“We’re not even looking for stellar right now,” said Andy Petree in March, former executive VP at Richard Childress Racing. That sounds like a pretty ominous statement, right? Especially after Petree parted ways with the team recently. Echoing Petree’s words, Kyle Busch has barely scraped stellar in the past few races. And his recent showing at Brickyard 400 did nothing to improve that bleak streak.

Several reasons have been cited for Busch’s downfall. His bad luck in recent events points to his faltering performance. Yet the NASCAR community overwhelmingly believes the 63-time Cup winner is not to blame – the RCR team is, instead.

Kyle Busch + RCR = a story of pitfalls

When Kyle Busch approached the end of 2022, he bumped into sponsorship troubles. That resulted in the veteran Cup Series driver parting ways with his long-time team, Joe Gibbs Racing. And he left behind a glittering trail – Busch earned 56 Cup wins at JGR, including two championships (2015, 2019). Pretty unexpected by many, his initial venture at RCR surprised some doubters. Busch clinched three race trophies at the beginning of the 2023 season.

But after his Gateway win in June, Kyle Busch’s downfall began. His drab streak has been following him since and was there the past weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a track where he owns two wins. The Brickyard 400 saw Kyle Busch progressing well – he was contending for a top-five finish. But then right at the cusp of the final lap, Busch executed a faulty pass on Denny Hamlin and wrecked himself. That marked the umpteenth time that the RCR driver crashed out of a race this season.

This throws the spotlight on both his and Richard Childress Racing’s woes. Since March, the team has been revamping itself – it underwent three pit crew changes in the first few months. Both Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon are struggling, as pit road woes struck down both. Busch has led 130 laps — nearly half came in the season’s first five races — while Dillon has yet to lead a lap. Recently a poll was conducted to pinpoint which driver is the most disappointing this season – and Kyle Busch’s name floated to the top. “It’s frustrating,” team owner Richard Childress said.

Childress further admitted to NBC Sports recently how impossible it is to bring changes so late. “You can’t fix it in the middle of the year. A lot of it is engineering. I feel that we’re strong in a lot of areas and weak in some of the others. I want to beef up our engineering. We’ve got a lot of stuff that we’re working on and hopefully, we can get both of them running better.”

If it’s any consolation for Kyle Busch, NASCAR legends Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon faced similar slumps. In 1992, broken engines sealed Earnhardt’s fate and dropped him to 12th in the standings. Then Gordon reached a low of 11th in 2005, the worst points finish since his rookie year. But both recovered from their miseries by waiting out a season and team shuffles.

And the NASCAR community agrees that RCR may be causing Kyle Busch’s downfall. After his Brickyard misery, fans bashed the team.

NASCAR fans point fingers at RCR

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Although it is a well-harped point that RCR may be at fault, fans are convinced more after recent results. Kyle Busch holds the distinction of owning 231 victories across all three NASCAR series, a number that even Richard Petty could not defeat. Yet, such a stellar driver was overjoyed with achieving a 9th-place finish in Chicago: “We had a solid finish…at the Chicago Street Race.” This prompted fans to view Busch as the most disappointing driver of the season. One fan sadly admitted: “Sir King KFB The “F” might have to stand for “fraud” soon 😭”

But most people eagerly pointed fingers at the Richard Childress Racing team. Of all the slumps Busch has faced in his career, this is his longest – 43 winless races. This clearly indicates that something is wrong with the team, as one fan commented: “I’m hesitant to say Kyle Busch, because that whole organization has been a clown show. He isn’t personally disappointing me.” Another fan compared Busch’s blissful time at JGR with his misery at RCR. “Kyle Busch – bad results, overdriving the car, getting in fights with midpackers, etc. I didn’t expect performances on par with his time at Gibbs but damn I didn’t expect THIS.”

Somebody highlighted the glaring technical issues that RCR runs into now and then. Yet they took a mixed stance, opining that Busch could have emulated Brad Keselowski’s assimilation with RFK Racing. “Kyle Busch. It’s not his fault since RCR equipment has been especially ass this year, but still. I think KFB should buy into the team like what BK did with Jack Roush.” Another fan was simply fed up with the number of times Kyle Busch has encountered bad luck, as they hilariously commented: “Is this a drinking game where you down another drink every time someone says KFB?”

Evidently, the entire NASCAR community is tired of seeing Kyle Busch falter at NASCAR racetracks. Currently below the playoff cutline, let us see if Rowdy can redeem himself in the four regular races left on the schedule.