The two-time NASCAR Cup Series winner, Kyle Busch’s 2025 campaign has been a rollercoaster of promise and pitfalls. Through 17 races, Busch sits 19th in points with a lone Top-5 and five Top-10 finishes. A winless streak now stretching into a second year and two DNFs, including an early exit in Mexico City, leaving him on the playoff bubble. With just 9 races remaining in the regular season, Busch is trailing by 63 points and is in desperate need of either a win or consistent results.
Making matters worse is a streak of new winners. When Rowdy crashed in Mexico City, Shane Van Gisbergen used his road racing prowess and catapulted himself from 33rd in points to playoff eligibility. The following weekend, Chase Briscoe finally executed a race and bagged his first win at Pocono. Now, there’s a possibility that there could be a new winner in the upcoming races, and Busch seems to have made his plans to overturn his season.
Playoff math tightens as Kyle Busch stumbles
Speaking with Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports, Busch emphasized the strategies and plans needed to get ahead in the Cup Series race, as he discussed the shortfalls and mistakes that they’ve made in the past couple of races. “Yeah, I would say if you find another winner outside then I would say you’re in a must win,” said Busch. “Our biggest fault is just not being able to get stage points. Like if we could have a big points day like COTA, like COTA-type days for the next eight weeks will put you right back in the thick of things and you’ll be fine, especially if others have had issues, but you’ve got to have those strong days eight weeks in a row. And that’s just what we’re trying to get to.”
With a mere 19 total points, 14 of which came at Circuit of the Americas in March, placing him just 26th among full-time Cup drivers, his performance has been upsetting. That stark contrast to his rivals has become a glaring issue, especially when drivers like Chris Buescher and Alex Bowman climbed the standings by gathering both stage and race points in Mexico City. The early speeds in Daytona and Atlanta led to that good point day in COTA. Had it not been for Christopher Bell and that late race restart, we could’ve been having a different conversation. But, does an organization like RCR rely on ifs and but situations to get their star driver through to the top 16?
With nine races left in the regular season, Kyle Busch enters the Cup race tonight at Atlanta 50 points behind the playoff cutoff. He feels he could still point his way in. What he said about his outlook @NASCARONFOX pic.twitter.com/LCPtLCg2f3
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) June 28, 2025
“I mean, Mexico’s on me, so I take full accountability on that one,” Busch continued. “Pocono, I would say that we unloaded soft and just kind of stayed that way. We weren’t really able to capitalize at any given point in the weekend, so we can’t have those.” At Mexico City, Busch’s race took a harrowing turn just seven laps in when, under wet conditions, he locked up entering Turn 1 and triggered a dramatic multi-car pileup, spinning into Justin Haley, Kyle Larson, A. J. Allmendinger, and others. The contact was severe enough to force Busch into the garage, ending his day in 37th position and sending his playoff hopes into a steep hole. At Pocono, he never raced in clean air.
Still, Rowdy remains optimistic, pointing at the tracks where he has been historically stronger, as his best platforms for earning the stage-heavy results he needs to return to playoff contention. “Dover’s been a good track for us,” said Busch. “We’ve been fast there. Indy’s, we were fast there last year, had a really good shot to finish in the top three. So I would say there’s some places that we can, we can do it.”
As the playoff clock ticks down, Kyle Busch finds himself in familiar territory like last year, fighting from behind, not just for wins but for consistency. He had his shot at tracks like Daytona, and with how things are going with the #8 team, a superspeedway track could be his ticket to the playoffs. We know how close he came to winning the race in 2024 during the spring race.
Kyle Busch stirs up old rivalries with Dale Earnhardt Jr.
The longstanding rivalry between Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr. seemed to have simmered over the years, shifting into mutual respect since Jr.’s retirement. But Busch’s recent comments about Dale Jr.’s pit box cameo at Pocono Raceway have poured fresh fuel onto old embers. When Hendrick Motorsports’ Mardy Lindley was suspended, Jr. replaced him atop the #88 pit box for Connor Zilisch. And for Busch, this was nothing but a publicity stunt, “It’s all publicity, but spin it how you want. He’s just going to be a warm body sitting on top of the box.” The remark struck a nerve, especially with long-time Dale Jr. fans, many of whom remembered Busch’s infamous 2008 Richmond run-in with Earnhardt, and his 2011 Truck Series meltdown that got him suspended and fined.
The backlash was swift and passionate. Barstool Sports’ NASCAR insider Large posed the question many were thinking, “What about Kyle kind of pulling a fu—– blanket off of this whole myth that Dale actually won that from the pit box? Is that a d— move?” Podcast co-host Spider didn’t hold back either, saying, “F— Kyle Busch. Just kidding. I actually love Kyle Busch, but when it comes to this circumstance, I’m Team Dale Jr.” Meanwhile, Moonhead provided a softer take, suggesting that Busch likely didn’t intend to discredit Dale Jr.‘s effort, but simply viewed the fill-in crew chief role from his own more detached lens. What many people pointed out was that Earnhardt Jr. wasn’t just a figurehead, but he collaborated with Steve Letarte and made key strategic calls throughout the race.
Well, it won’t be surprise if boos and jeers rain down on Rowdy at Atlanta. Maybe that is what he needs from the fans, to wind him up and spark that fire in his belly. This has worked for Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano, who knows it will work out for Busch as well.
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