For Kyle Busch 2024 will be a year of what could have been. The No. 8 Chevy driver was close to winning at Atlanta, Daytona, and was even leading at the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, before spinning out. The p12 finish at Kansas summed up how the season had been for Busch. Near misses, unfortunate crashes, and problems with the Next Gen car meant he missed out on the playoffs and is in danger of going winless in a season for the first time since 2004.

Busch has shown the pace to win races, and he proved this by leading the race for 218 laps this season. But getting over the finish line has been a problem. With a winless streak of 51 races, Busch’s winning touch seems to have deserted him, but he has the confidence and backing of Richard Childress.

Richard Childress’s unwavering faith in Kyle Busch

Busch’s first season with RCR saw him register three wins, with him driving to the victory lane in just his second Cup Series points race with the team in Fonta. More of the same was expected this year given his track record, but it has been one disappointment after another. No wins and 5 DNFs meant he missed out on making it to the top 16 for the first time since 2012.

Given how the season has unfolded, Richard Childress might be going through a lot of frustration and disappointment, but he has made sure to back his drivers in what has been a tough year. On Thursday, Childress found himself in conversation with Kevin Harvick on the Happy Hour podcast and that’s where he addressed his team’s efforts this season. He said, “It has been one of those years. Crashes. We’ve been involved in so many crashes. I think Austin was involved in the first six races this year, so that put him so far behind.” 

Richard Childress went to speak to his No. 8 driver on the morning of the podcast shoot and revealed what Busch had to say about the events in Kansas. Childress mentioned, “I talked to him [Kyle Busch] this morning, and he said, ‘Maybe I should have been a little more patient,’ but when you got somebody breathing in your back, you’re leading the race with 20-25 [laps] to go. You just make the move, you think it’s right.”

The RCR CEO then showed his belief in Busch and also assured him of success. “I told him, I said, ‘Man, don’t worry, we’re going to win some races.’ It’s been a tough year, but everybody has fought hard. We see that we got to make some changes, and we got more changes coming.”

Childress said that we will hear about the changes next month and that he is excited about the next year. It is difficult to see Childress making driver changes this quickly, but there could be alterations made behind the scenes to correct the wrongs of 2024 and look to improve on their performances. He also added, “You can’t dwell on the past, you’ve got to learn from the past. History teaches you, and that’s what we’ll learn from this year, and take it into next year with a positive attitude.”

At Kansas, Busch had everything going well for him as he was leading Ross Chastain in the battle for the win. With 32 laps to go, Busch encountered Chase Briscoe, who was running almost a lap behind him. Like any driver would want to do on the race track, Busch tried to overtake Briscoe and that’s when things went south. An unexpected draft of wind took the car out of control during the overtake, leaving Kyle Busch’s car spinning out. Busch finished 32 and his winless streak shows no signs of ending.

At Atlanta in February, Busch was involved in a thrilling photo finish with Daniel Suárez and Ryan Blaney. However, Busch would finish third by a mere 0.007 seconds. Another close finish Daytona, saw him finish second 0.047 seconds behind Harrison Burton. Darlington brought more near-miss agony for Busch and RCR, as the driver finished second to Chase Briscoe by 0.361 seconds.

Apart from the near-misses, Busch has also been on the receiving end of some unfortunate crashes. While Kansas was a recent addition to his misfortune on the track, there have been other incidents.

At the World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, he started 10th and was in contention for the lead. In the final lap of Stage 2, Busch was running seventh and locked in a battle with Kyle Larson who was eighth. The two made contact on the front stretch after coming out of Turn 4. Busch tried to push Larson down the track coming into Turn 1 to keep him behind him. However, the move ended with both of them crashing and going out of the race.

Busch’s bad luck was in full display at Iowa as well, when he looked on course for a top-10 finish. But a mechanical failure forced him to drop off and enter pit road. He returned to the track but issues persisted and eventually failed to finish the race.

At Iowa as well, Busch dived into what has been the reason behind his struggles. He said, that a lack of practice time has hurt his ability to “dissect and dive into the car,” which ultimately has led to losing control at key situations throughout the season. While there have been a few factors as to why Kyle Busch is unable to perform this season, and one of the main reasons is having difficulty adjusting to the NextGen car.

Kyle Busch’s issue with the NextGen car

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Back in May, Kyle Busch revealed that he is not enjoying the experience in the NextGen cars. Stating that they led to a “new realm of confusion,” after the 2024 Goodyear 400, he discussed how adjusting to the new car has been difficult. Revealing one of the main problems that he faces, Busch stated, “I feel like I’m fighting many more balance issues, and on top of fighting those balance issues by yourself, throw in the aero deficiencies that you have in traffic, and now you’re just confused.”

The effects of the aero issues are being noticed now, as that became the main reason why the Kansas race did not go according to plan. Getting dirty air from Chase Briscoe’s car was what fogged up Busch’s judgment, and when he pushed down the pedal before he knew it, he had lost control of the car. Fans and critics alike hope that Busch finds his rhythm in these cars soon so he can prevent himself from going a season without a win.

Busch has been racing for 20 years in the Cup Series and his name is in the Hall of Fame too. Considering that, it was a big hit to RCR when he did not make it into the playoffs. In the end, as Richard Childress said, it’s not the time to wallow in the past but to think of the future and win more races. Whether that happens with a few races left this season or next remains to be seen.