Kyle Busch’s move to Richard Childress Racing proved to be a boon early on in the season. Racking up points and race wins, Rowdy steadily pushed past the competition, making it up to the 3rd rank on NASCAR’s Cup Series standings. Eyeing the regular-season championship title win, Busch is expected to grab the 15-point playoff bonus. In what can only be termed a game changer, Kyle Busch’s disappointing DNF at New Hampshire’s Crayon 301 race seems to have put his championship dreams in jeopardy.
To further add to Kyle Busch’s woes, former team owner turned rival, Joe Gibbs unveiled his secret weapon in the post-race presser at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
“A big deal”: Joe Gibbs reveals the ace up his sleeve
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Disrupting William Byron’s dominance, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr not only claimed the Crayon 301 race win but also shot up to the 1st spot on the leaderboards. Truex Jr’s teammate Christopher Bell too moved up to the 3rd rank, stealing Kyle Busch’s previous spot. While Kyle Busch’s 4th DNF of the season saw him drop down to fifth, JGR’s #11 Denny Hamlin occupied the 4th spot on the Cup Series standings. As Christopher Bell had earlier remarked, the race was truly pivotal.
Achieving massive success post the conclusion of the Crayon 301 Cup Series race, JGR team owner Joe Gibbs was all smiles. During the course of the post-race presser, Joe Gibbs was asked how his team’s partnership with Toyota benefited them in the 2023 season. Joe Gibbs answered, “Well, we’ve had a great partnership. I think when it started like 16 years ago, it’s been a big deal for us. I think the biggest thing with partnerships, it’s yes, everybody has fun and it’s great when you’re winning, but when you go through some tough times, too, and we’ve done that with Toyota.”
Revealing how the Toyota partnership is his secret weapon, the legendary team owner added, “I think it’s a battle-tested partnership. Love the relationship we have with those guys. I called Jack from the winner’s circle, and I’ll talk to David tonight. You couldn’t have better partners from an OEM standpoint.”
While Joe Gibbs was more than pleased with the Toyota machines’ performance, Kyle Busch, on the other hand, was left vexed by his #8 RCR Chevy’s underwhelming performance.
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Kyle Busch points finger at Chevrolet
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Losing traction in the rear, Kyle Busch’s #8 Chevy made contact with the outside wall during stage one of the Crayon 301 race. Sustaining race-ending damage, Kyle Busch was forced to bow out of the race. Displeased with the poor performance of his RCR Chevrolet, Rowdy had some choice words to say post-race.
Trouble for Kyle Busch AND Corey LaJoie!#NASCAR | @USANetwork pic.twitter.com/34XtUkkEWk
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) July 17, 2023
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“I’ve been lacking right-rear grip the whole time we’ve been here. Just couldn’t get the right rear feel in the race track. You’re just going along trying to keep it under you as much as you can,” the RCR #8 driver said.
Further calling out the Richard Childress Racing team and Chevrolet, Busch added, “Hate it for our No. 8 Lenovo Chevy team. Our Chevy stuff was a little off this week, at least for us anyways.”
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With only six regular-season races left, can Kyle Busch disrupt JGR’s dominance on the leaderboards?