KANSAS CITY, Kan. – It’s unavoidable, especially to Kurt Busch.
He’s running out of time.
“I know I’m in the twilight of my career,” Busch said Sunday (May 15) after winning the NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway, marking his first win in his inaugural season with 23XI Racing.
But that elephant in the room – that he’s closer to the end of his NASCAR career than his meteoric rise – was just one of the many ingredients that resulted in his 34th-career win being over run with emotions.
Not just for him, but for team owner Denny Hamlin.
Hamlin has won a lot in NASCAR, including three Daytona 500s.
But on Sunday, having “a front row seat” to Kurt Busch’s battle with his brother Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson over the final 33 laps around Kansas Speedway, resulted in a “weird feeling” for Hamlin.
“I looked at my lap times and I was doing my job,” Hamlin said after his fourth-place finish. “I wasn’t letting up at all and getting the most out of the car I could, but you just can’t help but be emotional about it.”
The victory, 23XI Racing’s second but it’s first as a two-car operation, came in Busch’s 13th start for the team.
“Certainly there’s been no win that I’ve had that has equalled the emotions of this one for sure,” Hamlin said. “I’ve obviously been excited for the Daytona 500, but I just don’t know why this one just feels bigger to me. I think a lot of it is because I watched it live.
“I think had I been on the other side of the track and just kind of looked at the (scoring) pylon it would be one thing, but I had a front row seat to it. I’ve kind of got a very tough RBF (resting bitch face) and I don’t show my emotion a lot.
“But I am an emotional person. I get emotional when I get around the team guys. I got emotional when I hugged (crew chief) Billy (Scott) at the pit box, because I see how excited they are and I know how hard…
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