Earlier this year, Denny Hamlin claimed that NASCAR has a “physics problem” with Next-Gen cars. His former Joe Gibbs Racing teammate may have briefly forgotten about that last weekend at Talladega. From mechanical failures to plain bad luck, Kyle Busch has faced a multitude of problems in the 2024 Cup Series season. However, the Next-Gen issue stood out this time – along with dwindling support for the two-time champ.

Chaotic events peppered the Yellawood 500 race. The largest ‘Big One’ unfolded on lap 183 of the race – but Busch steered clear of that. His chaotic moment came right at the end and in a silent, heartbreaking manner. As he broke away from the main file and attempted to form another line, nobody gave him a push. A NASCAR insider pointed out that this was because no heroic element exists in the sport anymore.

Kyle Busch’s lonely treatment is a symptom of the times

Gone are the days when drivers could slice their way from the back of the field to the front by the end of a race. In the days of Dale Earnhardt Sr., maneuvering cars to pass your rivals was a cakewalk. However, things took a turn for the worse when NASCAR debuted the Next-Gen car in 2022.

With parts procured from single-source suppliers, lower horsepower (670 hp), and aerodynamic problems, this car thwarted passing dreams – and also heroes like Dale Earnhardt Sr., known for their racing prowess. Kyle Busch fell prey to this excessive parity at Talladega. So watching the 63-time Cup Series race winner destroy his reputation on the final lap hurt ‘Rowdy’s fans.

Xfinity veteran Kenny Wallace also could not help but lament about it on an episode of the Dale Jr. Download. Having started the Talladega race from fourth and avoiding the 28-car crash with 5 laps to go, Kyle Busch was in prime position for a top-10 result, if not a top-5. However, after the restart during overtime, the No. 8 driver – who was running in 5th at the time – pulled out to the outside, hoping others would follow him and give him the push he needed to challenge for the win.

But that never happened. And with every passing second, Kyle Busch lost one place after another, dropping down the order. Ultimately, he crossed the line 19th in a race where he should’ve finished towards the front end of the pack. Discussing this on the Dale Jr. Download, co-host Andrew Kurland said, “[Busch] got hung out to dry on the last lap.” Suggesting what may have gone through the RCR driver’s mind on the final lap, Wallace mocked,

“Here’s Kyle Busch. Poor guy. He’s like, ‘Man, I’m a two-time champ. I’m gonna pull out, and I know they’re all gonna go with me because I’m the man!'” But considering it didn’t quite play out like that, Wallace added, “Nope.” Busch felt forming a third lane and driving to the front would be his only chance at victory, And when he realized that’s not what the others thought, he allegedly suggested they were “idiots” for not following him.

When Kurland asked if Busch’s timing to pull out of the pack was off, Wallace replied: “No. Because you’ve already got two lines that don’t have any energy. They’re tied.” He added that Busch does not carry that heroic charm anymore. “I know times have changed, and I know I’m old. But if that would have been Dale Jr. or Dale Sr., the whole line would have went with them.” 

The Next-Gen car’s twin purposes were to lower expenditure for teams and to raise parity at the racetrack. While the former was a failure, the latter achieved unprecedented success. So Wallace continued that while Kyle Busch is not a hero, the Cup Series garage hardly has one. Denny Hamlin’s superspeedway success may make him one, but it is a parched field. “Nowadays, we’re so far removed from the old days [that] I’m not even sure that we have a hero. Do we have a hero? … Denny’s won three Daytona 500s. Who else would we have gone with? I’m not so sure.”

Coming back to Kyle Busch’s situation in Talladega, one of his team members wasn’t too happy with how the racing played out. That’s to say that the No.8’s spotter, Derek Kneeland, didn’t think there was any. Since the introduction of the Next-Gen cars, racing has become more of a fuel-saving game. Expressing his frustration on the radio, Kneeland said, “I might as well just retire from Cup spotting at restrictor plate races and just stick to the Trucks and Xfinity stuff because I don’t know when we can race.”

Crew chief Randall Burnett agreed with Kneeland, and the latter continued, “It’s just between NASCAR and the OEM [messing] this whole deal up. We just don’t race. It’s terrible.” Kneeland may have said this after Stage 1, but the “terrible” feeling would’ve continued until the end of the race, considering how his driver’s day ended. To think that the same Kyle Busch turned a lapped car into a Victory Lane one 16 years ago on the same track.

Busch breathed fire earlier

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Maybe the Next-Gen car is at fault. Because ‘Rowdy’ was a phenomenon to watch before its arrival. Even as we lament his dilemma at Talladega Superspeedway, it would be hard to believe what he achieved at the 2.66-mile drafting track in 2008. In 6 previous Cup races before the Aaron’s 499 race that year, Busch failed to finish four times and wrecked out twice. Kyle Busch even wrecked his head-and-neck restraint in 2007. But in 2008, he was determined against all odds. He fell a lap down midway through the race when he missed his pit during a stop.

Busch had to circle back to try again on the next lap. But then he became the ‘lucky dog’ on the next caution, and it put him in a position to drive back to the front in his Toyota. Busch also overcame a 12-car accident that brought out the yellow flag on the final lap. Kyle Busch won the Talladega race for the first time that year, unable to believe he had finally achieved it. “I don’t think I’ve finished one here without wrecking, or at least without a torn-up car,” said Busch. The victory marked his second Sprint Cup victory of the year and seventh spanning all three of NASCAR’s top series.

Now, as he stands at the threshold of his much-awaited 64th race win, Kyle Busch is in agony. Hopefully, he will be able to claw out of his misery soon enough and keep the 19-year winning streak alive.