Looking back: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch break down rivalry

Ten years after a pair of spins at Richmond drove a gigantic wedge between Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch, the two drivers met in 2018 to discuss the events of the 2008 Richmond races -- the spring, where Kyle Busch and Dale Jr. first tangled, and the fall where Junior spun Busch in a moment that set off years of tension. As we analyze "What If ... Kyle Busch never left Hendrick Motorsports?", we look back on the best quotes from that conversation.

'It was a recipe for disaster. Everything up to that point up through the first half of that year was leading to this moment.' – Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the feeling heading into the fall Richmond race in 2008

'Even in the moment, as mad as I was, I knew it wasn't you turning me on purpose. I knew that the wreck wasn't intentional but it was when you would get out of the car … and say things that you would say, I'd go 'Agh!' ' -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. Busch spun Junior (unintentionally) in the spring Richmond race, adding to the frosty relationship between the two

'I was consumed by our rivalry at different points of my life. I always knew where Kyle Busch was at on the race track. From 2008 to 2012 or '11, I was consumed by it. It bothered the (expletive) out of me.' -- Dale Earnhardt Jr.

'I had a real bad habit of running into the back of everybody who come up off the bottom (in 2007).' -- Dale Earnhardt Jr.

'That's where Brad (Keselowski) got it from was watching you.' -- Kyle Busch

'I felt like if I didn't wreck you at some point, my fans were gonna be really pissed. I felt in my heart if I don’t get him back (in 2008), everybody's going to look at me as this guy who gets wrecked and don't do (expletive). It was just me being hard-headed and ignorant.' -- Dale Earnhardt Jr.

'I had been contemplating it and dreaming about it. I didn't want to do it. But I had to do it. … It's definitely not my personality. I hate confrontation in any form. I felt this pressure, 'He's not his daddy, he don’t stand up for himself, he lets people push him around.' I thought I had to do it.' -- Dale Earnhardt Jr.

'We actually had a behind-the-scenes FBI guy tailing me through the rest of '08. We didn't think we needed him anymore after '08 was over. He came with us about everywhere.' -- Kyle Busch

'I didn't feel vindicated (winning eight races in 2008) because we sucked so bad through the final 10 races. As soon as we hit (playoff) time, we stepped on any tack we could possibly find. It was horrible. We absolutely faltered and threw it away.' -- Kyle Busch

'Things probably have maybe turned around sooner if '08 had ended with a championship. I may have been a little smarter and grown up a little bit quicker where it would have been like, 'Hey Dale, sorry, I'm a total (expletive). Can we just forget about '08? I’m OK now.' ' – Kyle Busch

'I hate being mad at the guy, but I was just always waiting on him, and I don't know why. Maybe it was because of age, maybe it was because of his stature. I don’t know why.' -- Kyle Busch

'That's so crazy. I never thought about it like that. I thought Kyle hated my guts, or hated what I was or who I was.' -- Dale Earnhardt Jr.

'I was really surprised 10 years later, fans are still so frickin' passionate about that night.' -- Dale Earnhardt Jr.

'I hear about it all the time.' -- Kyle Busch

'Everything I gathered from this whole experience is that there were a lot of assumptions that were incorrect. And this whole deal that festered over the years, a few conversations, although they're very hard to have, would have helped the situation for everyone.' -- Dale Earnhardt Jr.