Dale Earnhardt Jr. Issues Warning To Kyle Busch After Crew Firing

Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Issues Warning To Kyle Busch After Crew Firing

Originally posted on The Spun | By Tzvi Machlin | Last updated Apr 29, 2026 5:54 PM ET

Despite finishing 10th at Talladega this past week, two-time NASCAR Cup champion Kyle Busch still hasn't ended his wins drought, which is less than two months away from reaching three full years without a win.

The most recent solution that Busch's Richard Childress Racing partners have devised is to replace his crew chief. But NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Jr. doesn't believe that will be enough anymore.

On the latest episode of The Dale Jr. Download, Earnhardt warned that the struggles Busch has been enduring aren't the same as the ones he's battled in the past and doesn't think that replacing crew chiefs will suddenly improve his fortunes.

“There’s been a lot of radio chatter that’s become public. … That’s not uncommon,” Earnhardt said. “It’s just highlighted because it’s Kyle Busch, and he’s struggling unlike Kyle Busch."

Earnhardt also warned that the damage to the mindset could be just as tough to overcome as anything else on the track.

“I’ve been in this situation, when you make a change mid-season,” he added. “It is really hard to find positivity and try to figure out how to be hopeful that things are going to improve.”

Busch in 2026

The first few months of the season haven't exactly been nightmarish per se, but they haven't been good. Busch finished outside the top-10 in each of his first nine races, and endured a stretch of five races where he never finished better than 21st.

That streak finally ended in Talladega, but not before marking his longest drought of top-10 finishes since 2015 (when he broke his leg and missed the first 11 races entirely).

Jun 21, 2025; Long Pond, Pennsylvania, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Busch looks on from pit road during practice and qualifying for The Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images© Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Busch is a two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and a two-time regular season champion. He has 63 career wins in the Cup Series, 35 poles and 393 top-10s along with 170 combined wins on the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts and Truck Series circuits.

Will Busch's drought of wins end sometime soon now that he's made his crew chief change?

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: