Joe Gibbs Racing's Kyle Busch: No problem with Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Joe Gibbs Racing's Kyle Busch is sixth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings heading into Sunday's Pocono 500 at Pocono Raceway. // Jeff Robinson, NASCAR Scene
LONG POND, Pa. – Joe Gibbs Racing's Kyle Busch says he has no issues with Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Talk of a rivalry between the pair heated up when Busch was asked to address the crew-chief change at Hendrick Motorsports last weekend. Busch, speaking of interim crew chief Lance McGrew, said that the incoming crew chief had “his hands full” when it came to turning around the team.
“If Junior doesn’t run well, then he’s going to be the problem," Busch said. "It’s never Junior. It’s always the crew chief.”
Busch brushed off the ensuing flurry of comments about a rivalry between the pair. He said he holds no ill will toward Earnhardt Jr., who was hired at Hendrick Motorsports in 2007, the same season in which Busch left the team and went to JGR. Instead, he said it's just people trying to create a rivalry.
"It's just people trying to build [that] up," he said Friday at Pocono Raceway, site of Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Pocono 500. "Some of the media trying to build up stuff like that. To me, I've got no issues with Dale Jr. whatsoever. It wasn't him that kicked me out of Hendrick Motorsports, to be honest with you. It was Casey Mears. It is what it is. Junior had a strong run last weekend. It was a good start in the right direction for them."
