One thing about Kyle Busch has always remained constant; his consistency. Over two decades, Rowdy has managed to maintain an average finishing position below 15 for a majority of the seasons. However, all that seems to have changed ever since the Next Gen car debuted. Instead of bringing home multiple wins every season, the #8 Richard Childress Racing driver is now facing major uncertainty surrounding the playoffs.

While his almost 40-winless streak may not seem like a lot compared to other NASCAR drivers, Rowdy is on a downward spiral like never before. But that’s not all. For the first time in two decades, Kyle Busch might just finish the Cup Series season without a visit to victory lane.

A single win could change everything for the #8 RCR garage

So far this season, Kyle Busch has scored a lonely pole position, 2 top-five finishes, and a mere 5 top-tens. Compared to last season’s three wins, 11 top-5s, and 22 top-10s, the #8 garage has truly spiraled into the lower half of the table. While a diminishing trend in average finish positions was observed after the arrival of the Next Gen car in 2022, this season has been by far the worst in recent memory.

So much so that fans of one of NASCAR’s winningest drivers are now questioning his ability to make it into the playoffs, but that’s not the only pressure on Busch to come up with a plan of resurgence. In the history of the sport, only Richard Petty had managed to win a race consecutively for 18 Cup seasons, until Kyle Busch broke that record last year with his 19th year of visiting the victory lane. But with how things stand, Rowdy may not be able to further that record anymore.

This was when former Hendrick Motorsports insider and Spire Motorsports consultant, Steve Letarte, highlighted Kyle Busch’s real dilemma. The legendary crew chief shared with NBC, “The second storyline and maybe the biggest of the year so far is Kyle Busch, or where is Kyle Busch at? This is a 63-time winner in the Cup Series. For the last 19 years, he has gone to victory lane; the longest streak in modern era history and I think that is looming for Kyle Busch.”

Currently, Rowdy sits 19th in the regular season standings and is 45 points below the cutoff for the playoffs. With how inconsistent Richard Childress Racing’s challengers have been this season, a win may be Rowdy’s only hope to keep his 2024 dream alive. Letarte further added, “A lot of people want to talk about the playoffs, I don’t think it has anything to do with playoffs for Kyle Busch. I think his goal needs to be to win for that 20th year straight, which is extending his current record.”

After all, it isn’t every day that a driver can say they’ve performed at the top of their level for 20 years. With the different generations of stock cars that Kyle Busch has succeeded with, making it through the Next Gen era with his record not only intact but extended, would be fairly ideal.

With that being said, Kyle Busch and the #8 are running out of time to make good on that notion. As the Cup Series gears up for the Ally 400, is it finally time that RCR lifts its 2024 curse?

Can Rowdy save his unparalleled streak at Nashville?

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Last weekend at New Hampshire Motorspeedway was nothing short of disastrous for Kyle Busch. After getting lapped by stars of tomorrow such as Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe, Rowdy had to come to terms with a DNF. Now, with only eight races to go before the playoffs begin, it’s a now-or-never moment for the #8 crew. Fortunately, the 38-year-old’s previous experience at Nashville Superspeedway drives home some confidence for many fans.

When Nashville Superspeedway reopened in 2021 and began to host the Ally 400 regularly, Kyle Busch had already visited victory lane multiple times. During the early days of his Xfinity Series career, Rowdy wasn’t the greatest at the concrete superspeedway but slowly picked up the pace nearing 2009. For the following five races at Nashville, Rowdy either finished on the podium or visited Victory Lane (twice).

Moving over to his record during the Ally 400’s existence, Rowdy certainly has areas of improvement to explore. After finishing within the top ten during his first season with RCR at Nashville, Busch will be eager to mirror his Xfinity Series results.

At the end of the day, a man can only work as well as his tools let him. But through 20 years of competition, Rowdy has learned more than a thing or two about resilience.