Kyle Busch Will Look to End His Awful Run at Darlington After Exquisite Debut Season With RCR

Despite having a strong start after his switch from Joe Gibbs Racing, Kyle Busch’s 2023 campaign went off the track for a bit with Richard Childress Racing‘s inconsistency getting the best of the 2-time Cup Series champion. However, the “Rowdy” claimed 3 impressive wins this season something he failed to do last year.

And now with the Cup Series extravaganza reaching the gates of Darlington, the #8 RCR driver is certainly looking to get back to his winning ways in the playoff rounds to solidify his championship status. With the whole NASCAR nation anticipating an epic playoff commencement, the former HMS crew chief gets real about “Rowdy” Busch’s playoff chances despite the #8’s struggle with inconsistency.

Kyle Busch’s playoff starter at Darlington and the numbers disadvantage

Unlike last year’s miserable season with Joe Gibbs Racing, 2023 started out great for the 2015, and 2019 Cup Series champion with wins at Talladega, Auto Club Speedway, and WWT Raceway. But as we reach the playoff rounds at Darlington it looks like the #8 RCR driver has lost all the steam.

While his RCR Chevy has shown exceptional speed and pace, it also had its share of troubles. Out of the 26 races so far in the schedule, Busch ended his day early with 5 DNFs. And that stat itself is alarming considering that we are no longer in the regular season.

And adding to the concern is his bleak Darlington streak. For instance, the 2-time champ got his engine blown here last year in the playoff rounds while he crashed his way out in the regular season the same year. 2021 wasn’t much different as yet another crash got him on the back foot.

With all this into consideration, Steve Letarte’s close associate, Professor had this to say, “I understand but he’s been 30th or worse in 3 of the last 4 races there, he only has 2 finishes of 14th or better in the last 7 races this season, like he’s not running like Kyle Busch. I’m not saying he is going to, he can’t go out and win this weekend but it’s just that the numbers have not been good for him lately.” 

While the legendary HMS crew chief was amazed to see the champ in the third tier according to his associate, the professor pointed out Busch’s grim numbers at the 1.3-mile superspeedway.

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Kyle Busch and his ambitious 2023 goal

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While the sailing has been rough for RCR and Kyle Busch, the sky is the driver’s limit. Despite claiming 3 stellar wins to make it into the playoffs, Busch isn’t satisfied. “(Five) is always my number,” said Busch during the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Media Day at the Charlotte Convention Center.

Though Richard Childress’ team kissed the gold 6 times, it was all when they had their top driver and arguably the sport’s best – Dale Earnhardt with 1994 being his last championship-winning year. And ever since that, the team hasn’t reached anywhere near that. And that’s exactly where Busch is planning to take his #8 RCR Chevy.

According to NASCAR, he said, “That’s what we all strive for. I don’t care what team I’m at, I’m going to go try to win a championship, right?” Channeling in the champion in him, he said, “But to have the history and the legacy of RCR and everything that they’ve done over the years – with Earnhardt and with the other drivers that have been there … yeah, it’s been a little quiet lately, but that would be nice to shake that up.” 

WATCH THIS STORY: Kyle Busch joins the NASCAR grid in making Brad Keselowski the butt of their jokes 

He then chimed in with some of his beliefs, saying, “Anytime you look at a championship season of a driver, they’ve got around five wins. That’s been a good year. You can always bank yourself as being a championship guy if you’ve got five wins..”