NASCAR
Kyle Busch’s Disastrous NASCAR Cup Series Season: What Went Wrong and What’s Next?
Jared Turner is a motorsports writer who has covered NASCAR for 20 years. He has interviewed over 20 NASCAR Hall of Famers and around 100 drivers, crew chiefs, and team owners, both past and present. He has also covered the sport for FOX Sports (where he was a two-time recipient of the FOX “X” Award for “Xtraordinary” job performance), NASCAR.com, Sporting News, NASCAR Pole Position Magazine, the SPEED network, and plenty of other online and print-only publications throughout his career. Notably, Jared has penned dozens of articles for NASCAR souvenir programs, including several featured prominently in Daytona 500 keepsakes. A Virginia Press Association award winner and former member of the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA), Jared has racked up accolades both for his writing and his academic work. He studied both Communication and Psychology at Virginia Tech, where he was permanently enshrined in Phi Beta Kappa — the nation’s oldest and most prestigious academic honor society. Jared excels at feature writing and opinion writing, much of which stems from his dedication to all levels of racing.
Get to know Jared Turner betterPublished22 Dec 2024
No matter how you attempt to spin it, the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season was nothing short of a spinout for Kyle Busch.
Oh sure, Busch enjoyed a few good moments, but the year was by and large a major disappointment for the two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and his No. 8 Richard Childress Racing team.
After such a frustrating campaign, it’s natural to wonder what’s next for Busch if things in his world don’t take a significant turn for the better in 2025.
Before we delve further into that, though, let’s first take a moment to review how this past season slid off the proverbial rails for the driver whose nickname is “Rowdy.”
The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Season Went South in a Hurry for Busch
Although Busch entered the season with justifiably high expectations after going to Victory Lane three times and making the playoffs in Year One with RCR, his 2024 seemed doomed virtually from the start.
How bad was it? Well, Busch posted only three top-10 finishes (that included one top-five) in the first 10 races, ranking 17th in the standings after a 27th-place finish in Week 10 at Talladega — where he won a year earlier.
The low point of Busch’s season was a race that didn’t even count for points — the All-Star Race in May at North Wilkesboro Speedway, where he wrecked Ricky Stenhouse Jr. on the second lap. After the race, Stenhouse confronted Busch in the garage and the two engaged in a heated conversation before eventually coming to blows and being separated by onlookers.
Before walking away, Busch yelled at Stenhouse, “I suck just as bad as you” — a damning indictment of his own efforts and equipment considering the veteran Stenhouse owns a total of four wins in NASCAR’s top division, compared to Busch’s 63 Cup Series triumphs and record 231 wins across NASCAR’s three national series.
RICKY STENHOUSE JR. PUNCHES KYLE BUSCH.
Stenhouse waited for Busch after crashing on Lap 2 of the NASCAR All-Star Race. pic.twitter.com/K63dZabKie
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) May 20, 2024
It Was Too Little Too Late for Busch in Final Weeks of Regular Season
Never recovering from the points hole he dug himself in the opening weeks of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season, Busch found himself needing a win in the final weeks of the regular season to make the playoffs. Despite coming close, especially at Daytona where he led with one lap to go before being out-dueled by unheralded Harrison Burton on the final lap, Busch could never get over the hump.
He failed to find Victory Lane for the first time in his career while also missing the playoffs for the first time since 2012 and matching his career-worst points finish of 20th — which he also recorded as a rookie in 2005.
Sometimes a result of mediocre equipment or other times due to plain ole rotten racing luck, Busch just never found his rhythm in 2024. And the result was a season that was easily the most unfulfilling of his overall stellar career.
Expect Busch To Jump Ship if 2025 Is Anything Like His Dismal 2024
Set to embark on the final year of a three-year contract with RCR, Busch will undoubtedly need a sharp uptick in performance if he’s to return to the team belonging to legendary team owner Richard Childress in 2026. Not that Busch is in any danger of getting fired.
If Busch and RCR part ways after 2025, it’ll almost certainly be because Busch has founder greener pastures.
Asked back in June by FOX Sports’ Bob Pockrass about rumors that he could return to Joe Gibbs Racing — the organization where he spent 15 seasons and won both of his championships — Busch wouldn’t rule out the possibility. Without even being prompted, he also openly entertained another scenario: rejoining Hendrick Motorsports, the organization where he spent his first three seasons in the Cup Series.
“I would say anything is possible, always,” Busch told Pockrass. “Certainly, if I was welcomed, I would go back [to Joe Gibbs Racing]. If [Hendrick Motorsports] welcomed me back, I would go back. But right now, I’m at [Richard Childress Racing] with my group of guys, and the deal that I have right now in place. We’re trying to work and build this program and make RCR great again.”
Busch’s 2024 season at RCR was anything but great. And if his 2025 isn’t significantly better, don’t expect him to hang around.
For all those asking if Kyle Busch could go back to Joe Gibbs Racing, he left the door open to driver anywhere, but he said as far as next year, he's set to remain at RCR. pic.twitter.com/Cti0R7r4FG
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) June 15, 2024
