Not Rowdy No More – Kyle Busch’s Monumental Decline Shining Through as the Veteran Slowly Fades Into Mediocracy

Kyle Busch was on top of the NASCAR world only a handful of years ago. Not only did he bring home two Cup Series championships in 2015 and 2019, but the RCR veteran is also the Xfinity Series’ winningest driver in history. That being said, a lot has changed for Rowdy. But how did he get that nickname in the first place?

“Rowdy” for Busch gained popularity during his early NASCAR Truck Series racing career when he was with Billy Ballew Motorsports. It was Rowdy Burns’ No. 51 that inspired him from the Days of Thunder, as theories hit. “I used to run his first truck, which was No. 15, and when Billy asked me what number I’d want to run. So, I told him to just reverse the 15 and make it 51.. and we put Rowdy Busch over the (door),” Kyle Busch said during an interview about its emergence.

Kyle Busch has won almost every accolade at the top level and is still going. At just 39, his Rowdy dominance of all three tiers of NASCAR will take him down in history as one of the greatest drivers to grace motorsports. But coming to the current scenario, Busch lost his playoff spot only a few days ago after his scuffle with Kyle Larson at WWTR sent him into the wall.

Fast-forward to Goodyear’s test at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and the #8 RCR driver made headlines for a crash that wasn’t caused by the tires. With all signs of a downward spiral for Kyle Busch’s career trajectory, insider Eric Estepp highlighted what seems to have gone wrong since the 2020 season.

With Kyle Busch seemingly falling short on his whim at the Brickyard for the tire test, many fans feel that Kyle Rowdy Busch’s form as of late just hasn’t been up to the mark. Add to this his second lap wreck in the Truck Series at Darlington, and it’s safe to say the #8 driver hasn’t been performing in the Next-Gen car. However, statistics reveal that Busch’s dilemma began much earlier.

YouTube insider Eric Estepp highlighted in a new video, “This latest incident continues a no-good, very bad stretch for the two-time Cup Series champion. Recent finishes of 27th, 15th, and 35th have knocked Busch from twelfth to seventeenth in the regular season standings. He is now outside of the playoffs picture, twenty points out to be exact. His winless streak just hit 36 races, a full season.”

With how Kyle Busch’s 2024 season has been unfolding thus far, tension has boiled over on numerous occasions. Whether it be his exchange with Kyle Larson at WWTR or the now-infamous fight with the Stenhouse family at the All-Star race, not one star has been aligning for the RCR driver. But that’s not all. According to Estepp’s revelations, Busch has been facing this dilemma for far too long.

Estepp further commented, “When you look at the stats, you can see that the year 2020 was clearly a turning point. The data proves it. Before 2020, Busch had been to five straight championships four appearances, five in a row! He hasn’t been back since.” Sharing insightful graphs regarding Busch’s statistics in various fields, Eric Estepp tried to point out a significant drop in performance after the 2020 season.

Speaking of the average finishing position, Kyle Busch used to average 11.5 in 2016 which improved to 8.3 in 2018 and remained constant for the 2019 season. But as soon as the 2020 season hit, Busch’s average finish shot up to 13.8. And that’s not all. His wins per year also reflect a similar pattern. From a high of eight wins in 2018, Kyle Busch fell to a single lackluster win in the 2020 season.

Whilst Busch is yet to bring home a win this season, there is another stat that speaks volumes of Busch’s current form. According to Estepp, “He led over 2000 laps in 2017 and led well over a thousand laps every season for years. 2020 hits, he led only five hundred. Just 241 laps led all of last season.”

With the statistics showcasing a major decline in Kyle Busch’s form since the 2020 season, there seems to be little hope for improvements given recent incidents. That being said, what exactly went wrong after that fateful season?

Was Adam Stevens’s departure detrimental to Busch’s career?

During the 2020 season, Kyle Busch had 14 top fives and 20 top tens. Whilst Rowdy finished the season in the eighth spot, the comparatively lackluster season was enough to create a rift between the driver and the crew chief. Ever since Busch had won his first Cup Series championship with Joe Gibbs Racing, crew chief Adam Stevens had played a major role in guiding Rowdy toward victory lane.

Unfortunately, 2020 was the last year we would see the two together in the championship four. Going over what went wrong, Eric Estepp shared, “A weird season, the pandemic, no practice, weird schedule changes last minute, weird aero package. They didn’t get back to the championship four that season, and instead of buckling down, and letting that motivate them to better in 2021, instead, they just broke up.”

Estepp further expressed concerns about the impact of Adam Stevens’ departure from Christopher Bell’s team on Kyle Busch’s prospects. He noted, “Kyle Busch was paired with rookie Cup Series crew chief Ben Bayshore. Reflecting on this decision now, it appears to have been a misstep… Adam Stevens has guided his team to two championship fours since joining Christopher Bell, while Kyle Busch has yet to reach one.”

As we examine Kyle Busch’s recent performances, it’s evident that his dominance in NASCAR may be waning. His “Rowdy” status also seems to be in flux. However, there’s always room for a comeback, especially considering Kyle’s competitiveness in races this season. However, what do you think is preventing him from replicating the success of veteran drivers like Denny Hamlin?