As Kyle Busch geared up to stake a claim for his 9th Cup Series victory, his pit crew struggles with Richard Childress Racing have surprisingly taken center stage. A win would see Rowdy equal RCR’s iconic 6X champion, Dale Earnhardt Sr’s record of nine victories at Bristol. As a result, his advance at Bristol has placed the limelight on a strange piece of advantage that the new RCR crew has figured out for its drivers.

The two-time Cup champ is running the #8 Chevrolet in his second year for RCR, and after claiming three wins and 10 top-5s in 2023, Busch looked set to continue on his Cup fortunes on any given race week of the 2024 season. Before his pit woes at Phoenix and Vegas, the widely acclaimed three-wide finish at Atlanta only helped boost the 38-year-old Nevada native’s already booming appeal. 

RCR Team’s new tool for Kyle Busch draws flak

NASCAR correspondent for FOX, Bob Pockrass, took to Twitter to share an image of what looked like a “power broom,” as user @whatsundersteer cleverly replied, educating fans with his own picture of the aforementioned contraption. Nevertheless, Pockrass explained the initial tweet with a one-line caption as he wrote, “RCR has a new tool to get excess rubber off its concrete pit box.”

This post drew in a slew of likes and reactions in just a few hours. Fans had a variety of reactions to the Bristol equipment update for RCR, with one fan pointing out – “looks illegal lol”.

This will be the first time since the last three years that Bristol Motor Speedway’s first race of the season, will be run on concrete instead of dirt, and Busch added to his tally of 7 wins with another after his 2022 victory on dirt at the half-mile track owned by Speedway Motorsports LLC. (SMI). Busch’s last victory on concrete, at Bristol, was in 2017. One fan even referred to SMI in his reply when he said,  “Probably doesn’t meet SMI regulations or whatever it is”. 

But the reality of the matter was subtly highlighted in this comment that read, “Man RCR really doing everything they can to actually get a clean stop.”

Many found humor in the situation as they had hilarious conclusions to draw after viewing the bizarre instrument on Pockrass’ post. One fan sarcastically stated, “I was wondering who took my snowblower shovel,” while Twitter user @JohnnySoFresh2 wrote in a crushing reply: “This looks more innovative than the entire pit crew.” However, it was this comment that directly tagged the official NASCAR handle and stood out from the rest, as it ironically expressed, “@NASCAR they are spending too much money!!!!!!!!!! Think about the COSTS!!!!.”

At Las Vegas, the pit road woes led to Busch’s fall from second place, with about 100 laps left, to a 26th-place finish. It was a continuation of issues that Busch’s team has had on pit road since the Daytona 500. As a result ahead of Bristol, Busch shuffled around his pit crew again, and nearly secured a Truck Series win.

Yet another pit crew shuffle for the #8 Team as Busch falls short

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Moving on from his troubles at RCR, Busch almost secured his 66th Truck Series victory at Bristol on Saturday, but his chances were ruined after Christian Eckes won from the pole position in the Weather Guard Truck Race, as Rowdy finished behind him. Busch has already secured a victory in his limited outings for Spire Motorsports #7 Chevrolet Silverado this season. En route to his impressive P2 finish, KFB swept both stages and looked set to win, if not for the last restart of the race which saw him make contact after a late-stage tussle that slowed the #7 truck by almost a second.

His pit crew issues did not seem to bother him at Bristol, however, his fortunes could once again take a toll, considering two back-to-back finishes outside the top 20 in his last two Cup races. After his Phoenix woes, there has been a slight shake-up to the #8 crew as well, with Josh Sobecki, the jackman for the season-opening Daytona race coming back to man the jack.

Michael Russell will step in as the front tire changer, and finally, Shiloh Windsor will move spots to become the rear tire changer. Will this help Busch wield the “gladius” at the “Last Great Colosseum”? We find out at 3:30 PM ET.

Kyle Busch’s Bristol Crew Shuffle Amid Blunders Leaves Sour Taste With NASCAR Fans