Is it Time to End the Kyle Busch and RCR Experiment?

BRISTOL, Tenn. — For much of the past two decades, whenever Kyle Busch showed up at a racetrack, the expectation wasn’t whether he would contend — it was whether anyone could stop him.

In 2026, the conversation around Busch has shifted.

Through the early portion of the NASCAR Cup Series season, Busch and Richard Childress Racing have yet to record a top-10 finish, an unfamiliar position for a two-time Cup champion and one of the most accomplished drivers of the modern era. The numbers alone tell part of the story. The rest comes from watching the races.

Something simply isn’t clicking.

Busch turned 40 this year, and age inevitably becomes part of the discussion for any driver in a physically and mentally demanding sport like NASCAR. The fire that defined Busch’s career — the intensity, the willingness to say exactly what he thinks and demand perfection — can evolve with time. But the bigger elephant in the garage isn’t Busch.

It’s the cars.

Week after week, the RCR Chevrolets have lacked the speed to contend with the sport’s elite organizations. When a team consistently unloads with mid-pack equipment, even the most talented driver faces an uphill battle.

And Busch has never been wired to run 18th.

Few drivers in NASCAR history carry a more combustible competitive personality. That fire fueled his rise to more than 60 Truck Series wins and championships across NASCAR’s national divisions. But the same trait can work in reverse when results don’t follow. When the equipment isn’t capable of winning, a driver wired like Busch can quickly grow frustrated — and sometimes apathetic.

That’s the danger zone.

The partnership between Busch and RCR once looked promising when it began after his split with Joe Gibbs Racing at the end of 2022. Busch won multiple races in 2023 and nearly dragged the No. 8 team into the playoffs in 2024, falling just short in what felt like a respectable reset for both sides.

But since then, the momentum has stalled.

Meanwhile, Busch has continued to remind everyone he can still win when given the right tools. Earlier this season he captured a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory at Atlanta driving for Spire Motorsports, adding to his record haul of Truck Series wins.

Away from the Cup garage, Busch still looks very much like “Rowdy.”

He also spends plenty of time racing during the week alongside his son, Brexton — a rising young driver in his own right — proving that Busch’s competitive spark hasn’t disappeared. It just seems harder to find on Sundays.

So what happens next?

Busch has several paths available as he approaches the later stage of a Hall of Fame career. One possibility would be running a full Truck Series season or two, chasing another championship and enjoying racing at a slightly different pace. Another option would be shifting to a part-time Cup schedule while focusing more on helping develop Brexton’s career.

Of course, there’s always the possibility of another full-time Cup ride if the right opportunity appears.

Some in the garage speculate that Spire Motorsports — already aligned with Busch in Trucks — could become a landing spot in some capacity in the future. A more far-fetched scenario might involve a short-term veteran role with Hendrick Motorsports if roster changes ever opened the door, though that feels unlikely at this stage of Busch’s career.

What seems increasingly unlikely is the current situation continuing indefinitely.

At some point, both Busch and RCR will likely ask the same question: Is this partnership still accomplishing anything?

Because for a driver who built a career on winning — and a team with championship history — spending Sundays running mid-pack feels less like a rebuilding project and more like a holding pattern.

And Kyle Busch has never been known for sitting still very long.

Whether the change comes midseason or after the year ends remains to be seen. But if momentum doesn’t turn around soon, the odds of Busch being somewhere else in the NASCAR garage by 2027 feel increasingly strong.

For now, the results aren’t there. But neither are the cars to earn them.