Dale Earnhardt Jr. Remembers Kyle Busch and Their Complicated Relationship
The NASCAR stardom of the 21st century has spanned an array of respected, current, and future Hall of Fame drivers. There has been Jimmie Johnson and his 7 championships, Jeff Gordon's successes that linked the era of Dale Earnhardt Sr. to the Johnson era and beyond. History focuses on one man this weekend, and that is the late, great Kyle Busch.
Busch eclipses 200 career wins across all three NASCAR national series. He is a 2-time Cup Series Champion and a no-brainer Hall of Famer. He has raced for the consensus two best organizations in NASCAR's 21st century: Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing. Busch's sudden passing on Thursday brings the NASCAR community together amid these unfortunate, unexpected events.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Remembers Kyle Busch
Earnhardt Jr. took to X on Thursday evening to offer not just a tribute to Busch, but to shed light on his and Busch's long, complicated relationship over the years.
"Kyle and I had a really challenging existence for many years. But we luckily took the time to figure out our differences, and that was something he instigated with a conversation on his bus," Dale JR stated.
Kyle and I had a really challenging existence for many years. But we luckily took the time to figure out our differences and that was something he instigated with a conversation in his bus around how we each managed our racing teams. I was super eager for us to get on better…
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) May 21, 2026
2007 was the first year of note in the duo's relationship. Following the 2007 NASCAR season, Hendrick Motorsports decided to part ways with Busch, who drove their No. 5 Chevrolet. The organization decided to go in a new direction, one that would offer greater marketability with the same, if not even better, perceived ability on the track.
Busch won just once in that 2007 season at the Bristol Spring Race. His entire Hendrick Motorsports career spanned just 4 total wins - a mark that is below the team's standard. In that 2007 season, the team won 18 races. Over the four-year course of Busch's Hendrick Motorsports career, the team won 50 races, meaning Busch won less than 8% of the team's wins.
Upon parting ways with Busch, Rick Hendrick decided to hire Dale Earnhardt Jr. The move was debatably more lateral when looking back at it. Earnhardt Jr. may have been NASCAR's Most Popular Driver, bringing in money in a multitude of avenues. However, he won only 10 races for the team over his 10-year career. Those wins contributed to the team's 82 wins over that span, just about equal to Busch's win rate.
In his comments on X, Earnhardt Jr. noted that Busch had reached out to squash their differences, a meeting that took place in Busch's bus at an unspecified race. "We did some media together also to laugh through some of the things we put each other through many years ago."
The duo went on to build on their differences, where Earnhardt Jr. floated the idea of Busch running his Late Model later that summer. "He (Busch) laughed over the idea of his fans and JRM fans having to cheer in unison during that race."
Those differences between the fan bases kept rolling on beyond 2007. In Richmond in 2008, Busch 'door-slammed' Earnhardt Jr. in a battle for the lead, an event labeled "Frenemies" on Dale JR. and Kevin Harvick's recap of the event.
In the Richmond race, Dale Jr. was battling for his first win in a long drought; the year prior, it was his first winless season since his 1999 debut. The notorious persona and newly branded nickname of Busch, 'Rowdy,' had taken off since that date.
Despite these circumstances over that span in the late 2000's, it seems that the transitional roster moves ultimately worked out for both sides. Earnhardt Jr. ran a marketable 10-year career with Hendrick Motorsports in his vintage No. 88 car. As for Busch, he joined Joe Gibbs Racing, which has since become one of the best teams in NASCAR over the last 15 years.
Busch won two championships (2015, 2019) as well as 56 race wins in total for the Cup Series team. In the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, Busch racked up 90 additional wins. Whether his racing legend reaches that many victory lanes while still with Hendrick Motorsports, who knows? The career goes down in legend that will never be forgotten as Busch passed away Thursday at the age of 41.
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This story was originally published May 22, 2026 at 12:26 PM.