Kyle Busch entered Talladega Superspeedway with high hopes of winning his first Cup Series race this season, in a bid to replicate his last season’s win at this very event. While, time and again, he has mentioned his and RCR’s grasp over superspeedways, the qualifiers at the 2.6-mile track this year proved why he was right.
Busch finished three positions short of the pole, behind the three Ford drivers Michael McDowell, Austin Cindric, and Todd Gilliland. However, an unfortunate incident occurred that left him struggling with a dismal P27 finish, leaving the driver utterly frustrated.
Kyle Busch is over the Next Gen craze!
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Rowdy’s run looked promising in the initial part of the race, with him finishing fifth at the end of Stage 1. The RCR driver consistently held his position and looked confident enough to grab his first victory. However, as the race progressed, the Top 5 reshuffled and created massive changes on the track. Something similar happened to Busch as well when he approached for the lead. With only five laps remaining, Shane van Gisbergen and Chase Elliott moved to the top line to assist in advancing to the front. Shortly after, with three laps left, Kyle Busch and Ty Gibbs attempted a similar maneuver.
Unfortunately, they misjudged the pace of the line, which led to a sudden slowdown. This error caused them to quickly drop to the rear of the pack, eventually halting their progress. Busch, who was all the way up throughout the race, ended at a disappointing P27. Tyler Reddick, who could have been entangled in the mess, got his way out and went on to win the race.
Surely, the turn of events got the driver disappointed, which he didn’t waste time expressing on social media. And this time his wrath fell on the Next Gen cars.
Busch took to his X account, and wrote, “Ride in line=finish where u r; TRY to race for win=finish last. I hate these cars!!!” This precisely summed up his story so far this season.
Ride in line=finish where u r
TRY to race for win=finish lastI hate these 🤬 cars!!!
— Kyle Busch (@KyleBusch) April 21, 2024
Evidently, Kyle Busch has already been struggling with the Next Gen car, even admitting in the past how its emergence has been the cause of his Cup Series career’s “demise”.
Rowdy’s discontent with the Next Gen cars
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A year before the induction of the Next Gen, Busch expressed his displeasure regarding the new models. According to him, removing the ability for race teams to be creative and innovative, and focusing solely on engine development, is a step in the wrong direction. Even after these next gens came into play, Rowdy was visibly uncomfortable, riding those cars. Thanks to his aggressive-driving, he felt like it was tougher than before to overtake others while racing.
“With these cars and the way the race plays out, it’s so hard to make moves. Make passes and get yourself track position whenever you want it. You can’t, so you’ve got to hold it when you’ve got it. So, I guess that’s kind of been a bit of my demise. Which is I don’t feel like I can do as much as I want to be able to do. Me overtrying has sort of hurt my race craft, if you will and (why) I haven’t been finishing, frankly,” he added last season.
And that has been evident in his performances as well. Since 2022 (the year that the Next Gen car debuted), Kyle Busch has only been able to go to Victory Lane six times, with half of those wins coming last year. In 2024, the driver has clinched only two Top-5 since the season opening Busch Light Clash, staying out of the Top-15 on seven occasions in 12 races. While this paints a dismal picture, with the majority of the season still set to unfold, perhaps Busch will turn the tables.
However, needless to mention, this weekend’s race would make him stand firm in his approach towards Next Gen cars. Let’s see if he can turn things around and clinch his first victory at the Dover International Speedway next weekend. What are your predictions regarding him for the upcoming race?
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