Kyle Busch was the most relieved NASCAR driver to see the 2024 season come to an end. It would be an understatement to say that Rowdy had a bad season. Without a single race win to his name and failure to make it to the playoffs, this year is certainly the lowest he’s ever been. Needless to say, there’s a lot for Richard Childress Racing and Busch to look back on and see how they could’ve done things differently.

However, amongst the slump and disappointments in delivering subpar results, there was one thing that stung Kyle Busch the most. It was his failure to maintain his streak of winning at least one race for every season.

Kyle Busch wanted to extend his win streak beyond 19 years

It’s fair to say that Rowdy was more concerned about his winning streak than making it into the playoffs. With the mediocre results and constant changes within the team, he soon came to realize he wasn’t on par with the rest of the grid. Just before the Olympic break kicked in, the #8 team had just two top 5 results and was up against the odds to make it to the playoffs. Therefore, Busch knew his primary objective for the rest of the season was to get that one race win.

Unfortunately, just like the speed on the #8 RCR Chevy, luck wasn’t on Rowdy’s side. Just when it looked like he could finally end his winless streak, he would catch a bad break. And just like that, his hopes of making the winning streak to the 20th year ended in vain. Well, even after the season has concluded, Busch isn’t over it and reflects back on missing out on his historic winning streak.

“I would have much rather it been [that] if I’m going to run six, seven more years, that it last 25, 26 years and just make it a mark that will never be achievable. But unfortunately, those things didn’t happen. Things changed for me a couple of years ago (moving to RCR), and I was grateful to be able to extend the streak last year and make it my own. But honestly, it’s hard to put that many good years together in a row. It’s difficult.” Kyle Busch said this to Kelly Crandall from Racer.com.

At 19, this streak by Rowdy is still a NASCAR record after he started competing full-time in 2005. Richard Petty held this record prior to Busch, as he scored wins consecutively for 18 years in a row. At 19, this record is still within the reach of drivers who are competing. Joey Logano with 13 is the closest one. And he isn’t going to quit racing anytime soon.

It wasn’t the case that Kyle Busch and RCR didn’t have a shot at winning races. However, they just couldn’t cross the finish line when it mattered the most; this is something Rowdy spoke about while reflecting on his disappointing 2024 season.

Races where Busch should’ve sealed the deal

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The first race that comes to our minds when we talk about chances where Busch could’ve emerged as a winner is the playoff race at Kansas Speedway. RCR certainly turned a corner for good after the Olympic break, and the #8 Chevy started finding some speed. The team brought their best car of the season to Kansas, and all Busch needed was to hang onto the lead. However, with 32 laps to go in the race, he tried to make an ambitious pass on Chase Briscoe, who was the last car on the lead lap. But it resulted in a tragedy.

The #14 Ford didn’t give Busch the space he needed to make the pass and checked up while coming off the turn. The RCR driver was taken by surprise and slammed his race car into the wall. He could’ve won the crucial race at Daytona, but he didn’t have the support he wanted on the final restart, which saw Harrison Burton take the lead of the race and snatch a win from Kyle Busch.

Briscoe and Bush were once again at odds in the crucial race at Darlington Raceway, which served as the final regular season race. However, the #14 Ford was the class of the field, and Busch wasn’t successful in chasing his rival down. So you see, there were opportunities, but the driver and the team just weren’t able to capitalize on them.

“We probably had a handful of opportunities that slipped out from under us. So [I] can’t say we never had an opportunity to, but obviously didn’t get it done… Even having a shot to win late in the day; being close at Daytona, and maybe even closer at Kansas, and not being able to pull through,” Busch added.

The good thing for Kyle Busch and the RCR team is that they can put the hatch on their 2024 season and prepare for their next season.