Kyle Busch‘s tough season just can’t catch a break. With no wins and the regular season nearly halfway done, things seemed gloomy as he rolled into Charlotte Motor Speedway. So far, he’s snagged just two top-5s and three top-10s out of 12 races, and for the Coca-Cola 600 also he only managed to qualify in P15. Although last week he dodged a penalty for his off-track scuffle with Ricky Stenhouse Jr, his luck didn’t hold up on the track.
Kyle Busch’s pit crew messes it up again
During Stage 1 at Charlotte, on lap 43, chaos unfolded in the pits. Along with Alex Bowman, Ross Chastain, Kaz Grala, Justin Haley, Brad Keselowski, Bubba Wallace, Chase Elliott, and John Hunter Nemechek, Kyle Busch decided to pit. But it was just Busch’s crew that faced a hiccup—they got hit with a pit road penalty for mishandling a tire.
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The blunder left Busch a lap down, scrambling for a chance to get back in the mix. Though he fought hard for the free pass, it ultimately went to Justin Allgaier, leaving Busch behind Larson’s car along with Todd Gilliland, Tyler Reddick, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. And well, NASCAR fans are frustrated, seeing how the season’s unfolding for the #8 driver blaming Richard Childress and Co. for the same.
Even though Charlotte Motor Speedway hasn’t exactly rolled out the red carpet for Kyle Busch since he started his career in 2004, a sharper performance from his pit crew could’ve boosted his chances. Out of the 50 races he’s tackled at Charlotte, he’s snagged one win, landed in the top-5 sixteen times, and scored top-10 finishes 22 times.
Talking about his pit crew, by March 4, 2024, Richard Childress Racing had already shuffled his pit crew around three times, hinting at deeper issues they’re trying to fix.
Busch, though, has consistently stood by his team. Take the race in Las Vegas, for example. After a pit stop during the final stage, NASCAR slapped him with a pass-through penalty because his car was out of position in the pit box—specifically, the splitter crossed the line. At first blush, anyone might blame Busch for not parking it perfectly. But his crew could’ve tipped him off to back up before diving into the repairs on his #8 RCR car, yet they dropped the ball on that heads-up.
Despite the mix-up, Busch remained positive, tweeting, “We had a faster @BetMGM – @TeamChevy🎱 today than the results showed. Proud of this team for bringing fast cars every week. We’ll get after it next week.” Now, with the fans getting heated over his pit crew’s mistakes, it’s going to be interesting to see if he’ll stand by them once more.
NASCAR fans blame Richard Childress Racing for #8’s miseries
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As soon as Bob Pockrass tweeted about Kyle Busch’s penalty with “Busch pass-through for uncontrolled tire,” the fan reaction was anything but positive. Disappointed and frustrated, fans quickly pointed fingers at Richard Childress Racing for Busch’s rough patch.
Busch pass-through for uncontrolled tire.
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) May 26, 2024
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One fan straight-up urged Busch, “Plz leave them after next year kyle.” Another, reflecting on recent performances, remarked, “I was just telling myself the 8 pit crew has been alright the past few weeks…“ Meanwhile, another chimed in, “Good to see the 8 crew still can’t do anything right.”
The dissatisfaction didn’t stop there. One fan openly expressed his displeasure with the team, stating, “I hate RCR,“ while another dished out a sarcastic, “Incredible job @RCRracing pitcrew.” Well, Busch under the RCR banner does not seem to be working out.