Will NASCAR finally solve one of its greatest mysteries in 2026?

You know the one: for the last two-plus seasons, it appears that the real Kyle Busch has been missing from NASCAR. In his place has been a poor imitator of the sport’s winningest driver ever (with 232 combined wins across Cup, O’Reilly Auto Parts, and Trucks, more than Richard Petty’s milestone 200 career Cup wins).

So, what’s a team owner like Richard Childress to do? He’s rumored to have sent out search and rescue parties, brought in K-9 dogs (and even Dog the Bounty Hunter), called in the FBI, and a ton of private investigators – anything and everything to find Busch.

But still, Kyle hasn’t been Kyle behind the wheel of the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, not even close to the successful Rowdy persona his fans know and love. And no one can figure out why.

Busch will start Sunday’s Daytona 500 from the pole for the first time

Although he will start Sunday’s 68 running of the Daytona 500 from the pole (his first in 21 starts of the Great American Race), the soon-to-be 41-year-old Busch enters 2026 facing perhaps the most uncertain season of his NASCAR Cup career.

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The Las Vegas native just hasn’t been himself. He’s missed qualifying for the NASCAR Cup playoffs for each of the last two seasons. Even worse, he’s mired in the worst winless streak of his career: 93 consecutive races.

His last Cup win was nearly three years ago: June 4, 2023, at Gateway near St. Louis (although he did win a Truck race last spring at Atlanta).

To say it’s been a challenging last few years for Busch is an understatement that he agrees with.

“Challenges can be tough, it’s just the nature of how well you handle those challenges,” Busch said earlier this week during Daytona 500 Media Day. “You can obviously beat yourself down and get low.

“It’s all about trying to build yourself up and keeping yourself at the top level that you can be to go out there and achieve success.”

Busch acknowledges it’s been a tough go of it for him of late

Busch hasn’t tried to hide from his lack of success. He readily admits his performance has been sub-par.

“It hasn’t been the greatest the last few years,” he quipped. “We’ve had some close calls and sometimes where maybe we could have won a race.

“We certainly haven’t been dominant forces of being up front leading laps and having those chances be at the regular each and every week.”

Last season was supposed to be the final year of his three-year contract with RCR, but Childress elected to give Busch a one-year extension through 2026 to give him one more chance to try and regain some of the past success that made him a Cup superstar.

Instead, he ended 2025 with the worst season finish of his 22-year Cup career. Not only did he fail to win even once, but he also managed nearly invisible three top-five finishes and wound up with a career-low season finish of 21.

He’s back for more — one more season with RCR, that is

Childress brought back Busch for one more season to keep the seat warm and serve as a mentor and tutor for one of his two likely replacements in 2027: Jesse Love or Austin Hill.

But after this year, who knows what Busch’s future holds? Could this season potentially be his last? Would any other team be willing to pick him up (and likely at a significantly reduced salary) just to play off his name and reputation for another year or two?

As one of the most competitive drivers in the sport, failing to win and enduring one mediocre finish after another has been eating away at the two-time Cup champion.

But hope springs eternal every year the Daytona 500 rolls around to start a new NASCAR season, and Busch is hoping the dark cloud that has enveloped his career the last few years will finally part and be replaced with sunshine, back to winning, and potentially even yet another Cup championship.

It all begins when the green flag falls to start Sunday’s race.

“Being able to qualify on my first pole for the Daytona 500, that’s pretty special,” Busch said. “I’ve had one other speedway pole down here in Daytona for the summer race. This feels good.”

He then added, “It would be really nice to be doing an interview like this about being No. 1 come Sunday night.”

He’s come close to winning the 500, but still hasn’t gotten over the hump

Busch’s best finishes in 20 prior starts in the Daytona 500 were runner-up in 2019 and third in 2016. He also won the annual summer race at the 2.5-mile tri-oval in 2008.

Busch comes into 2026 with a new crew chief. Jim Pohlman replaces Randall Burnett, who has moved to the same position with Trackhouse Racing for rookie Connor Zilisch.

“Working with Jim has been good,” Busch said. “He’s a very determined guy. He wants to make a difference and be the difference maker here at RCR and the 8 car and having us have a better chance of being able to reach victory lane each and every week.

“I feel like he’s got everybody really looking up to him and believing in him and his way. That’s been good.”

Is Busch too old to win the Daytona 500?

No driver in Daytona 500 history has ever won the Great American Race after 20 career starts. Busch would love to become the first.

“This is just a first step of it,” he said. “This is the beginning of the year, first qualifying attempt of the season. There’s a whole heck of a lot more we have to do throughout the season to be good, to be real, to be contenders. But it sure feels good in the moment right now.”

Childress agrees because he’s also got skin in the game, with three prior 500 wins (Dale Earnhardt in 1998, Kevin Harvick in 2007 and grandson Austin Dillon in 2018), telling Busch matter-of-factly: “Kyle, we got to get this 500.”

With relaxed eligibility rules this season allowing for additional extracurricular races in addition to his full-time Cup schedule, Busch will compete in eight Truck races this year for Spire Motorsports and with sponsorship from HendrickCars.com.

That combination has already prompted rumors that Busch may potentially return to the team he started his Cup career with – Team Hendrick – in the Cup Series in 2027 to potentially replace Alex Bowman (if his expiring contract at the end of this season is not renewed).

He’s not giving up hope that he can regain some of his former success and magic

If Busch can reclaim some of his past career success, particularly early this season, it may go a long way to determine whether this will be his final year of racing, whether he returns once again to RCR, or moves to another organization like Team Hendrick.

But that’s still a long way off. Right now, the most important race of Busch’s career is Sunday. And if he finally gets that elusive first win in the 500, it’s an extra bonus and a major step going forward in the right direction.

“We’ve just got to get the job done so we stop talking about it,” Busch said about his 500 drought. “No better time than right now here in 2026.

“It’s just the nature of what this race is and what it holds. Being in the right place at the right time, making the right moves when you can. It would be nice to lead all 200 laps, stink up the show and win this thing.

“There’s going to be 30 other guys plus that have that same opportunity that they believe they can win this race as well, too. That’s why you’ve got to run the place and play it all out as it comes.

“Being able to win Daytona, that’s obviously sort of the last box to check in my career, and getting that done would be a lot of fun,” Busch said with a big smile. “We’d celebrate that really, really big.”