Falling from your prime is like a slippery slope. Once your feet are already in the quicksand, can you scramble back up? Kyle Busch’s woes are something similar. Ever since he entered a slump after Gateway last year, Rowdy has not been able to pull himself out of the mud. The 63-time Cup winner is undoubtedly in the worst phase of his career.

Some NASCAR fans pointed out Busch’s doomed tie-up with Richard Childress Racing. So whispers of Busch retracing his steps back to his old teams surfaced. Yet supporting the team and Busch’s talent, the No. 8 crew chief firmly denied these rumors recently, albeit leaving a layer of doubt in the mix.

What will Kyle Busch’s future look like?

With a major shuffle underway in the NASCAR Cup garage, Kyle Busch may have options. Martin Truex Jr has left Joe Gibbs Racing recently, drawing speculation about Busch’s comeback. Later, Rowdy himself pointed out that he is open to discussions about a Hendrick Motorsports reunion. But firmly stressing over his RCR commitment: “I’m at RCR with my group of guys and the deal I have right now in place.”

Randall Burnett, his crew chief, also sanctioned Busch’s efforts. “I feel like he’s a big part of this and a big part of the future of RCR. We spend a lot of time together…He’s very involved with the team and with the guys here at the shop.” Burnett also added a sliver of hope about the future, saying, “Myself, my engineers, my car chiefs and him…we all talked about it on the way back to the airport after the other night about how we’re going to do better. Like what we need to do better and the things that we gotta work on.”

But there is a catch! Kyle Busch’s contract with Richard Childress is until 2025. Burnett offered a veiled message about Busch’s uncertain future. “I think we’re gonna be in good shape with him for the next couple of years here at RCR. And go forward from there.” A couple of years, he emphasized?

Presently, at 31 points below the playoff cutline, Rowdy’s future genuinely looks bleak. Kyle Busch now sports a 38-race winless streak, the highest in his career. And if he fails to pave his way into the playoffs this year as well, Busch will no longer be a glittering asset for other teams. So despite the veteran crew chief showing confidence in him, Kyle Busch may axe his own feet if he does not secure a win soon. All the optimism may be for nothing, and Richard Childress’ savior will fall.

This is what Eric Estepp emphasized recently: “Kyle Busch will soon be 40 years old and hasn’t been to a Championship 4 since 2019…Five years ago, teams may have lined up to try and buy him out of his RCR deal. But nowadays, Kyle Busch does not have that kind of leverage.” Hence, there is all the more reason for the No. 8 RCR team to step up its game before things spiral out of hand. But maybe the process began a year ago, long before Kyle Busch’s woes set in.

Burnett noted the dissonance

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The NASCAR community has noted several possible reasons for Kyle Busch’s lagging form. Ranging from pit crew problems to faults in the Next-Gen car, everything seems to nag Busch. But another potential problem might lie in the No. 8 crew chief’s compatibility. Randall Burnett was one of the winningest crew chiefs over 59 races in 2022–2023. He guided former RCR driver Tyler Reddick to 3 victories and then added 3 more with Kyle Busch.

But it was Burnett, who himself admitted to Racer.com in mid-2023, that parting ways with Tyler Reddick was difficult, saying, “When you are with somebody for a long time, you learn those things, and you know what those things are. So when you have a different driver, a new driver, you kind of have to learn those things over.”

Further elaborating on the two drivers having different styles, the crew chief provided insights, “Kyle drives his car differently from say Tyler did last year…and there are different driving styles. It doesn’t necessarily make it as easy to just plug and play setups that we had success with last year. There’s been a little bit of that a little bit of some challenges to overcome with that.”

Unfortunately, those challenges plague the team at present. Hopefully, the No. 8 team’s strategy and teamwork will pay off in the end.