Going into the first ‘Round of 12’ race of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series, Kyle Busch was a fairly optimistic man. Yes, his season saw a downward spiral after a fantastic start to life with Richard Childress Racing. But Busch, who also goes by the name Rowdy, believed that their car would be strong at the Texas track. And maybe he could have finished high up the order had his team heeded what he had to say during the race instead of taking a big risk with the veteran.

Busch’s start to the season saw him win three races. However, the great start definitely fizzled out thanks to RCR’s inconsistency and inadequate equipment. Rowdy has been complaining about these issues for quite a while now. Yet nothing seems to have changed. Texas was just another chapter in the disaster that has been the second half of the 2023 season. And one starts to wonder when Busch will actually lose his patience with the team.

Richard Childress Racing did Kyle Busch dirty

So what exactly happened at Bristol that has people talking about Busch and RCR? Well, in the initial stages of the race, Rowdy raised some issues with his car on the team radio, stating that the car had some problems, more specifically with the right front tire.

According to NASCAR journalist Jordan Bianchi, the driver of the #8 said that he could hear some chatter from the right front tires like there wasn’t any air in it. The issue persisted throughout stage one, affecting Rowdy’s performance on the track.

Tires are one of the most important components of a race car and during a race, the only person who can actually get a feel of how the tires are running is the driver. So it is imperative to take heed of what they say. But RCR did not do that. They forced Busch to stay out until the end of the stage, which had 14 laps remaining, and this enraged the ardent KB fans.

The car was not driveable as Busch slammed into the wall at turn 2. It turned out that the #8 lost traction, which is something not uncommon with cars that do not have good tires. Had the team taken heed of Busch’s concerns and pitted, they could have finished the race. Given Rowdy’s record at mile-and-a-half tracks, he might have been able to finish high up regardless of his early issue.

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But RCR chose to turn a blind eye and expected Busch to toughen out the first stage with the tire issue. A gamble that ultimately paid no dividends and did more harm than good. Rowdy currently sits outside the top 8, 17 points behind the cutline with two challenging races at Talladega and Charlotte to come.

His fans were enraged at RCR and it did not take them long to slam the team on social media for costing their favorite driver the first race of the round of 12.

Fans Storm to Rowdy’s Defence as They Slam RCR

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Underneath the post where RCR’s official handle shared the race results, Rowdy’s fans came out against the team in unison.

One fan commented, “Sounds like p*ss poor team management One team sending a car out to run 180mph on a wheel nut they had to know was loose, another telling a driver to “ride it out” when the driver tells them something is wrong. At worst, you loose a lap with 200 laps to get it back.”

Another echoed the sentiment, writing, “Might have been a different story if you would have listened to Kyle when he was trying to tell you something was wrong with the car that it wasn’t just slick track and tires! The crew is going to loose this for Kyle if they are not careful!”

“Wasn’t y’all day for listening to your driver either,” opined another.

There were also some calls to replace Busch’s current crew chief Randall Burnett after the blunder in Texas,

“Kyle needs new crew chief,” said one fan.

Another commented, “This seems to be the RCR way!”

After his disaster in Texas, Busch finds himself in a precarious position on the Cup Series table. He will have two opportunities to turn it around at two challenging tracks, Talladega and the Charlotte Roval. Will Rowdy be able to defy the odds and make it into the next round? Only time will tell.

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