Kyle Busch has claimed three victories for Richard Childress Racing during his nearly three seasons with the team, all coming early in his tenure at Auto Club Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway, and World Wide Technology Raceway — each within his first 15 races with the team. That’s not ‘Rowdy’ like, but hope prevails for the 5 races remaining in the 2025 season. Now, pair that with a crew chief change and unsolicited opinions from insiders regarding seeking help from Denny Hamlin and others, and you have a frustrated driver, to say the least. And it is amid these frustrations that he is calling out for change.

As the Cup garage heads to the elimination round at Charlotte Roval, ‘Rowdy’ will look to break the cycle of underwhelming performance. Currently, he has just two Top-5s, eight Top-10s, and only 62 laps led. Across 31 races, his average start is 17.74 and average finish at 18.29. Surely, there is a glaring need for change.

Speaking to Frontstretch, the 40-year-old highlighted what needs to be done better. He said, “Some consistency, you know, just some more of knowing why we’re doing what we’re doing instead of some sort of shooting from the hip, if you will. I would say the short answer is yes. It’s everything, you know. You’ve got to have, in this day and time, right now with this car and everything, you’ve got to have every little detail absolutely perfect.”

Kyle Busch, after finishing 14th in the playoffs in 2023, has missed out on the same for the second consecutive year. And his struggle is endless. One of the most notable was the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where the No. 8 Chevy’s race ended prematurely after just 35 laps due to a detached wheel. This incident led to a two-race suspension for his jackman and the rear tire changer, which highlighted the ongoing mechanical issues affecting his performance.

Another difficult race occurred at the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte, where the No. 8 driver was involved in a massive multi-car crash on lap 246, resulting in a 37th-place finish. This race was part of a broader trend of disappointing results, with Busch failing to secure a top 10 finish in the final 10 playoff races and averaging a finish of 22.1 in those events.

Currently, Busch sits 21st in the standings, not ideal for someone who has won the Cup Series title twice. ‘Rowdy’ might get impatient for a win and may want a change of teams if this persists, as one insider claims, and Spire Motorsports could potentially save a seat for him. Bob Pockrass said: “I think Spire would like to have him and see what they could do with him. It’s, you know, sounds like he’s, you know, as they’ve all said, staying for next year, but I mean, you know, he can’t be happy. And, you know, if they continue to run the way they’ve been running, uh, he’ll want to leave.”

His winless streak has dragged on to 854 days as of today! This extended drought marks the longest winless period of his career, which included 36 races in 2017.

However, as of next year, Busch is locked in with RCR and hopes to turn this season around. Among numerous well-wishers, RCR’s grandson and NASCAR driver, Austin Dillon, is rooting for Busch.

Austin Dillon stresses that RCR must step up to help Busch return to winning form

While Austin Dillon’s competitive fire hasn’t dimmed, he is eager to see his teammate, Kyle Busch, back in Victory Lane sooner rather than later. Busch recently lost his crew chief, Randall Burnett, who announced he would leave Richard Childress Racing at the end of the season to join Trackhouse Racing, guiding Connor Zilisch’s promotion in 2026.

Burnett will continue with RCR as an advisor for the remaining five races while Andy Street steps in on an interim basis. Street has previously found success as a crew chief in the Xfinity Series. Speaking during a media availability at the Charlotte Roval, Dillon expressed full support for Busch.

Austin Dillon said, “I think the main focus for RCR is to get Kyle Busch, a two-time champion, back to the winner’s circle in any way possible. To make him happy and to make the rest of the organization happy, and to go fast because that’s what we want in the end. We all want to go fast and win races, and that’s where we think we should be. So, we’ve got to make the best hire for both, for whatever Kyle needs and RCR needs for from a competition standpoint to be competitive each and every weekend with the No. 3 [Dillon’s car] and the No. 8 [Busch].”

While Dillon’s playoff hopes got dashed in the mud in the opening Round of 12, he still urges RCR to take things up a notch for Kyle Busch. All eyes will be on the No. 8 driver to see if he turns this season around.