Kyle Busch’s Sudden Drop in 2023 Was Partly Inflicted by NASCAR’s Due Diligence

The 2022 Cup Series season was a year of great emotions for Kyle Busch, who announced his shocking decision to switch from Joe Gibbs Racing to Richard Childress Racing at the end of the year. While Busch managed to bring in just one win for Coach Gibbs’ side before his departure, his arrival at RCR was off to a mega start in 2023, with three wins in the first half of the season. Unfortunately for the new dynamic duo, some of the sneaky tactics that the RCR garage had employed backfired after NASCAR stepped in to put an end to their first-half dominance.

Kyle Busch and RCR failed to sneak past NASCAR with their shenanigans in 2023

After winning three races in 2023, Kyle Busch not only kick-started his campaign with RCR with a bang but also surpassed former RCR star Kevin Harvick for the ninth spot on the all-time Cup wins list. This is why there couldn’t have been a better person to ask Kyle Busch the heavy-hitting questions. In his new role with Fox Sports, Harvick sat down with Busch for Fox’s new segment, ‘Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour’, and dived deep into the intricacies of his first season with RCR.

Reflecting on how Kyle Busch’s form seemed to drop off as the season progressed, Harvick wondered what obstacles had struck the RCR garage this time around. He asked Busch, “So you won a few races at the beginning of last year and kind of tapered off at the end. Do you think that was something that you guys just didn’t keep up with progression? Or what do you need to do to keep that first six months into the last part of the season?”

Soon enough, Busch began to spill the beans on what went wrong. He stated, “You know, joining RCR, I was excited about it because of the new car and the success they had with [Tyler] Reddick the year before, they’ve won races and so we carried into that and we were able to be fast right out of the gate, winning at Fontana. Talladega, we won, right, but it’s Talladega. And then we were good at Gateway, we were able to win there as well, so to me, why did we cool off?”

Busch felt that while other teams were catching up in the development race, some tactics used by RCR were discovered by NASCAR, leading to the loss of a vital advantage. He added, “I think there were some things that we were doing behind the scenes that NASCAR got onto, that then. Typical. You know, ‘Hey, don’t bring that back’. Or ‘Hey, we don’t like what you’re doing there. We’re going to keep an eye on that’ and stuff like that. So, we kind of lost in that and we didn’t really find any other advantages that we could re-step up if you will.”

However, Busch felt this was no excuse for their performance overall, as the team also managed a few good runs at Michigan and Texas where the car was feisty. But at the end of the day, a last-second spin or some other issue would derail their progress. Busch concluded, “So just dumb stuff happened that kind of took us out with some pretty good cars.”

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While it’s safe to say that the Richard Childress Racing camp could have been more cautious with their shenanigans, Kyle Busch also highlights the faith Richard Childress has put in Busch to step up as a leader for the iconic team in 2024.

Is Richard Childress letting Kyle Busch find his rhythm independently?

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Although Kyle Busch showcased great form in the first half of the 2023 Cup Series season, Richard Childress will be expecting much more from his star driver this time around. And whilst the RCR boss is famous for his hands-on approach with his talent, this time around, it seems like Busch has been left to figure things out independently instead.

Reflecting on whether Busch has received a push from Richard Childress to extract the maximum out of the car yet, the 38-year-old shared with Kevin Harvick, “No, but I’ve said it enough on my own that I know so he must not have put his arm around me because he hears me saying it, so he knows I know. So, I can see that as a moment which could come but I think Richard has enough respect for me that I’ve been here for so long, been successful in what I’ve done that, I don’t know if he’s just letting me learn on my own, which, you would think I don’t need to learn anymore? But with these new cars, they’re just different.”

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Despite all the years behind the wheel of the Cup Series challengers, the prospect of the Next Gen car still poses a challenge to Kyle Busch, who aims to figure out the finer details just in time to maintain consistency throughout the season. With that said, will NASCAR’s due diligence catch RCR lacking once again in 2024?