Eyeing his third championship this season, Kyle Busch is hitting the ground running with his new squad, Richard Childress Racing. As he jumped ship to RCR, many thought he’d be a fish out of the water, given that every team dances to a different tune and many racers either take ages to find their groove or never quite hit the mark. But Kyle? He’s been firing on all cylinders!

Bagging three wins in the regular season, he has effortlessly punched his ticket to the playoffs. And if his chatter during the pre-race presser is any indication, he’s not just feeling extremely confident—he’s downright bullish about those opening playoff rounds.

Will the first playoff round be all about Richard Childress’s team?

The starting bell for the playoffs is ringing loud, and the tracks to watch are Darlington, Kansas, and Bristol. Each has witnessed Kyle Busch, the fresh face of Richard Childress Racing, leave his mark with stellar performances.

When put on the spot about his strategy for the crown jewel event at the Southern 500, Kyle didn’t miss a beat. He conveyed a clear belief in his potential at Darlington, even hinting at some unfinished business from the last year at Darlington.

Expanding his thoughts on the entirety of the first playoff round, Kyle’s confidence was palpable. On the MRN NASCAR Live podcast, he boldly stated, “The first round is actually our strongest round because Darlington—as I mentioned the success there, Kansas—we were a top-5 car there earlier in the spring, got caught up in a wreck at the restart.”

And when the discussion turned to Bristol, Kyle laid it out plain and simple, saying, “In Bristol: Kyle Busch and Bristol, who doesn’t love that?“ Well, who can argue? With Busch boasting six top-5 finishes in the last ten races at Bristol Motor Speedway, he’s been cooking with gas there.

But even with these tracks seeming like they’re right up his alley, there’s still a hint of concern from Kyle about the shifting sands of stock car racing. Will he stay ahead of the pack with all the problems with the new next-gen cars, like the ones he encountered last year?

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Kyle Busch believes its hard to bridge the gap in modern NASCAR

2022 threw curveballs at Kyle Busch both on and off the tarmac, with off-track drama amplifying due to his contract tussle with the JGR team. To add insult to injury, engine failures in 2022 knocked him out in the very first round of the playoffs.

Speaking candidly on the NASCAR Live podcast, Busch recently highlighted the zero margin for error in today’s competitive scene. He said, “You can’t have those sorts of mistakes and those sorts of things happen this time of year, or you’ll be playing way too much catch-up. And there is no catch-up in this day and age with everything being so tight being so close, you’re not going to drive a car as hard as you want from 15th to 5th; it’s just not going to happen.”

Well, Kyle Busch has won at Darington before. But that was all the way back in 2008, his first year with Joe Gibbs Racing. But still, seeing his confidence, there’s a glimmer of hope that Busch will make a splash in the playoffs.

Read More: “Anybody Has a Shot To Win” – Kyle Busch Reveals a Championship Win Awaits Beyond the ‘Derail’ Moments