NASCAR: How does Kyle Busch deal with the haters?

By Asher Fair | Jun 16, 2020

Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing, Martinsville Speedway, NASCAR, Cup Series (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) /

Kyle Busch has been NASCAR’s villain for many years and is arguably the biggest villain the sport has ever seen. How does he deal with the haters?

For most NASCAR fans, it goes without saying that nobody the sport gets nearly as much criticism and backlash on social media and in real life as two-time and defending Cup Series champion Kyle Busch does, really no matter what happens on the track.

Sure, Busch has made — okay, earned — more than his fair share of enemies on the track over the years as well, but that hasn’t stopped him from winning multiple titles and becoming NASCAR’s all-time winningest driver across the Cup Series, Xfinity Series and Truck Series.

Most recently, he was harshly criticized when he unintentionally wrecked NASCAR’s most popular driver, Chase Elliott, at the end of the second race at Darlington Raceway. Elliott appeared poised to take the win away from Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin on fresh tires, and Busch simply spun him into the wall from second place on what turned out to be the race’s final green flag lap.

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And, of course, whenever he competes in (and usually wins) an Xfinity Series race or a Truck Series race, all you hear are complaints about why he shouldn’t be allowed to compete there.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has had over a decade of experience dealing with the constant criticism he receives, and being a professional athlete at the highest level of his sport, it goes without saying that he deals with it on a large scale on a regular basis, as do many athletes in other sports. It simply comes with the territory, and nothing is going to change that.

But at the end of the day, he is still a human being. Busch, who has on several occasions called out his haters directly on Twitter, still needs to make a point to put that aside and adjust his mindset to do the job he is paid to do: drive the #18 M&M’s Toyota Camry to victory lane.

So how does he do it?

In addition to simply trying to block out the hate that is inevitable with being a highly successful competitor, Busch knows that for all the hate he gets, there is a ton of love. It isn’t always negative, and as fans who have been to race in person know, the #18 fans are always out in full force.

Rowdy Nation is the second largest driver fanbase in NASCAR behind Elliott’s, and Rowdy knows he can fall back on the love he gets from that crowd.

“You know, there’s always going to be doubters, there’s always going to be haters,” Busch told Beyond the Flag. “But there’s a lot of positives and a lot of Rowdy Nation lovers out there too. More lately I just ignore it and block it out, I try not to look at that side of it very much.”

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Busch and the rest of the NASCAR Cup Series field are set to compete at Talladega Superspeedway this Sunday, June 21. This race, the GEICO 500, was rescheduled from its original date of Sunday, April 26 because of the coronavirus pandemic. It is set to be broadcast live on Fox beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET. Busch is winless through the 2020 season’s first 12 races and sits in ninth place in the championship standings.