!) taking a blowtorch to the Cup Series after Bristol.

Four tires, a couple drops of Sunoco racing fuel, and maybe a full-time bodyguard for Denny Hamlin … Monday Morning Pit-Stop — the ‘Denny Stuffs Kyle In A Locker And Spits In His Face Before Slamming The Door’ edition — is LIVE!

 

Kyle Busch vs. Denny Hamlin isn’t a battle on the track, but …

With all due respect to Tiny Tyler and yesterday’s wild finish, we’re going to start with Denny vs. Kyle because I know drama when I see it. I can smell it. And this, folks, is DRAMA.

This is what it’s all about … in 2026, at least. Kyle Busch getting PISSED at Denny Hamlin, the podcaster. Not Denny the Racer. Denny the Podcaster. Amazing.

So, obviously Denny crossed a line on his show last week. Kyle is (was?) clearly a subscriber, and let his ex-teammate HAVE it before Kansas:

“People don’t know what the hell they’re talking about, and in this instance, I don’t feel like Denny Hamlin even knows what the hell he’s talking about. So he can bash me all he wants — and I can certainly make his life hell.

“If Denny wants to switch cars, I’ll switch cars with him any day of the week, any time. I would love for him to show me that he can carry it better than I can.”

Goodness gracious. There are a lot of folks in the NASCAR Cup Series garage I think I could take. Kyle Busch is so far down on that list, I’m not even sure he’s on it. He’s massive. He’s, clearly, miserable. That’s a bad combination. A dangerous one.

Now, as for Denny, here’s what he said:

 

Tough to argue with Denny Hamlin here

That’s obviously not the full clip, but you get the picture. Here’s what Kyle’s former JGR pal also said during his podcast:

“Kyle Busch, I can’t hold the guy’s helmet talent-wise. But this is not new. He’s struggled for five years now. We have to be honest about our expectations. If you’re expecting Kyle Busch to go just back to victory lane on a regular basis, you are kidding yourselves, and you’re going to be very disappointed.

“Clearly, RCR is not good right now, but you’re a Hall of Fame, Mount Rushmore driver. Carry it better than your teammate then, OK? If you’re the greatest, carry it better than your teammate who has won (six) races. Find a way. I think that’s what he should be able to do, but it’s not happening.”

And, of course, Hamlin had to respond himself after Kyle threatened to beat the piss out of him (I’m paraphrasing!):

I’ll be honest with you … I’m with Denny here. A) he’s 100% right in what he said last week. I’ve said it for years now. Kyle Busch stinks. He has stunk. He will probably keep stinking in this car, and with this team.

And it pains me to say it, because I love Kyle Busch. He was once on pace to break all sorts of records. Now his average finish is in the 20s.

But B) what else is Denny Hamlin supposed to say here? It’s a podcast. A very, very, very popular NASCAR podcast, at Dale Jr.’s company, featuring one of the most polarizing drivers in the sport. He was asked about Kyle Busch’s struggles at RCR. He answered with honesty.

Kyle isn’t mad because Denny said any of that. He’s mad because he said it all out loud.

Anyway, let me know what you think! Zach.Dean@OutKick.com.

Let’s get back to racing and start this week off with a bang!

 

What a NASCAR finish, what a NASCAR WRECK & Tara takes us into a big week

Again, Kansas should probably (definitely) be in the mix for the championship race down the road here. Those final two laps were something.

This woke Next Gen car has killed the short tracks and the big ones, but the medium ones are thriving. It’s one of the very nice things Kyle Busch and I will say about it!

PS: Don’t forget who gave Tyler Reddick the chance to win in overtime. Cody Ware, baby!

Amazing. Cody Ware is so bad, and he picks just the worst times to prove it. Denny is so defeated. Amazing #content.

OK, couple quickies on the way out. Speaking of amazing NASCAR #content, we don’t see ’em wreck quite like this anymore:

You don’t see cars flips like that in today’s world, and you really don’t see them flip like that at a place like Kansas. Wild. Carson walked away just fine, which is why we can bury it way down here at the bottom instead of it being a … bigger … story.

Next? You know what was a big story last week? Bristol being half-empty in the stands, and half-empty in living rooms across the country. It didn’t look great on TV. At all.

Jeremy Mayfield took it .. a step further … via a scathing Facebook post about the race:

“When the biggest story is how many people are staying home to watch a golf tournament in Georgia, the sport is in a coma. Ty Gibbs gets his first win in front of 100,000 empty seats. It looked like a COVID era race out there.

“If the ‘World’s Fastest Half Mile’ can’t out draw a Sunday at Augusta, then NASCAR has officially lost the south. Is it the car? Is it the drivers? Or has the “Colosseum” just become a graveyard? Tell me I’m wrong.”

I surely ain’t telling you that, Jeremy! I wrote about it twice last week. In no world should Bristol be empty. It’s OK for New Hampshire to look rough in July. I get that. But Bristol in April? Unacceptable.

LOOK at these grandstands:

Yikes. Not great.

Two more on the way out. I promise I’ll be quick, because this has been a weirdly long class. First? The ARCA Series made history this week that I’m sure all NASCAR fans will love to hear about!

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Dystany Spurlock became the first black female to compete in a race, and she promptly got wrecked in a pretty … jarring … way:

Yikes. Not great! I don’t know what’s more shocking — the wreck, or the fact that Spurlock was a lap down in 10th. Tenth!

OK, that’s it for today. Again, a long class, but an important one. Not enough race WAGs, though. That’s on me. I’ll wear that one on the chin.

Here’s Tara Allmendinger throwing her hat in the ring for ‘America’s Most Beautiful’ this July.

See you at ‘Dega.