It’s no secret that Kyle Busch is one of NASCAR’s winningest drivers of the modern era. Winning in 19 consecutive Cup Series seasons, the Las Vegas native is eager to return to the Championship 4 this season. However, as things stand, the #8 RCR garage is facing a slump like never before.

So far this Cup season, Busch has either finished in the top ten or ended his night outside the top twenty-five. Despite his win in the Truck Series showing that Busch is still capable of taking his Chevy Silverado to victory lane, what is plaguing the veteran with the #8 RCR Camaro?

Kyle Busch highlights the importance of consistency amidst his hunt for 2024’s first victory

A few months ago, Kyle Busch was asked about the difference between Joe Gibbs Racing and Richard Childress Racing’s ‘Modus Operandi’ by Kevin Harvick. This prompted Rowdy to highlight how he was envious of Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson’s success with Hendrick Motorsports. Whilst Busch was winning once or twice a year, his competitors could consistently bring in more than a handful of wins. During his time at JGR, Busch would often question his decisions. “What am I doing wrong? Why can’t I be like those guys now?” 

Fast-forward to 2024, and Busch seems to be in a similar situation at Richard Childress Racing. In an interview with FrontStretch, Busch revealed that the RCR side is losing out owing to their inconsistency. Rowdy stated, “The better you run, the more the points take care of themselves, and the easier your car will be. So we obviously know that we need to get a win and carry on that long-running 19 years of winning a race and make it 20, so that would definitely be nice and then obviously to just being able to run up front.”

Looking back at the 2024 season, Busch confessed to RCR’s tendency toward turbulent results. One week, the team would finish in the top ten and show momentum. But as the next weekend arrived, the team would falter. “We had two weeks that were really good, made some headway in the points but then we had a really bad week last week, so you know, you can’t be feast or famine, you’ve gotta be consistent and there are guys out there being consistent,” Busch added.

The RCR driver highlighted Denny Hamlin and William Byron’s success this season, and how it set a benchmark for his team to strive for. In a situation similar to his transition from HMS to JGR, Busch once again finds himself envious of the completion, and even worse, of his counterpart at Joe Gibbs Racing. He concluded, “You know, look at the #24 (Byron), he’s pretty consistent. You look at the #11 (Hamlin), who is really consistent. So there are guys doing it. So it is capable but we gotta make it ourselves.” 

With Kyle Busch bluntly pointing out the shortcomings of Richard Childress Racing when put up against the likes of JGR and HMS, it’s safe to say RCR has a long road toward recovery. That being said, Rowdy wants to take things slow and steady this time around.

Rowdy treads carefully, with hopes of his stoicism paying off

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For a driver like Kyle Busch, his patience with the #8 Richard Childress Racing garage has been commendable, to say the least. In stark contrast to his Truck Series stints, Busch’s Cup crew seems to be facing one hurdle after the other. Even so, Busch believes the way forward isn’t by risking it all for that elusive win.

Speaking to FrontStretch, Busch highlighted the consequences of pushing too hard. He stated, “You gotta push hard all the time, but like you said, you can overstep that boundary. I mean I remember the years of trying to win so hard at Las Vegas as my hometown race and just spinning out, crashing, blowing a tire, whatever that might be.” The Cup Series veteran took fans back to Homestead Miami in 2015 and 2019 when he had won without being a top contender throughout the races.

The #8 RCR driver believes staying consistent and having tunnel vision is key to turning the ship around toward better shores. “So it doesn’t take a whole lot to get these things done but you do have to have good race cars and you do have to keep your head on your shoulders for a whole 400-500 miles,” he explained.

After looking at Kyle Busch’s candor about his stint at Richard Childress‘ camp thus far, do you think the team can turn things around just in time? Or will Kyle Busch, for the first time in 19 years, go without a visit to victory lane?