For the first time in 19 years, Kyle Busch hasn’t been able to win a single NASCAR Cup Series race. This was the longest streak of a win every year by a driver in NASCAR, but that streak didn’t extend to 20th in 2024. In theory, fans expected Richard Childress Racing to climb out of the ditch and compete for a championship with Rowdy. But in reality, this new partnership has seen the former JGR driver hit new lows in his racing career with the #8 team.

There was a time when RCR was a powerhouse team in NASCAR under the leadership of legendary driver Dale Earnhardt. But, over the years, the team dropped the ball in terms of adapting to the changes in NASCAR racing. 1994 was the last time the team won the championship, and ever since then they regressed and haven’t been able to compete for race wins and titles. This is something that has been evident, especially in the Next Gen era.

On one hand, you see the rise of new Chevy teams like Trackhouse Racing and Spire Motorsports. Meanwhile, RCR, for some reason or another, keeps drawing blanks every year. This is indeed a huge concern, not just for the team but also for their star driver, Kyle Busch.

Is Richard Childress Racing a tier-1 Chevy partner?

Let us talk about Rowdy’s struggles that mired his progress throughout the 2024 season. The No. 8 team had no idea or clue about their racing setup or preparedness in the initial first races. Busch was part of the photo finish at Atlanta and a P4 finish at Dover, but it was all downhill after that.

It was clear that the #8 team wasn’t prepared to trade blows with their rivals on the racetrack. There were times when the team opted to race with the same setup from last year. Well, they certainly flipped the switch after the Olympic break and bounced back with a streak of top 5 finishes. Rowdy even finished runner-up twice at must-win races at Daytona and Darlington, but lady luck didn’t seem to be on his side.

Well, the streak of three top 5 finishes was the highlight of Kyle Busch’s 2024 season. With an average finish of 18.3, he could only manage a 20th-place finish in the overall season standings. This is not the sort of performance you’d expect from a serial winner like Busch. This only goes on to highlight major concerns within the RCR camp and how newcomers like Trackhouse Racing and Spire Motorsports have surpassed them.

Trackhouse is fairly new to the sport, but under the leadership of Justin Marks, they’ve grown to become one of the top Chevy teams in the garage. Ross Chastain helped the team reach the championship race, and in just three years, they’ve got eight Cup Series wins. Their success helped them expand to a three-car team now, while RCR is stuck with two. In theory, RCR should be second in line after Hendrick Motorsports, but the dynamics have changed drastically in the last few years.

On the other hand, you’ve got Spire Motorsports, who seemed to have developed a bond with HMS in such a short time. While they’ve not been on a winning streak like Trackhouse, they are making all the right moves. They have signed an experienced driver in Michael McDowell and have also roped Justin Haley. Haley will be paired with veteran crew chief Rodney Childers on the #7 team, so that will be something to watch out for. Not to forget, they are also grooming Carson Hocevar, who won the Rookie of the Year award this season.

Both Spire and Trackhouse are expanding and moving rapidly, while RCR still runs in neutral. Although the team has made a massive overhaul within the team at the executive level, they might need to reconsider Austin Dillon’s future.

Richard Childress Racing needs to look beyond Austin Dillon

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Austin Dillon is arguably one of the least popular NASCAR personalities among the fans. Some dislike him for racing in the Cup Series because of his grandfather Richard Childress’ backing. Most of them do not like seeing him driving the iconic #3 Chevy that once belonged to Dale Earnhardt. From how things look, Dillon is an average race car driver, and he’s proven it since taking command of the #3 car in 2014.

He might have four Cup wins to his name, but he’s never really led the charge for the team. Well, he did win at Richmond this year but wasn’t able to make the playoffs after deliberately wrecking Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin in a dramatic finish. He was also a part of the controversy at Martinsville, trying to manipulate the outcome of the race defending fellow Chevy driver, William Byron.

Despite the race win, he finished 32nd in the overall standings, which is his worst-ever finish driving the #3 car full-time. So you see, RCR has limited its scope of growth with favoritism and a need for more effort to fuel its racing program. Perhaps it’s time Richard Childress addressed the root cause of RCR’s stunted growth. There’s also a possibility of Kyle Busch leaving the team if things don’t change for good. After all, he wouldn’t want to waste his prime years racing at a mid-pack team.