Christopher Bell barks up the wrong Busch, has Rowdy returned? Could Denny Hamlin leave JGR?

With nice guy William Byron adding to his dominance with a win at COTA on Sunday, the NASCAR world needed bad guy Kyle Busch to return.

And like the Caped Crusader answering the Bat signal, he came through.

The two-time NASCAR champion stormed through a postrace, pit road crowd and met Christopher Bell hat-brim-to-hat-brim, laying down a tirade with this closing exchange:

NASCAR SPEED FREAKS: Could a William Byron Era be emerging? Did Tyler Reddick lose crown?

Busch: “Have I ever wrecked you?”

Bell: “No.”

Busch: “OK, that (expletive) is coming.”

Mic drop. Exit stage left.

Bell, who barely got a word in edgewise, didn’t seem concerned, saying, “I’m sure we’ll talk it out before the next race.”

Busch was upset after contact from Bell sent him spinning in Turn 1. He had run in or near the top five all race but settled for ninth.

It’s been a year and a half of transition for Busch, who went from Joe Gibbs Racing to Richard Childress Racing last year and has strangely become a crowd favorite after years of being the villain.

And while Sunday’s Busch berating was justified it was also a refreshing juxtaposition to the ever-grinning Byron, whose "Aw, shucks" demeanor leaves race fans with little to root against.

So, has Rowdy returned?

We’ll see. But maybe, we need him.

Let’s go through the gears:

Denny Hamlin to move on from Joe Gibbs Racing? (First gear)

Could Denny Hamlin leave Joe Gibbs Racing and drive for his own team, 23XI Racing?

It may be less a possibility and more a long-term goal. And maybe not even particularly long-term.

Speaking to Adam Stern of the Sports Business Journal, Hamlin admitted he’d like to run for his own team, adding that it would only be full time if he believed the organization’s cars were equal to JGR’s. And that leveling out seems to be happening quickly.

“I’m slowly but surely starting to believe that 23XI is an equal to the position I’m in right now,” he said in a story released Monday.

Hamlin signed a multi-year extension with JGR in September, though contract particulars were not released.

Corey LaJoie talks exhaustion at COTA (Second gear)

With just two cautions Sunday, both for stage breaks, and a lengthy green-flag run to the end, several drivers were drained by the end.

None more so than Corey LaJoie, who plopped down in front of the car and needed medical attention before walking off under his own power.

“I was fine in the car, had a little bit of foot cramp but as soon as I tucked my chin to get up out of the car every muscle from the top of my abs to the bottom of my of feet just seized right up,” LaJoie explained. “I tried to walk it off but my feet wouldn’t work, my legs wouldn’t work, so I just had to lay down.”

SVG gets official welcome to NASCAR (Third gear)

Shane van Gisbergen was in the perfect spot to win his first Xfinity Series race Saturday, leading the field to a green-white-checkered finish.

However, contact from the back by Austin Hill and eventual retaliation let Kyle Larson slip past both drivers, completing a hectic late-race rally with new tires for the win.

The New Zealander has now been formally welcomed to the beating and banging side of NASCAR.

“That last restart he just drove through me in (Turn) 1 so, I guess that’s how it is here,” SVG said. “I just stood up for myself. It was some pretty awesome racing with AJ (Allmendinger), Kyle and at the end it just turned into a mess but that’s how it is.”

Martin Truex Jr., Hamlin among Richmond favorites (Fourth gear)

Of late, Richmond has been a Joe Gibbs Racing playground with Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. combining for two wins, 10 top-10 finishes and 863 laps led in the last six events. Busch is the active wins leader there with six.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR: Kyle Busch corners Christopher Bell; SVG learns; LaJoie labors