“There have been some tracks where we have been absolutely terrible at.” This razor-sharp candor recently came from Randall Burnett, crew chief of the No. 8 NASCAR Cup Series team. This dire admission comes at a time when two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch is going through the toughest phase of his career. Riding a dismal 78-race winless streak, Busch is getting restless. However, so is his team owner, who is ready to accept a harsh truth.

Richard Childress Racing has flourished because of the brilliant drivers who drove for the team. Think about eventual Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick replacing a 7-time champion, Dale Earnhardt, in 2001. Hence, Childress is feeling guilty about not being able to cater to the champion who presently drives for him.

Kyle Busch receives a note of apology

After Rowdy left Joe Gibbs Racing at the end of 2022, he bid farewell to his career’s glorious phase. For 15 seasons, Kyle Busch fetched 60 Cup Series race trophies along with two titles. He continued that streak early in his tenure at RCR, winning three races in 2023. But since his last win in the 2023 Gateway race, Busch’s glory ride has fallen silent.

In 2024, he faced the most disastrous season of his career, failing to win a race for the first time in 19 seasons. He also missed the playoffs for the first time since 2012. People theorized two possible explanations: either the 40-year-old driver has finally lost his touch, or Richard Childress is not doing a great job in his team. The initial explanation never found too much support, considering Busch’s stellar record. Now, even his team owner admits it.

Sunday’s Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Dover featured a 56-minute red flag for rain. That, along with a pair of overtime restarts, involved a lot of late-race strategy decisions. These tough circumstances at the Monster Mile, where Kyle Busch owns three victories from a past life, should have been nothing. Yet he struggled in the No. 8 RCR Chevrolet. Journalist Steven Taranto wrote about how Childress was unhappy, pointing to a radio conversation after the checkered flag: “From Kyle Busch’s radio: Richard Childress was frustrated on the cooldown lap after Busch had to fight through traffic just to get an 11th place finish. Not happy with what RCR’s bringing to the track.” Childress’ in-radio comments made his sentiment clear: “Gotta get some race cars. We are in trouble. Period.“

Indeed, the spotlight was always on Richard Childress for failing to deliver Kyle Busch the winning equipment he needed. The legacy team owner undertook several changes during the off-season. For instance, he promoted Keith Rodden as interim competition director to become vice president of competition. Then Johnny Klausmeier also joined the organization as the team’s technical director. Despite the conscious drive for change, clearly, the results have not been so satisfying. From losing control on lap 7 and sliding off course in the first turn in Mexico City to disastrous pit stops in Pocono, Busch’s troubles have been endless.

Nevertheless, the faith in both driver and team owner continues to persist. Some of their peers still believe in them.

Pushing them towards redemption

In times of distress, kind words always help in some way. Richard Childress may be under fire from fans for scuttling Kyle Busch’s career. However, the team owner has a voice of support in the NASCAR garage. Denny Hamlin absolved Childress of his team’s problems and instead shed light on NASCAR’s Next-Gen car.

Introduced in 2022, the car has been worlds apart from what former champions used to drive. Hence, Hamlin deduced Busch’s troubles from there: “He is doing everything. He is still as good a driver as he has been in the last 10 years. Sometimes, you get to a car that doesn’t necessarily like your style. You’ve got to adapt.”

Kyle Busch is currently competing in his 21st year and has run his 735th race in Dover on Sunday. Most drivers are simply unable or unwilling to remain in the Cup Series that long. The few who have are only legends like Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon, or Kurt Busch. Hence, former RCR driver Jeff Burton was bullish on Busch.

Burton said last month: “Kyle Busch is trying to take RCR to the fight to Joe Gibbs Racing, take the fight to Penske, take the fight to Hendrick and it’s hard, it’s difficult and he’s doing it in a way that instead of fighting for a championship, at the moment he’s fighting to see if he can contend for a championship…That’s draining emotionally, that’s difficult. This is a brutal sport: this sport, you love it and at the same time it’ll rip your heart out.”

The hopes and wishes are still running strongly for Kyle Busch. All that remains is for Richard Childress to get on a war footing to push his driver to Victory Lane. Do you think RCR and Busch can make a playoff push to turn their season around? Let us know in the comments!