Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch are on a similar trend. Sense the absurdity in this statement? Well, not entirely. As Elliott continues his consistent front-row trend from last year, Busch is continuing his miserable one. The latter spent a dismal season – from ending his 19-year win streak to finishing outside the top 15 for the first time in 2005, Busch needs to up his game this year.

But he has already started off on a bitter note. Despite securing a respectable 4th-place finish in the heat race, Busch washed up in 15th at the Cook Out Clash. Clearly, the vast hopes he had strung together for the new season are off to an inauspicious start, and now Kyle Busch’s future hangs in the balance.

Kyle Busch is in a contract year with RCR

The Richard Childress Racing driver started 2025 on a promising note. Kyle Busch secured two victories in heat races of the winged and non-winged classes of the Tulsa Shootout. However, his dirt racing ventures are no guarantee for retaining his NASCAR career. Kyle Busch owns 63 Cup Series victories in an arsenal of 231 NASCAR trophies, along with two Cup titles. This marvelous resume suffered a rude setback in 2024 when he clinched only 10 top-tens and 5 top-fives. The spotlight was only on RCR at first, but Busch also shares that now – as a 57-race winless streak haunts him.

NASCAR expert Eric Estepp outlined that Kyle Busch’s tenure is getting jittery with every race he falters in. “I know it’s early to bring up free agency in February… Kyle Busch originally signed a two-year deal with RCR with a team option for 2025 that obviously RCR exercised. But that would suggest that Kyle Busch is now in a contract year with no sure thing planned for 2026.” Busch started his journey in RCR barely two years ago – at the end of 2022. After clinching three wins at the beginning of 2023, Busch is in a drab trend.

As Kyle Busch is no rookie driver, the pressure is building up more on him to harness his older mojo. Estepp continued: “Kyle Busch is about to turn 40 years old, contract year – his job is to convince not only RCR but other top teams in the garage that he’s still got it, that he’s still that guy who won two championships in the 2010s.”

Even ‘Door, Bumper, Clear’ host Tommy Baldwin joked about Busch’s continuing misery lately. Yet Estepp also emphasized that the Clash result may be dimming an incoming season of redemption. “I don’t think necessarily this is a lame-duck season from the start. There is a good chance Kyle Busch and RCR reach an agreement beyond this year, sign an extension.” A landmark Daytona 500 win for Kyle Busch could spark a turnaround. Rowdy has never won the crown jewel event, and breaking his winless streak with that could spur a comeback. Again, we might just be clutching at straws here.

However, in the scenario that Kyle Busch and RCR don’t patch up, which team would look to rope in the soon-to-be 40-year-old?

No place in other teams?

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On numerous occasions in 2024, Kyle Busch lost his temper. When Ricky Stenhouse Jr. punched him at North Wilkesboro or when Corey LaJoie spun him out at Pocono, Busch was not happy. But aside from his rivals, his team has also not kept him in the best of spirits. Although he tried to veil that as much as possible, it slipped out in an interview when he admitted his nostalgic feelings in mid-2024: “Anything is possible, always. If JGR welcomed me back I would go back. If Hendrick welcomed me back I would go back.” Despite Busch’s hopes, the chances that other teams would opt for him also look slim.

Eric Estepp outlined a few options for Kyle Busch, and why eventually they would not be factors. “There are other options on the table – like Denny Hamlin’s status with Joe Gibbs Racing is somewhat unclear, especially without an anchor sponsor. Alex Bowman could get bought out by Hendrick Motorsports but Ally loves him. Even though Tim Cindric is taking a step back, I don’t think Austin getting the boot this year. Imagine Kyle Busch and Joey Logano in the same Team Penske competition meetings.” Busch and Joey Logano do not have the best history. The pair were involved in a fistfight in 2017 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Busch came out of that fight with a cut on his face, so it’s safe to say Team Penske is not an option.

Meanwhile, his former Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Denny Hamlin, is going through an eerily similar sponsorship crisis in his contract year. However, replacing an aging star with another aging star doesn’t seem like the smartest team to do for a racing team. As sad as it sounds, Kyle Busch needs to re-evaluate his situation in terms of NASCAR Cup Series prospects. Let us still cling to the glimmer of hope that his performance will pick up soon.