Dale Earnhardt Jr Prediction On Kyle Busch Given Major Boost After Ugly JGR Divorce

Joe Gibbs Racing has something very unique and different about it. It is rare in NASCAR for relationships to be long. But JGR’s drivers, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin have been part of the team for 15 and 18 years, respectively. That’s a feat in itself.

The streak however will no longer continue into the 2023 season. Kyle Busch and JGR parted company mid-season when it was announced by the team that they wouldn’t be renewing his contract any longer. Busch was understandably unhappy with the decision.

Busch will also have to part company with his beloved #18 car that was behind all the years of success he found at JGR. He won both his Cup Series in the #18. But with his move to Richard Childress Racing, he will no longer be able to race in the #18 and has announced his move to the #8.

A fan on Twitter analyzed the history of the #18. He found that the car has made 1572 starts in the Cup Series, and finished 80 of those in the first place. Moreover, his breakdown of the performances by drivers shows that Kyle Busch was the major contributor to those starts and wins.

As per the statistics, he has made 528 starts which contribute 33.59% to the total starts of the #18. The massive chasm between him and Bobby Labonte at 2nd place shows his quality and consistency. Busch also leads in terms of wins with 56 – forming a whopping 70% of the total wins in the #18. His starts per win numbers are also the best, with Busch averaging 9.43 starts per 1 win.

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Busch had gotten a show of support from Dale Earnhardt Jr earlier in the season when the divorce between him and JGR was announced. Dale Jr said he can Busch perform at the top level for multiple years. The statistics prove that quite clearly.

What was the reason behind the ‘ugly’ divorce between Kyle Busch and JGR?

NASCAR rarely, if ever, sees such long relationships between drivers and teams. But if they did trust him for 15 years, why give up now? It’s not as if he is the oldest driver on the circuit.

Two (and a half) reasons come to mind that can answer the “why” of this whole saga. The first, and possibly the biggest, was that Mars Wrigley had decided to stop their sponsorship of the 37-year-old. Unfortunately, it was another 15-year relationship that couldn’t persist any longer.

The second-and-a-half could be his dip in performance and the availability of an in-house replacement. Busch had been on a purple patch in terms of results between 2015 and 2019 when he got JGR their first and second Cup Series. Apart from the title-winning years, he finished in 2nd, 3rd, and 4th positions. But since 2019, he only managed 8th, 9th, and 13th (in that chronological order).

To add to that JGR could possibly be looking toward the long-term future of the team. Ty Gibbs, the grandson of Joe Gibbs, has been performing extraordinarily well in the Xfinity Series; he was crowned the Champion in 2022.

And he also got an unplanned stint racing in the Cup Series where he exceeded most people’s expectations. Ty made 15 starts for 23XI Racing, and despite having no experience in the Gen 7 car finished a respectable 16th in his debut. He finished the season with one top-10 finish, which came in Michigan.

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The move made by JGR is a very risky one given how tough NASCAR racing is. It’s a high-risk, high-reward situation; they will hope they fall on the right side of luck and chance.