Kyle Busch has had his share of scuffles in his NASCAR career. From throwing punches against Joey Logano in Las Vegas, in 2017 to what he said to Ricky Stenhouse Jr in the All-Star Race. Not one to shy away from conflict, it was surprising to see Rowdy letting off Ross Chastain easily after a last-lap flare-up between the two relegated Kyle Busch from 5th to 12th place at Sonoma Raceway in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Despite the many setbacks Kyle Busch has faced this season, he has seen the positive strides Richard Childress Racing has made behind the scenes and is optimistic that those improvements will translate into better results going forward.

Kyle Busch’s bad luck continued at Sonoma

Competing for 5th place at Sonoma Raceway, Chastain’s Trackhouse Racing No. 1 Chevy was hot on the heels of Busch’s car. Heading into turn 4, Chastain tried to use the inside line to overtake Busch, ramming into his No. 8 Chevy in the process. This led to Busch’s car spinning in the opposite corner of the track, forcing the 39-year-old to lose several places before regaining momentum and finishing 12th.

Speaking to Frontstretch about the incident, Kyle Busch said, “I mean it stumbled getting into [Turn] Four but I’m not sure that made any difference. I was far enough off-line, I was a groove and a half out of the way and he just comes in barreling on in there and blows through my door. Don’t know the significance, obviously, it hurt me being able to just have enough fuel to get back regoing and try to fend off the rest of the cars that were coming behind me. I would have been top 10.”

Rowdy’s calmness in dealing with the incident at Sonoma shows his character growth. In the past, Kyle Busch hasn’t just beefed with fellow Cup drivers but fans as well (remember Bristol 2018?). The 39-year-old is showing maturity in dealing with tense situations, and in his own words, “I’m older, but I’ve just changed my style of fighting.“Now, Busch is letting his driving do the fighting instead of his fists, hoping that he can finally overcome the slump and get his first race of the season.

Despite the setback, finishing 12th in Sonoma was Busch’s best result in the last four races. When asked if Richard Childress Racing is making strides to improve, Busch replied, “We learned a few things at the Indy test before I cut it short. Feel like hopefully, we can start improving or building some improvements of what we found out there and bringing those to the racetrack. Not sure if all that’s been implemented yet. But it hopefully, certainly will be and we’ll continue to keep working at it yeah.”

It’s been a difficult season for Kyle Busch, and the only time he looked in control of the race outcome was in Dover and Kansas. Busch clinched the pole in Dover during qualifying and placed fourth in the race. He built on that result with an eighth-place finish in Kansas the following week. However, he has finished P27, P15, P35, and P12 from that point on. This means Busch’s winless streak has extended to 37 races, the longest in his career so far.

Could Kyle Busch turn his season around in Iowa?

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Kyle Busch will have a unique advantage when NASCAR makes its way to Iowa. While it’ll be the Cup Series’ first time racing on the track, Busch has performed well in a couple of races at the venue. He finished P2 and P1 respectively in 2009 and 2010, but the challenge this time around will be different, especially considering that parts of the track have fresh asphalt.

Speaking to Speedway Media, Kyle Busch said, “I have enjoyed my past races that I’ve run at Iowa. Running there in the Xfinity Series and a Pro Series East race there years ago was pretty fun. I think the track is going to be vastly different than I remember it with the old asphalt. The new asphalt in the various parts of the racetrack will make it way different.”

Another challenge that Kyle Busch could face is that Next Gen cars have been struggling with short-track racing. Overtaking on such tracks is a difficult task and Iowa is quite similar in that regard. The Next Gen car is known to be very aero-sensitive, and being caught up in dirty air means that drivers will be stuck in it for a long time.

Moreover, with parts of the track being repaved, drivers will be reluctant to use the old asphalt, fearing they will lose speed. This means that the already narrow track will become even narrower, reducing overtaking opportunities drastically. To add to their troubles, Christopher Bell and Ty Gibbs suffered from flat tires during practice, forcing Bell to use his backup car for the race. The track condition could also affect Kyle Busch’s result at Iowa Speedway.

Addressing the challenges in the upcoming race, Rowdy said, “I feel like the biggest challenges at Iowa with the Next Gen Cup car will be the aero deficiencies in traffic and how wide the new asphalt is that allows for you to work your way outside of the wake of the other cars in front of you.”

Kyle Busch is just eight points behind Bubba Wallace for the final playoff spot. Barring accidents and mechanical failures, there is no reason Kyle Busch won’t make it to the top 10 at the track. And he will know better than anybody that a good result in Iowa will be crucial to maintain his playoff hopes.

Do you think Kyle Busch will make it to the playoffs? Let us know in the comments!