This season, Kyle Busch has sort of become a punching bag of sorts, driving the No. 8 RCR Chevy. Out of pace and ideas, he’s trotted in the mid-pack and found himself on the receiving end of the stick on multiple occasions. The latest one came at the Pocono Raceway, where he was taken out of commission by Spire Motorsports driver Corey LaJoie.

Although LaJoie did express feeling bad about causing the big one, he never admitted to his mistake. While some might call it hard racing, for Busch, it was a blatant move to crash him out of the race. And going by his words, it looks like he is looking to return the favor to LaJoie in upcoming races.

Can we expect the return of vintage Rowdy for the rest of the season?

Restarts at the Tricky Triangle have always been chaotic, and that was the case on the late race restart with 40 to go. Kyle Busch tried a cheeky move, going five-wide on the first corner, but had to deal with charging LaJoie. Busch almost hugged the yellow line and hoped to make the turn clean, but the No. 7 car just clipped the back bumper of the No. 8 car.

Next thing you know, Busch was sent flying across the track, catching multiple cars in his wake. LaJoie whipped his hands over the incident, stating, “It’s not the outcome that I wanted.” But he never accepted that his wrongdoing put Busch in more trouble. And this seems to have riled up the RCR star.

Stating his intentions for what his next move might be, he opined, “That’s the second time he’s did that this year. He did it to the old seven-time Jimmie Johnson at Kansas. He texted me and called me. I didn’t even reach back out because he changed his story four times. So I’m like, you’re just a liar, you wrecked me like I get it. It’s fine whatever; Payback’s coming.” Busch said this while talking on the Pat McAfee Show.

He also covered a major concern that he’s been dealing with of late at RCR, which is speed. And what does he feel could be the way forward for his team to try to solve this issue?

Kyle Busch demands more speed to be competitive

Trending

Michael Jordan & Co’s Rebellion Left Hanging as ‘Silent’ NASCAR Worsens Bubba Wallace’s Career Fears

“Wasn’t Any of Our Fault”- Ross Chastain Distances Himself From Cup Star’s Watkins Glen Shame Leaving Martin Truex Jr Livid

Joey Logano Belittles Watkins Glen as NASCAR’s Favor to the Drivers Gets Overlooked by the Penske Man

Juan Pablo Montoya Drops 3-Word Verdict on NASCAR Return Amid Next-Gen Fears

Dejected Michael Jordan Star Calls Out NASCAR’s Mexican Speedster After Awry Glen Outing

At this point in the season, it’s not hard to find the core issue with the #8 team. They are nowhere near the top-running race cars in terms of matching speed. Busch struggling to make passes in the top 20 and top 30 has become a rather recurring theme. And trying to escape this curse, he attempted the Hail Mary move last weekend, which ended badly for him.

Acknowledging the shortcoming this season with the No. 8 Chevy, Busch added, “There are things that I could do to be better, but ultimately it comes down to how fast your car is. Fast cars cure all, is what I always say. Harvick also says you can’t drive a slow car fast. So, I mean, there’s all of that it comes down to. The biggest thing is having that speed.”

However, for those who had watched the Nashville race, when he did run up the field, he was competitive until Kyle Larson decided to ruin his plans by wrecking Ross Chastain on a restart. “But when you take me out of the thirties and put me to the 10s I’m hanging in there. Like I can do okay; I’m fine. You could about do that to everybody in the field because these cars are pretty equal,” he concluded.

Surely Rowdy needs to find his speed and his mojo back, as he is short on time, to salvage his 2024 Cup Series season.