Did You Notice? … Kyle Busch has come out swinging in the final year of his contract with Richard Childress Racing?
Busch has two top-10 finishes in the first three NASCAR Cup Series races, 55 laps led and sits ninth in the standings, a way-too-early 14 points above the cut line.
Busch could have easily won the last two weeks, as he was in contention late at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Circuit of the Americas. At COTA in particular Sunday (March 2), he led a race-high 42 laps and seemed to be in the driver’s seat until a late charge by Christopher Bell knocked Busch out of the lead with six laps remaining.
Still, things are looking up for those seeking a riled-up KFB, with a season-opening dispute with NASCAR over the damaged vehicle policy seemingly water under the bridge. Busch actually cracked a smile or two during a post-race interview where he admitted to a few self-inflicted mistakes.
“Once we had that yellow (for RCR teammate Austin Dillon‘s and Denny Hamlin’s wreck), then it was just defensive mode,” Busch said about the finish. “You’re in complete and utter just beat the heck out of the tires at that point, and I just didn’t have it over the No. 20.”
This strong start continues a string of promising performances that actually started during the playoffs last fall, where Busch nearly won at Kansas Speedway before a late-race spin handed things over to Ross Chastain. Speed didn’t always show in the final results. In fact, Busch went the final nine races without a top-10 finish. But keep in mind the team was working with a boom-or-bust mentality, helping Busch try to keep a record-setting streak alive of 19 years with at least one Cup win that ultimately ended last year.
So do Busch and Richard Childress Racing have the momentum to keep this up? The team has already won two of the first three NASCAR Xfinity Series races (with Jesse Love and Austin Hill, respectively). Busch’s 11.7 average start ranks fourth in the Cup Series, and only the Penske-aligned trio of Austin Cindric, Joey Logano and Josh Berry have more laps led.
I say before you go running away with this one … pump the brakes somewhat. It’s easy to forget that after three races in 2024, Busch had one top five, 58 laps led and stood sixth in the standings, seemingly well positioned as a title contender.
Busch lost Atlanta by less than a hundredth of a second to Daniel Suarez, coming up third. And, like many times the past five or six years, he was a small twist of circumstances away from winning his first ever Daytona 500.
We know how the rest of 2024 played out: Busch wasn’t in the top five again until Dover Motor Speedway in May, out of the playoffs by June and suffered through the worst season of his Cup career. And you know who else would have made the playoffs last year three races in? A Who’s Who of nominees for Most Disappointing Driver of the Year: Chastain, Bubba Wallace, Erik Jones and John Hunter Nemechek.
That type of history leaves Busch’s prognosis guarded. But I do think there’s a few reasons for optimism. One: he led just one lap in five road and street course races last season. The raw speed and handling Busch needed, at a track type where driver skill can make a difference, just wasn’t there. We’ve already seen a major shift there with COTA, and there’s four more chances to snag a regular season win on right-turn tracks.
Two: RCR has also been on top of its game on drafting tracks again this season. It’ll make Busch a favorite at some places he’s struggled at throughout his career: Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. A victory at Talladega, in particular, would take the monkey of a 60-plus-race winless streak off his back and turn the focus to postseason preparation.
Here’s three, perhaps the most important reason of all: Busch is a pending free agent. Think of how many superstars throughout history seem to bring it in a contract year. And there are family implications on top of it for Busch: his son Brexton’s career will ultimately align with whatever Cup team signs him next (likely his last contract). It’s perhaps the last top-tier opportunity for a driver who turns 40 years old this year and has burned bridges at two of the three most successful NASCAR organizations this century: Joe Gibbs Racing and Hendrick Motorsports.
One month ago, that seemed to limit Busch’s options. But think of the rumors ever since — the possible re-entry of Dodge into the sport, likely beginning at the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series level in 2026. Remember how it picked an aging veteran, Bill Elliott, to lead its return to Cup the last time? Feels like an opportunity for Busch and potentially RCR (or someone else) to align with Dodge down the road … as long as they can convince someone they’re still relevant.
There’s still a way to go for Busch and RCR to dig out of their hole. But the driver is making a good argument at a critical time for the sport in need of personalities like his to stand out, with their first two Cup winners also two of their most sparsely followed.
Did You Notice? … Quick hits before taking off …
- Christopher Bell’s two wins mask an interesting changing of the guard over at Toyota. 23XI Racing has two of its three drivers, Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace, on solid ground to start the year. But if the playoffs started today, Joe Gibbs Racing would have just one (Bell) of its four teams above the cut line. Ty Gibbs, in particular, has hobbled through with just 29 points; he’s gone eight straight races without a top-15 finish dating back to a disastrous 2024 playoff run.
- Can someone explain to me how Katherine Legge, who has two stock car starts the last three years, can make her Cup debut at Phoenix Raceway out of nowhere but Mike Wallace, with decades of NASCAR experience, couldn’t run the Daytona 500? I understand Legge has NTT IndyCar Series oval starts, including multiple Indianapolis 500s, but I’m still scratching my head over it.
- I’ll write more on IndyCar soon, but I wanted to send appreciation to everyone who tuned into IndyCar on FOX for the first time. The broadcast was not only a ratings success; it was the second-most watched race outside the Indy 500 for the sport in the last 15 years. With all of its races on network television, compared to NASCAR’s shift to secondary networks and/or streaming heading into the summer, it’ll be interesting to see if IndyCar can gather real momentum to be a true competitor to NASCAR for viewership (or whether the success of both can drive motorsports popularity across the country).
Follow Tom Bowles on X @NASCARBowles
The author of Did You Notice? (Wednesdays) Tom spends his time overseeing Frontstretch’s 40+ staff members as its majority owner and Editor-in-Chief. Based outside Philadelphia, Bowles is a two-time Emmy winner in NASCAR television and has worked in racing production with FOX, TNT, and ESPN while appearing on-air for SIRIUS XM Radio and FOX Sports 1's former show, the Crowd Goes Wild. He most recently consulted with SRX Racing, helping manage cutting-edge technology and graphics that appeared on their CBS broadcasts during 2021 and 2022.
You can find Tom’s writing here, at CBSSports.com and Athlonsports.com, where he’s been an editorial consultant for the annual racing magazine for 15 years.