The year kicked off on a high note for Kyle Busch. He won a Truck Series race in Atlanta, followed by a P7 end to the Cup Series race on the same track. Busch maintained this consistency with a P5 in COTA and a P8 in Phoenix and it seemed like this would only keep getting better. He had a great qualifying in Vegas, a 4th place start, and even led the race. But problems were just waiting around the corner. A tire came off, mid-race from the #8, ending his day in a DNF at Sin City. And now he was looking for redemption at Homestead Miami, but it turned out to be the same story.
Folks, Busch needs things to work in 2025! He’s coming from his career’s worst season (2024). First winless season. Lowest top 5s and top 10s in a season since his rookie days and his worst average finish (18.3) ever. And while at the beginning of the year, it looked like things would be different this season, but now with a 21st-place finish at Homestead, things seem to have come back to square one. Six races in… Busch’s average finish stands at 18.0 so far. And naturally, the #8 driver was left disappointed!
Kyle Busch needs to find a win!
The Richard Childress driver just did not have any pace in the ‘Straight Talk Wireless 400.’ He started at P22 and after climbing in the top 20 for a few laps in the first stage, he was pretty much hanging out in the low 20s and early 30s. His car just did not have the pace! And he called this before the race even green-flagged. So if you are a Rowdy fan and were wondering why you couldn’t see him in the race… this is why!
And after the race, on behalf of Kyle Busch, RCR released a press release. It read, “Certainly wasn’t the day we were looking for with our Bank OZK Chevrolet. We definitely missed the setup. Randall (Burnett, crew chief) and the guys kept working on it with every stop and we were way better at the end. Appreciate the effort they put into it. We never gave up. We’ll keep working on it.”
Kyle Busch via RCR post-race release: “Certainly wasn’t the day we were looking for with our Bank OZK Chevrolet. We definitely missed the setup. Randall (Burnett, crew chief) and the guys kept working on it with every stop and we were way better at the end. Appreciate the effort…
— Kelly Crandall (@KellyCrandall) March 24, 2025
This could also be an aftereffect of not having two of his crew members in the race. Jackman Joseph Moser and tire changer Shiloh Windsor were sitting out for the race thanks to the penalty at Vegas, for having the tire come off.
Whatever it is, the Busch faction needs to find a way to compete for wins. The once-dominant Richard Childress Racing has been relying on Busch for the last two years to get them back to the top. And their first year together was good. In 2023, Busch won 3 races but got knocked out in the first round of the playoffs. And ever since then, he’s not been in the form he was in Joe Gibbs Racing, winning two championships (2015, 2019).
And folks, Busch’s contract with RCR would be over with the 2025 season. And with how things have been lately for the veteran, an extension seems unlikely. Even if it is on the table, Busch needs a fast car to get back in form and RCR is not giving him that. So, it’s possible that he could be looking at other options. And to make us more confused, he’s recently put out an X post, “News at 18:51 on Monday.”
The NASCAR community thinks this is a cryptic message, with him making an announcement of joining a new team. Well, 18 was his number at Joe Gibbs Racing back in the day. Could this mean he is returning to JGR? Or worse, is this going to be a retirement announcement? Folks, whatever it is, Kyle Busch is now desperate for things to change, and not just for himself!
Kyle Busch wants to win for his son
So folks, while one Kyle struggled in Homestead, the other thrived! Kyle Larson took the checkered flag and, as is custom, his son Owen came running on the track to celebrate with his father. And not just once, he got to do this twice over the weekend. Larson ran all three races on the weekend, winning the Truck Series one too, as Owen jumped on Larson’s truck in victory lane. This is something Kyle Busch and Brexton have been missing. A two-year winless streak is a bit much for Rowdy.
Busch was recently on Kevin Harvick’s ‘Happy Hour’ podcast, where he said, “I look through it through my son’s eyes sometimes because he talks about how Owen [Larson] gets to go celebrate with Tiny Kyle [Kyle Larson] and when he wins and he gets to go run out on the racetrack and get a ride to Victory Lane and all that.” Well, it’s not like Brexton hasn’t been with Busch in the victory lane. Of course, he has. His father is the winningest active driver of the sport.
But Busch thinks back then Brexton was too young to completely enjoy it! “And Brexton, when we were in our highs of 2015, 16, 17, 18, even some of 19, we won four, five, six, eight races a year in those years and so he was too young to really kind of remember it and take part in those because he wasn’t that perfect age of running out to the track, you know. Now that he’s a little bit older, he wants to be a part of that and I’m not winning as much,” He added.
Let’s hope with whatever news Busch is going to share, things change and we see Brexton in Busch’s car in victory lane. What do you think? Will Kyle Busch win a race this year? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.
The post Kyle Busch’s Hot Streak Comes to an End After Miami Gives a Reality Check appeared first on EssentiallySports.
