Tag: Kyle Busch

‘Definitely not due to lack of effort’ Busch says of continued struggles

Kyle Busch and Richard Childress Racing would have received a positive grade for the first month of the NASCAR Cup Series season. “We had some good stuff going,” Busch said Saturday afternoon at Martinsville Speedway. The good stuff was Busch and …

Kyle Busch and Richard Childress Racing would have received a positive grade for the first month of the NASCAR Cup Series season.

“We had some good stuff going,” Busch said Saturday afternoon at Martinsville Speedway.

The good stuff was Busch and the No. 8 Chevrolet scoring three consecutive top-10 finishes on three different styles of racetrack. He finished seventh at Atlanta Motor Speedway, fifth at Circuit of The Americas and eighth at Phoenix Raceway. Included in that span was leading 42 laps on the Texas road course and being in contention to win in the closing laps before being out-dueled by Christopher Bell.

But then there was a speeding penalty and the right rear wheel that came off his car in Las Vegas. Busch qualified fourth and showed top 10 speed. He finished 33rd and two crew members were suspended because of the detached wheel.

A week ago, Busch finished 21st at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The team had an uninspiring afternoon after getting the setup wrong.

Busch dropped from seventh to 17th in the championship standings after the Las Vegas event. He maintained that position after the tough day in Homestead.

Given all that, Busch can admit the group has lost some momentum as the series shifts to the first true short track of the season at Martinsville. Saturday, Busch was 12th fastest in practice and qualified 12th.

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“Vegas, we were fast,” Busch said. “I felt like we were legit a top-four car [and] let the race play out. Then, obviously, Homestead was a complete miss. It looked identical to last year. You could replay the 2024 and 2025 Homestead [races] and see the Hendrick cars all having some pretty good speed, the Trackhouse and RCR cars running in the back. We’re literally passing each other for 30th on the racetrack. That’s not good.

“There’s something to be said for that and I’m not exactly sure what. But now we’re here at Martinsville with a completely different package, so hopefully this will go better.”

The track brings a different package, going from an intermediate to a short track, but RCR is also shaking up the setups between the Childress teammates. Busch and Austin Dillon are not running the same package for the Cook Out 400 as Dillon’s team went with something familiar and comfortable to their driver, while Busch’s team went in a completely new direction in hopes of finding something that works for them.

Busch has finished no better than 16th at Martinsville Speedway in four starts with Childress.

The team goes into Sunday looking for its first win since June 4, 2023. Not only did the 2024 season go without a win, but Busch finished 20th in the standings with an average finish of 18.3 with the fewest laps he’s ever led in his full-time Cup Series career.

“It’s definitely not due to lack of effort, that’s for sure,” Busch said. “Everybody works very hard; I know the long hours and everything that everybody does. The only thing I can really say is, fundamentally, it’s just work smarter, not harder. I think [that] part of it has been better.

“One week at Homestead … we can’t focus [on that derailing our season].”

Busch eager to move on from ‘character building’ 2024

Kyle Busch was one NASCAR Cup Series driver who was ready for the 2024 season to end. The two-time series champion did not have many highlights to look back upon. For the first time since 2005, his rookie season, Busch finished outside the top 15 in …

Kyle Busch was one NASCAR Cup Series driver who was ready for the 2024 season to end.

The two-time series champion did not have many highlights to look back upon. For the first time since 2005, his rookie season, Busch finished outside the top 15 in the championship standings (20th). He failed to earn a berth in the postseason for the first time since 2012, and just the fourth time in his career.

To hear Busch call the season “character building” and “certainly frustrating” came as no surprise. Statistically, it was one of the worst seasons of his career with top-10 finishes and five top-fives.

“[It was] just not at all what we had hoped it to be after some success last year, especially early in the year having those three wins and then struggling a little bit on and off,” Busch said. “But then this year, just seemingly not being able to get the monkey off our back. Even having a shot to win late in the day; being close at Daytona, and maybe even closer at Kansas, and not being able to pull through.

“We probably had a handful of opportunities that slipped out from under us. So [I] can’t say we never had an opportunity to but obviously didn’t get it done.”

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After picking up three wins through the first half of 2023 — his first season driving for Richard Childress Racing — Busch went winless. That was the most disappointing thing for Busch — an added insult to injury.

He was the second loser in the three-wide photo finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway with Daniel Suarez and Ryan Blaney. The margin of victory was 0.003s on Blaney and 0.004s on Busch.

That close was that far away for Busch and the No. 8 in Atlanta in February. Motorsport Images

Busch finished second in the summer Daytona race, passed on the last lap by Harrison Burton. A week later, he was second again, this time at Darlington Raceway. And at Kansas Speedway, Busch from the race lead with 32 laps to go.

Not being able to pick up at least one victory ended what had become of the most impressive and talked about streaks in the Cup Series. Until this year, Busch had won at least one race in each of his 19 full seasons (2005-23).

“I would have much rather it been [that] if I’m going to run six, seven more years that it last 25, 26 years and just make it a mark that will never be achievable,” Busch said. “But unfortunately, those things didn’t happen. Things changed for me a couple of years ago (moving to RCR), and I was grateful to be able to extend the streak last year and make it my own.

“But honestly … it’s hard to put that many good years together in a row. It’s difficult.”

Busch holds the record for having the longest streak of consecutive seasons with a win. He took it from Richard Petty, who went 18 straight years. The closest active driver to competing with Busch’s streak is Joey Logano at 13 consecutive seasons.

Who is NASCAR’s most popular Cup Series driver on social media?

Who is NASCAR’s most popular Cup Series driver on social media? The answer may surprise you as Chase Elliott doesn’t top the list!

Who is NASCAR’s most popular Cup Series driver on social media? Well, we know that Chase Elliott is the Most Popular Driver after winning the award for a seventh straight time; however, does he rank as the most followed Cup Series driver across social media? After research involving X, Instagram, and Facebook, the driver at the top might be shocking.

[autotag]Kyle Busch[/autotag] is NASCAR’s most popular Cup Series driver on social media, with 2,018,800 followers as of December 4, 2024. Busch has 987,800 followers on X, 596,000 followers on Facebook, and 435,000 followers on Instagram. Elliott surprisingly ranks in second place with 1,921,300 followers. It is roughly a 97,500-follower gap between Busch and Elliott.

Elliott might be NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver award winner, but Busch holds the crown across social media. This might seem like a surprise as Busch didn’t even finish top-3 in Most Popular Driver voting, behind Elliott, Kyle Larson, and Ryan Blaney. For now, Busch is the most popular Cup Series driver on social media, but Elliott could make a strong push.

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Kyle Busch talks about heartbreaking finish at Kansas in September 2024

Kyle Busch talks about his heartbreaking finish at Kansas Speedway in September 2024. Find out what Busch said about his shocking ending!

[autotag]Kyle Busch[/autotag] was in a fierce battle with Ross Chastain in the NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at Kansas Speedway, but it went south quickly. Busch held the lead with 32 laps, looking to win his first race of the 2024 NASCAR season; however, he found himself spinning out as Chase Briscoe fought hard to stay on the lead lap. Chastain would go on to win, while Busch finished in 19th place.

Following the event, Busch was very disappointed to see his day end with a top-20 finish instead of celebrating in victory lane with his No. 8 team. The Richard Childress Racing driver discussed the incident and how he felt after the race.

“I am sure [Chase Briscoe] was racing to stay on the lead lap with whoever was in front of him there,” Busch said. “Granted, they have a race to run, but back in the old days when you were under 30 to go or whatever it was, lap traffic would kind of lay over and give you a lane and let the leaders race. I just wasn’t getting that, so I tried to force my hand into getting that and get to his outside, and for whatever reason, it just gave all the air in all the wrong places, and I spun out…I’m numb. I don’t know what to do.”

Busch has been so close to victory lane multiple times throughout the 2024 NASCAR season, but this might sting more than the other races. The driver of the No. 8 car was in position to enter victory lane as Chastain and others would have been forced to pass him. Busch is still capable of winning races at NASCAR’s top level, but Kansas might be an event that haunts him for a while.

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Busch ‘numb’ as yet another Cup win slips away in Kansas

Kyle Busch lost control of his Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet and, with it, a chance to contend for the victory at Kansas Speedway. Busch led the Hollywood Casino 400 with 32 laps to go when he closed on NASCAR Cup Series playoff contender Chase …

Kyle Busch lost control of his Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet and, with it, a chance to contend for the victory at Kansas Speedway.

Busch led the Hollywood Casino 400 with 32 laps to go when he closed on NASCAR Cup Series playoff contender Chase Briscoe through Turn 2. At the exit of the corner, Busch stayed with the high lane as his path to the outside of Briscoe but got loose, hit the wall, and then spun down the backstretch.

 

The No. 14 was running 26th and trying to stay on the lead lap. Busch lost the lead but stayed inside the top 10 at the time of the caution freezing the field, but he never led again and fell to a 19th-place finish.

“[I was] just running ten-tenths all the time, trying to make up speed and cover the [No.] 1 car and make sure I could stay ahead of him,” Busch said of the incident. “The [No.] 14 turned down the hill in order to get clear air from the guy in front of him, so I went to his outside and plugged a hole and then just air… For some reason, I just felt nothing off the corner, and I hadn’t really had that like that the whole time.

“Busted my butt. I hate it for my guys and everybody at RCR and ECR. They deserved to get the win today. We hung underneath the [No.] 1 car there for 15 laps trying to pass him, finally passed him, and could get away from him a little bit, would catch a lap car, would back up a little bit, and the gap just kept doing that. I guess I just got in too big a hurry.”

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Although Busch understood that Briscoe had his own race to run, the two-time series champion acknowledged there used to be days when lapped traffic would yield to the leader as the race wound down. Busch felt he wasn’t given a lane, which resulted in trying to force his hand into getting to the outside.

Briscoe finished 24th. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver was not a factor in Sunday’s race, earning an average running position of 22.5 and falling further behind on the playoff grid to 25 points out of a transfer spot.

There was no contact between the two in the incident, but Briscoe said, “These cars are so sensitive when you are off to the right.” He couldn’t run up against the wall like Busch and the leaders, so he tried to give Busch at least a car width of space.

“[I] saw him get loose as soon as he got to my right rear,” Briscoe said. “It didn’t feel like I was trying to do anything. I literally left him the top lane. These cars, as soon as you get off to the right, especially here when you are running the wall, they just get really loose. I hate it for him. He has been so close all year long and I am a Kyle Busch fan and wanted to see him win to keep the streak alive. I hate that we are a part of the conversation.”

Busch has won at least one race each season since becoming a full-time Cup Series driver in 2005. A victory before the end of the season would push the streak to 20 consecutive seasons.

“I’m numb,” Busch said. “I don’t know what to do.”

Busch satisfied with progress at RCR even as doors close on playoffs

Kyle Busch did not earn a berth in the NASCAR Cup Series postseason, but his Richard Childress Racing team took another step forward at Darlington Raceway on Sunday. Busch had an average running position of 14th but charged late in the Southern 500 …

Kyle Busch did not earn a berth in the NASCAR Cup Series postseason, but his Richard Childress Racing team took another step forward at Darlington Raceway on Sunday.

Busch had an average running position of 14th but charged late in the Southern 500 to get to second place behind Chase Briscoe. The two-time Cup Series champion had a tire advantage on Briscoe, having pitted during a rash of late cautions, but he was unable to mount a serious challenge for the lead.

It was his second consecutive runner-up effort, and fifth top-five on the season. Busch needed a win to get a place in the postseason.

“When I made it through a few of those guys on the start, I thought we’d have a shot to get there,” said Busch of believing he had the right strategy at the end. “I think we needed [Briscoe] to have maybe three or four more laps older tires for me to be able to break through the wake once I got within his air. I really didn’t have enough to power through that to get closer; I was kind of sliding already.

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“I hate it for our guys and everybody on our team, everybody at RCR.”

Busch fell behind with a rocky season that saw him earn just three top-10 finishes in the first 10 races. During the summer stretch, he had five DNFs in seven races. But in the five races to end the regular season, Busch and the No. 8 team finished 12th or better in four of them, including stringing together three consecutive top-four finishes. He also led 37 laps in those five races.

“They’ve turned it around the last four or five weeks and we’ve run a lot better, and that’s been much improved and beneficial to our team and organization,” Busch said. “Something to build on and get better for. We just missed a lot in the early part of the year and through the middle part of the year to put ourselves in this spot to be outside looking in. So, to come in here for a last-ditch effort and have a shot – early in the race, I wouldn’t have thought we’d have a shot – it felt like we really overachieved there toward the end, and got a really good finish for what we had or what I thought we had.

“We’ll take it and keep building on it.”

Busch has not won since the first weekend in June 2023, but there have been close calls. He finished third in a three-wide photo finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway at the start of the season, and was passed for the lead on the last lap in Daytona.

“We just came up short,” Busch said. “Maybe I am a washed-up old dog, but hopefully, I can find a few more trophies.”

A victory before the end of the season would give Busch at least one win in 20 consecutive seasons.

Kyle Busch talks about missing the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs

Kyle Busch talks about missing the 2024 NASCAR playoffs after coming up short at Darlington. Find out what Busch had to say!

[autotag]Kyle Busch[/autotag] entered the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway needing to win if he wanted to make the 2024 NASCAR playoffs. After the final pit stops, Busch looked to be in a great position with fresh tires with only Chase Briscoe in front of him. Unfortunately for the No. 8 team, the fresh tires weren’t enough, as Briscoe barely won the Southern 500.

It represented the second straight runner-up finish for Busch, who expressed disappointment after coming up short. Busch talked about missing the 2024 NASCAR playoffs and the missed opportunities throughout the season.

“Something to build on and get better for,” Busch said. “We just missed a lot in the early part of the year, through the middle part of the year, to put ourselves in this spot, to be on the outside looking in. To come in here for a last-ditch effort and have a shot. Early in the race, I wouldn’t have thought we had a shot. So felt like we really overachieved towards the end and got a really good finish for what we had or what I thought we had. We’ll take that and keep building on it.”

“Maybe I am a washed up old dog, but hopefully I can find a few more trophies…I wanted it last week. I wanted it this week. I wanted it in Atlanta. I wanted it in Vegas. There’s been a lot of opportunities. Daytona 500 we were up front all day. I can count ’em at least on a hand. Maybe I need two hands to count opportunities that have slipped away. We’re achieving right now and getting success from those runs and pulling into finishes that we need.”

Busch is definitely not a “washed up old dog” as he has 10 races to find a way to victory lane. Busch struggled alongside Richard Childress Racing and found himself in a must-win situation. The driver of the No. 8 car is still uber-talented as he nears victory lane again. Busch may not be a part of the 2024 NASCAR playoffs, but a win looks to be around the corner.

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Busch lacked last-lap energy for Daytona win charge

Kyle Busch lost his drafting help on the final lap Saturday night in Daytona and, besides wrecking Harrison Burton, had no other card to play. Busch led the field at the white flag but lost the momentum from Christopher Bell through Turns 1 and 2 – …

Kyle Busch lost his drafting help on the final lap Saturday night in Daytona and, besides wrecking Harrison Burton, had no other card to play.

Busch led the field at the white flag but lost the momentum from Christopher Bell through Turns 1 and 2 — a push that gave the Richard Childress Racing driver a few car lengths clear in the lead. But without momentum behind him, Busch fell into the clutches of the field off Turn 2 as Harrison Burton and Parker Retzlaff took a run on the outside to go to the front of the field. Burton was pushed clear of the No. 8 into Turn 3 and blocked Busch’s last-ditch efforts coming to the finish line.

“Unfortunately, [Bell], something happened off of Turn 2,” Busch said. “Or he got squirreled up and wasn’t to my rear bumper and then he was below the yellow line and I don’t know what was going on. It completely killed the bottom lane and the outside just rolled.

“Once we got to Turn 4, there just wasn’t enough energy with enough cars from behind me. I was relying on my own draft to try and pass [Burton], and that happened so slow that Ray Charles could block that. Besides wrecking him, there was nothing I could do.”

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A wreck with two laps to go in regulation gave Busch the race lead in the Coke Zero Sugar 400. He was the second car on the inside lane when there was contact at the front of the field. Austin Cindric spun from in front of Busch and Josh Berry was collected from the outside lane.

Busch chose the inside lane for the overtime attempt.

“I could have jumped up in front of [Burton] and probably taken that, but I don’t know that he would have kept straight on me,” he said. “I had more trust in [Bell] there, being a better ally, but didn’t work out.”

The two-time series champion remains winless on the season and without a spot in the postseason. Saturday night was his second consecutive top-five finish and fourth on the year.

“We did a lot of things right, had a lot of luck on our side missing a lot of those wrecks, which was really cool,” Busch said. “I’m glad to not get torn up and beat up more than I have already this year. A good day for the Cheddar’s team, everybody on this Chevrolet Camaro — they did a great job. Randall [Burnett] and the guys brought a fast car, so I hate that I wasn’t able to get the job done, but it is what it is.”

Busch hoping to gain momentum from strong Michigan showing

The quest for 20-straight winning seasons is ongoing for Kyle Busch – but his Richard Childress Racing team showed it might be getting closer in Michigan. After running in the top 10 for a good chunk of the race, Busch parlayed a two-tire strategy …

The quest for 20-straight winning seasons is ongoing for Kyle Busch — but his Richard Childress Racing team showed it might be getting closer in Michigan.

After running in the top 10 for a good chunk of the race, Busch parlayed a two-tire strategy during his final stop in Stage 3 into a fourth-place finish in Monday’s FireKeepers Casino 400, earning his first top-five since Dover Motor Speedway in April.

It was a much-needed result for the driver and team, ending a torrid streak of difficult weekends dating back to Darlington Raceway in May. At the time Busch was 12th in points and looked like a playoff contender, but a stretch of 11 races with a 24.0 average finish — including five DNFs — saw the two-time champion drop to 18th in the standings and well out of playoff reach without a win.

Monday’s two-tire call was made to give Busch a shot at a victory. He’s won at least one Cup race in every season dating back to 2005. For a moment, it looked like Busch might just continue the streak. He emerged with the net lead after the short stop, narrowly leading William Byron and Tyler Reddick. But Busch couldn’t hold on, losing the top spot before pit stops cycled through and fading into the back of the top five.

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“I wish I’d came out with about an eight-second lead,” Busch joked. “That might have helped a little bit. We didn’t quite have that gap.”

The Nevadan ultimately took advantage of the double-overtime finish to rise back to fourth, paying off a solid weekend for his team with one of its best finishes of the year. It wasn’t a perfect weekend, but was easily the best the No. 8 team’s looked in months.

“Just needed a little bit more out of the Lucas Oil Chevrolet,” Busch said afterward. “We just kind of missed a tenth at each end, not quite being able to wrap the corners as fast as I needed to (in order) to be able to run 0.00s and teens. I think I was running 0.30s.

“Overall, just a net positive on the weekend and being better speed, up front and having a shot, anyways. We ran top 10 all day. Really good call by Randall [Burnett, crew chief] and the guys to get us that two tires, get us more track position and just try to hold them off as best as we could.“

Moving forward, Busch will do all he can to score another win and push his streak to 20-straight years with a victory — particularly in the next two weeks, when it could land him back in the layoffs.

The goal: Build off the Michigan momentum and keep running to expectation.

“This is how we would expect to run,” Busch said. “This is how we want to run. We want to run up front, top 10s, and have opportunities to excel. If I had to say, (we had) maybe a seventh- or eighth-place car today, and we got a fourth out of it. Good pit calls helped us to do that, and just making a couple good moves on those late restarts that got us that.

“Nothing can translate from today into Daytona or Darlington — setup wise, vehicle dynamics, that sort of stuff. But (we’ve got) good momentum rolling in the right direction. Just keep that going.”

Kyle Busch has spicy words for Joey Logano after Austin Dillon wrecked him at Richmond

Kyle Busch still has no love for Joey Logano: “Be mindful of what you do, I guess. It’s always going to come back on you.”

Nearly a week later, everyone around NASCAR is still talking about last Sunday’s wild finish at Richmond in the Cook Out 400.

In case you missed it, Austin Dillon – desperate to win the race and grab a playoff spot – ran into the back of Joey Logano’s No. 22 car coming out of the final turns, spinning him into the wall. In the very next moment, Dillon then clipped the rear right panel of Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 car, sending him to the wall too. Dillon went on to win the race, his first in nearly two years, behind some very aggressive driving that was polarizing among fans and drivers alike – celebrated by some and widely criticized by others.

Since then, NASCAR penalized Dillon by ruling that his win would not count towards playoff eligibility – which Dillon is appealing. It also fined Logano for his actions after the race, where he spun the tires of his car down pit road in front of Dillon’s No. 3 pit box.

On Saturday at qualifying for the FireKeepers Casino 400 in Michigan, reporters caught up with Kyle Busch who offered his thoughts on the whole scene. If there was one thing that came out crystal clear, it’s that Busch still has no love for Logano.

“There’s a lot of guys that have done some desperate things to get wins even when they’re not desperate. The one that had it happen to him is probably the one that’s done it the most that doesn’t need to do it. I guess his comments – he can be calling himself that… Be mindful of what you do, I guess. It’s always going to come back on you. YouTube is there for not all positives.”

Simply put, Busch could’ve just said: what goes around comes around.

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA – AUGUST 11: Austin Dillon, driver of the #3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet, and Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, race during the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway on August 11, 2024 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

Busch, of course, is no stranger to aggressive driving or controversy himself. After the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro this year he got into a fistfight with Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

It’s also worth noting two things: First, Busch is a teammate of Dillon’s at Richard Childress Racing. And second, he has a history with Logano, getting into a pit road kerfuffle with him in 2017 in Las Vegas after Logano wrecked him.

Earlier this week, Dillon told Dale Earnhardt Jr. that Busch congratulated him after the race in Richmond:

“He leaned down in the window and I said, ‘Man, that got wild.’ And he said, ‘It doesn’t matter, you won it either way. You were the best car, and you dominated,’ which means a lot to me.”

Engines fire up for the FireKeepers Casino 400 on Sunday at 2:30 p.m.

Hamlin is first in the starting grid after qualifying, Dillon is 10th, and Busch and Logano are nestled together at 13th and 14th. Stay tuned for any more potential fireworks between the drivers.

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