One stellar driver is undergoing a drab streak in the NASCAR Cup Series right now. Ever since his Gateway victory last year, Kyle Busch has stayed out of Victory Lane. While one Kyle is having his championship-winning season so far, ill luck and poor pit performances have plagued the other’s 2024 season. Now, despite criticism for the All-Star debacle, fans and peers alike are beginning to worry about Kyle Busch’s position.

However, this is not the first time Kyle Busch has missed the taste of victory for so long. And there are other drivers with way longer drab periods than the RCR No. 8 driver. These are some of the points that a NASCAR insider observed, debunking tensions about Busch finally turning into a speedless vegetable.

Kyle Busch is still in his “prime,” claims Pelecky

In other sports disciplines, only two teams compete, and only one wins among them. So comparing that with NASCAR is flawed, as drivers in the racing series can go huge gaps without winning a single race. This is what NASCAR insider Dr. Diandra Leslie-Pelecky observed recently. She said, “NASCAR has no equivalent to “batting 0.500.” Hence, Kyle Busch’s situation should not inspire a whole lot of worry.

The crash-riddled Sonoma race marked Busch’s winless streak of 37 races. Dr. Diandra further observed that this is not the first time. Kyle Busch missed trophies for over 30 races four times earlier, in 2007–08, 2014–15, 2016–17, and 2020. During COVID, Busch stormed back into Victory Lane in a 73-hour rain-delayed race at Texas Motor Speedway.

Plus, Kyle Busch does not hold a candle to other winless warriors in the Cup Series. Chris Buescher is infamous for holding the longest winless streak, of 222 races, among active full-time drivers between 2016 and 2022. Then veteran Martin Truex Jr holds the second-longest streak with a 218-race gap between his first and second wins.

But Kyle Busch is no amateur, having completed almost two decades in NASCAR. Thus, his entry into a new team, Richard Childress Racing, may also be a reason. Pelecky observed this: “Drivers can also have extended times between first and second wins if they’re forced to move to a less-well-equipped team.” This is evident, as Kyle Busch’s No. 8 team went through four shuffles earlier this year. Hence, his pit crew problems have contributed to his present position outside the playoffs.

Yet, in line with Dr. Diandra Pelecky’s analysis, NASCAR fans need not worry. In 2020, Kyle Busch reached a similar stage where all hope seemed lost.

When did Busch face similar issues?

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In 2020, our Rowdy driver went through a 33-race losing streak. After securing the 2019 championship, Kyle Busch’s glorious ship seemed to be sinking. By August 2020, besides being winless, he had only led more than 100 laps in a race that season. Busch had just a single playoff point, having somehow scored just a single-stage win. Thus, the then-Joe Gibbs Racing driver acknowledged, “It’s tough. We’re struggling right now.”

Kyle Busch further analyzed the situation, which closely resembles his 2024 situation. “It’s certainly been frustrating this year. It seems like any time I fall into a rhythm, I back up myself just a little bit to 90, 95 percent, I’m going backwards. I’m getting passed, slowing down. You can’t run at 100 percent all the time every lap. When you do, you start making mistakes.”

Yet Kyle Busch was able to turn around his fortunes in dominant fashion in October 2020. He held off Martin Truex Jr and Christopher Bell to win a rain-delayed Texas race.

Hence, it may not be surprising if Kyle Busch stuns us soon by snapping his 2024 winless streak.