Here’s How Kyle Busch’s Decision to Leave Joe Gibbs Racing Might’ve Triggered His Downfall

NASCAR’s pre-2023 silly season had a lot to offer. From Tyler Reddick’s switch to Toyota camp in 23XI Racing to Kyle Busch’s change of base to Chevy, the Cup Series saw quite a lot of changes this year. The 2-time Cup Series champion’s decision to leave his long-time team, Joe Gibbs Racing and join Richard Childress Racing was definitely the most significant change in the team’s driver lineups.

Unlike his 2022 campaign, the 2023 regular season started on a high note. As the action reached the halfway point, Busch had 3 stellar wins under his belt and stood 3rd in the rankings along with his former teammate Martin Truex Jr and his KBM prodigy William Byron. For the first time after his disastrous last season with JGR, the “Rowdy” Busch looked like he was on a spectacular comeback journey. Until things fell apart one by one.

Once the action went past the regular season mark into the playoffs, the RCR #8 and Busch struggled to pick up a decent finish. A series of unfortunate wrecks caught the driver off guard while he tried his best to make the most out of his campaign with the inconsistent RCR equipment.

The series of slumps pushed him further down the drain as Busch went from being the #3 ranked pilot to being the last of the active playoff drivers at the time of his elimination. So was Busch’s decision to leave JGR, a team with which he has won 2 titles, a false move on his part? Or was the driver’s decision to switch bases to an already struggling team at RCR to be blamed for? Let us revisit Busch’s choices and decide what has got him in this precarious position.

Kyle Busch goes out on his shield fighting as the 2nd eliminator takes out another title holder

Entering the past week’s race, it was a must-win situation for Busch. Sitting at the second last playoff berth with the points deficit overwhelming him, the “Rowdy” needed to pull off a win in order to advance. While it looked like the driver was on his toes, running in the front and seizing the throne in the late stage, he fell short by 2 spots, finishing 3rd and ending his championship chase in Charlotte.

Ardent KB fans would be drowned in sorrow to see the 2-time champion go out in such a way, missing the mark by a whisker despite having an exceptional regular season. While the sub-par #8 Chevy could be held accountable for the driver’s bleak ventures, bad luck, and misfortune, all played their role in getting the driver further away from his ambitions.

Just to put things into perspective, Busch, who claimed a win in Talladega in the Spring, just couldn’t pick a decent finish once the playoff action reached the same venue. This coupled with a one bad race at Texas the week prior, got the RCR driver in a rut as the points deficit came tumbling down on him with the driver bearing its weight.

Getting eliminated in the round of 12 wasn’t what Busch expected when he won his 3rd win in the regular season. Reacting to the sudden turn of events, he said, “The bigger defying weeks of last weeks is the last two weeks you know I guess of today is the last two weeks and not scoring enough points so you know that’s on me, just not doing a good job at Texas when we did have a good car and then again last week being in position to score points both times at the end of the stages and losing in spots just looked like I threw out the anchor,” said the driver disappointed and taking the blame on himself.

WATCH THIS STORY: Bubba Wallace unveils Kyle Busch’s tough love approach 

“Rowdy” Busch’s bitter farewell from Joe Gibbs Racing

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After an incredibly successful 15-year run with Joe Gibbs Racing, Kyle Busch is no longer a part of the team. If one is to speculate about such a development a couple of months ago, it would’ve been deemed as a joke probably reserved for April to make anyone a fool. But after clinching 2 titles with the team, Busch’s campaign with Joe Gibbs and Toyota started to grow sour.

And after his primary sponsor, Mars, Inc. gave out, withdrawing themselves from the role, this opened the door for Busch’s departure from the team. This, along with JGR’s and Toyota’s inability to land a worthy sponsor, added to the trouble, eventually forcing the “Rowdy” to bid farewell to his boss and team that earned him the 2015 and 2019 titles.

The shaky relationship between the driver, team owner, and manufacturer was pretty evident in Busch’s performance. Following his championship run that earned him his 2nd title in 2019, Busch could only manage 4 wins in 3 seasons compared to the 5 in 2019. While things were becoming more and more stressful for ardent Busch fans, no one anticipated such a switch – from Toyota to Chevy and certainly did not foresee Busch partnering with Richard Childress, considering the two’s past altercation.

Finally, the gates were open for Busch, who when asked about the sudden turn of events, and the loss of his primary sponsor, said, “The only thing I can say to that is it didn’t happen. Apparently, they’ve got other irons in the fire, maybe other sponsors for other drivers and that’s the road they’re going down.” 

This meant that Busch would have to part with his championship-winning crew chief Adam Stevens. With Busch making his exit, Joe Gibbs promoted his grandson, Ty Gibbs, as Busch’s replacement in the renumbered #54 car – a move many deemed too early for the 20-year-old Xfinity sensation.

Busch’s decision to move to RCR and its side-effects

Compared to JGR, Richard Childress Racing is now a skeleton of its former self. From the height of Dale Earnhardt’s career, earning the team 6 titles, being one of the sport’s most successful teams to now being the downtrodden team it is, RCR’s journey is a tragic tale. After The Intimidators’ tragic demise in 2001, Richard Childress and his team were never the same. The passing of its #3 driver really took its toll on the team just like it did on the sport.

The team remained in the shadows until Childress decided to field Busch in an effort to reclaim the lost glory and fame. Whereas Busch, who looked at all options, including Stewart-Haas Racing, and 23XI Racing, zeroed in on the Chevy camp, eyeing his Truck Series team’s development, and looking to improve his ties with Chevrolet.

Moreover, in RCR, the driver never seemed to face a sponsor crisis like he did in JGR. The arrival of the 2-time tile holder got the sponsors back in RCR including, Cheddars, 3Chi, Lenovo, etc. The season even started out well for the driver and the #8 team. As stated above, Busch picked up 3 wins, securing a berth in the playoffs.

However, as the regular season reached its end, the trouble started out for Busch. The descent started at New Hampshire Speedway where Busch wrecked out of the race. The following races were a tough ordeal for KB fans as Busch met his match in MIS, Indianapolis, and Glen, ending his days early as misfortune and the team’s inadequate equipment did the driver dirty.

Though Busch managed to scrap past into the 2nd playoff round, a knockout in Texas mounted more pressure on the driver to advance into the round of 8 with a win. With that ending in misery, was Busch’s decision to move with RCR good? Well, for one, considering this is his first season with the team, one might argue that it is too soon.

But considering Childress is now 78 years old, his best days as the boss of his team are probably well over. Couple that with a regular pit crew that is known to make mistakes, not to mention the notorious #8 Chevy that needs tweaking to get it to the right setup, Busch’s move to leave JGR and join RCR might sound to be the root cause of all.

However, the presence of an experienced crew chief like Randall Burnett on his side and a few days in the race shop, setting the Chevy and filing out the hard edges will certainly get Busch back to speed, given the team’s expertise. But will Richard Childress and his men work their magic and back Busch for a 3rd title? Only time will.