Kyle Busch “Agitated” & “Aggravated” at Richard Childress Racing Amidst Repeated Let Down, Claims Kevin Harvick

Entering Sunday’s 500-lap short track extravaganza was the 8-time Bristol race winner, Kyle Busch. The race offered the “Rowdy” an opportunity to even it out with the greats of the sport like Cale Yarborough, Dale Earnhardt, and Rusty Wallace, etching his name down in history as one of the greatest to ever grace the half-a-mile track.

But, as it turned out, the race was a total disappointment for the 2-time Cup Series champion. Neither could he get that win nor could he get a decent finish. In fact, amidst the team’s persistent pit-lane issue, the track’s newly repaved surface also became the villain as Busch, along with other drivers, fell victim to tire failure.

Speaking on his show, retired SHR driver Kevin Harvick shared his thoughts on Busch’s situation after such a series of early setbacks.

Kevin Harvick sees a frustrated Kyle Busch at Richard Childress Racing after Bristol

In a nutshell, Kyle Busch and his #8 RCR Chevy aren’t facing the same problem from last season but have new ones at hand. If it was speed and consistency that the team lacked last year, now it’s more of a pit crew issue. Adding fuel to the fire is the driver’s terrible story of tough luck and ill fate. The pit road woes started in Daytona and heightened at Las Vegas when he fell from the second position straight to the 26th position owing to a slow pit stop.

Even after multiple reshuffles in the pit crew, the #8 team seems to have an unsettled matter at hand, as Busch himself admitted in his media interaction before Bristol. But his short-track venture was another episode altogether. Eyeing to share the spot with the legends, Busch looked for a win but neither his fans nor his team, or the driver himself could foresee the tire failure that was about to turn his day upside down.

Reflecting on Busch’s unfortunate fate, Harvick in his ‘Happy Hour’ podcast said, “He is aggravated, he is agitated aggravated however whatever words you want to use he is he is definitely frustrated. And last week at Phoenix they had a super tough weekend um you know we started this race at Bristol and he was diamond in the corners and pulling the car back down and had no idea that the tires were going to do what they did yeah.” 

Harvick then cited the obvious, revealing Busch’s tough time in the Next-Gen car – “Kyle had a tough time and really in the Next-Gen car at Bristol hasn’t been the same for him as it was in in the previous generation of car. He was he’s an eight-time winner at Bristol but it’s just not it’s not been as good for him in the Next-Gen car.” 

It has been a series of bad luck so far for Kyle Busch, as the Truck race in Bristol also witnessed.

Bad luck also graced Busch’s Truck Series race at ‘The Last Great Colosseum’

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Everything came in a full circle for Christian Eckes who last year at the same venue lost the race to Corey Heim with six laps left in the race. But this time he held off one of the most celebrated drivers in the Truck Series, Kyle Busch. After winning stage 1 of the race, Busch was in the chase for a win. However, fate had different plans as Eckes and his #19 Chevy stood in the way of Busch. Busch lost the lead in lap 159 and failed to take it back in the remaining circuits as Eckes successfully fended off the challenge from the champion for the final 92 laps of the race to cruise his way into victory. This earned the 23-year-old praise from the Food City 500 winner, Denny Hamlin who lauded him for standing his ground against one of the best who put on a final charge.

Hamlin said, “Considering the speed, that he had last year in that race, he didn’t win for different reasons. But he held off one of the best, Kyle Busch. Um, you know there at the end. Kyle was making a hell of a charge on them for sure, but you know between Christian and that truck they just looked phenomenal all weekend and they just dominated.” 

With fate and pit woes troubling the “Rowdy”, can he take things back in a stride next week at COTA? Only time will tell.

READ MORE: Kyle Busch Frustrated With NASCAR’s Decision Costing Him His Second 2024 Truck Series Win