Kevin Harvick expresses concern for Kyle Busch amid contract year at Richard Childress Racing

Kyle Busch’s future at Richard Childress Racing is suddenly becoming one of the biggest storylines of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season. Kevin Harvick isn’t hiding his concern.

Speaking on SPEED with Harvick and Buxton, the former champion pointed to a troubling trend for both Busch and RCR. Early promise in the Gen-Seven era has faded into a prolonged stretch of underperformance.

“That’s a complicated one,” Harvick stated, regarding Busch. “I think when you look at Kyle Busch, one of our sports greatest drivers that we’ve ever seen behind the wheel, and I think this Gen-Seven car, when he first went to RCR, they won a couple races right off the bat. Ever since halfway through that first year at RCR, it’s slowly deteriorated. 

“We all want to see hope for Kyle Busch. We want to see him in Victory Lane. We want to see RCR in Victory Lane. But they just don’t have the speed. You can see the frustration. This is a contract year for Kyle Busch, and I’m a little worried, as to how this whole thing ends with Kyle Busch and RCR. So, a lot of pressure on Kyle to go out and perform, and right now they just have no performance on the racetrack.”

Alas, Harvick’s concerns echo what many around the garage are already saying. This isn’t just a slump, it’s a full-blown organizational issue.

Through six races, RCR has yet to record a single top-10 finish, a drought that puts the team in historically bad territory. As Jeff Gluck noted on The Teardown, it’s the first time since 1982 that the organization has opened a season this far off the pace, back when it was still a single-car operation.

The numbers only reinforce the concern. Busch sits 23rd in points, while teammate Austin Dillon is 26th, both buried early in the standings despite flashes of decent qualifying speed. But as has become the theme of RCR’s season, those flashes haven’t translated into results on race day.

According to Jordan Bianchi, the issues go far beyond a simple setup miss or bad luck: “If they don’t have speed, how do you correct the problems?” Bianchi said. “Organizationally, they are in a slump right now. And that is clear as day.”

That lack of answers is what makes Busch’s situation particularly volatile. A two-time champion known for his intensity and expectation to win, Busch is now stuck in a contract year with little evidence that things are trending upward: “I don’t know how you keep this situation with Kyle from not combusting,” Bianchi admitted.

That’s the looming question. not just whether RCR can fix its speed, but whether it can stabilize a situation that feels increasingly fragile.

If results don’t come soon, this won’t just be about a disappointing season. It could signal the beginning of a major shakeup, one that impacts both Busch’s future and the direction of the organization moving forward.