Kyle Busch, who recently announced he will be joining Richard Childress Racing to drive the No. 8 car next year, got emotional following his last race with Joe Gibbs Racing.
Kyle Busch and Richard Childress via NASCAR YouTube
Busch spoke to the media following a seventh place finish at Phoenix Raceway for the NASCAR Cup Series Championship race.
“Probably just the adrenaline, the focus, and all of that stuff. Once you put a helmet on you’ve got enough stuff going on that you’re worried about and everything else. No different than anything, of all the trials I’ve been through this year, today was obviously the worst of it all and the hardest of it all.
An emotional Kyle Busch on his final race with Joe Gibbs Racing and what he will remember about Coy Gibbs: pic.twitter.com/nZM1ZPFxwl
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) November 7, 2022
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He then shared his thoughts about his finish saying, “Gave it everything I had and that’s all we had. Wish it could have been better. Wish it could have been top five, you know, top three, run a little bit better. I’ll take the satisfaction in the top Gibbs car today.”
Busch was then asked about when he heard of the tragic passing of Coy Gibbs, co-owner of Joe Gibbs Racing.
“Right after all my hospitality runs,” he answered. “We were on our way back to the bus. So Denny and the Toyota guys were the first to know.”
Kyle Busch via Bob Pockrass Twitter
He then shared what he remembers about Gibbs, “That he was a lot like me, Bob. He didn’t take any bulls**t and told everybody the way it was and straight to their face.”
“Loved Coy for that and for his tenacity. He took on a huge role in filling in the shoes of his brother and maybe a little bit more on the competition than the business side in that respect, but he’s done nothing but try to push us all to go forward, and win races, and be competitive, and to be strong, and all that. Honestly, that’s what I’ll remember the most about him.
“The majority of my thoughts and prayers are obviously with Joe and the family and everybody else, Heather, Melissa, all of them,” he shared.
Kyle Busch via NASCAR YouTube
When asked about Hamlin giving him a huge before the race, Busch detailed how emotional the day was for him being it was his last race with Joe Gibbs Racing.
He began, “Denny and I, as much as we may not see eye to eye or see the same path sometimes, we do respect respect one another a whole ton, and we will forever. I hope that we have the opportunity to race each other not as teammates as we have as teammates at least. He’s really close the family, he’s been there since the very beginning so he’s — we’re both emotional at the start of it. We both had our reasons why. I couldn’t even look at my car to begin with because it was the last time I’m going to see it.”
Kyle Busch via Fronstretch YouTube
Busch elaborated on the emotions he was feeling, “It’s hard. It’s not easy. Just wish it wasn’t what it was or what it is, but gonna miss a lot of our fun folks we got to spend a lot of time with over the years.”
“Just looking forward to new adventures,” he concluded.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch, and Jeff Burton via NASCAR YouTube
What do you make of Busch’s emotional post-race comments? How do you think he will fare at Richard Childress Racing next year?