The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series has been an emotional roller coaster ride for Kyle Busch. Jumping over to the Richard Childress Racing camp for the 2023 season, Rowdy started out slow with a 19th-place finish at the Daytona 500. Making a solid comeback with a 1st place win at Pala Casino 400, Busch had his eyes set on the 2023 Cup Series championship. Now past the season’s halfway point, Busch has collected 3 DNFs, 3 wins, and 592 points in total. Safe to say, Rowdy has established himself as a strong championship contender.

Rolling into New Hampshire for the upcoming Crayon 301 Cup Series race, Kyle Busch sat down for a pre-race presser where he shockingly admitted defeat to his former Joe Gibbs Racing team.

Kyle Busch admits defeat to Joe Gibbs Racing

NASCAR’s 2023 Cup Series standings have been a game of musical chairs, with drivers occupying and relieving coveted in succession. While Alex Bowman led the Cup points at the beginning of the season, he quickly fell to the bottom half after getting penalized and injuring himself in a Sprint Car race. Hendrick Motorsports ace #24 William Byron has since then constantly topped the charts with the most Cup points and 4 title wins. For a brief moment, Martin Truex Jr pushed himself to the forefront with his Sonoma win, but then Byron quickly took over. Kyle Busch too jumped in on the action, shooting up from the earlier 6th position to the 3rd spot on the current leadership standings.

With the playoff bubble intensifying, media personnel at the New Hampshire pre-race presser asked Kyle Busch, “Do you feel like there’s kind of already established a group of Championship favorites or do you think it’s still really very much up in the air?”

Calling out Richard Childress and making a bold HMS claim, Rowdy answered, “Yeah, I do. I would say that there’s probably a consensus of probably eight or nine guys that are up there. And in that top, our championship contenders caliber, whatever you want to say, I would say we’re just barely there, we’re not lighting the world on fire, you know. Like the #24 [William Byron] is super good every week, they’re really fast.”

Admitting defeat to Joe Gibbs Racing, Kyle Busch further added, “The #19 [Martin Truex Jr] has been super good, really fast. So I would put those two guys kind of as your front runners, but you know we’re probably around the eighth or ninth spot.”

Although Kyle Busch admitted being behind his former team’s resurgent star and humbly put himself in the lower ranks of the championship favorites, let us take a look at what the statistics say.

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Kyle Busch’s 2023 campaign stats reveal more than he has to say

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While Kyle Busch may have pushed JGR’s Martin Truex Jr as the front-runner, the statistics on NASCAR Cup Series standings would beg to differ. Kyle Busch did trail behind Truex Jr for the better part of the season but has now caught up to the #19 JGR driver, tailing him by 15 points. If compared side by side, Kyle Busch statistically outperforms Truex Jr in every other aspect. 

Rowdy has three title wins, seven top 5s, twelve top 10s, and two stage wins. Martin Truex Jr on the other hand has two title wins, six top 5s, nine top 10s, and one stage win. All that said, it’s worth mentioning that the #19 JGR driver has only 1 DNF as opposed to Rowdy’s 3. 

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Qualifying in the 10th spot for the upcoming Crayon 301 race, will Rowdy claim another win at New Hampshire? Stay connected to find out.