Kyle Busch expresses frustration after difficult night at Charlotte: ‘I feel like a broken record’

Another week, and another disappointing race for Kyle Busch, fresh off his contract extension announcement, too. Finishing P15 in the Coca-Cola 600, Busch was frustrated throughout the race. It is one of those NASCAR seasons once again for the veteran.

Kyle Busch has had many frustrations this season. During the Coca-Cola 600, he had a slight spin and slide that cost him track position. Busch has not had a top-10 finish since Darlington.

After the race, Busch aired out more frustrations. At this point, it is like Groundhog Day, and Busch is Bill Murray. Every day, he wakes up to the same disappointment on the track.

“I feel like a broken record saying another difficult night for our No. 8 Chevrolet team,” Busch said to Dustin Long of NBC Sports. “The weekend started out with a steering issue. We got the pump changed and were able to make a qualifying lap, but had to change the rack and got to the rear for the start of the race on Sunday.

“We were tight in dirty air. Crew chief Randall Burnett made some changes and got it running better when I heard a loud pop. Something broke, and we’re still not sure what it was. From that point on, we were just out of it. We tried a strategy call late in the race, but we had an issue on pit road, so we weren’t really able to capitalize on that. I want to thank the family of Fireman Jeffrey M. Svoboda for allowing us to honor him this weekend.”

Kyle Busch is out of answers, I think. He has only a single top-five finish, and it came at COTA. He led the most laps that day, but his tires couldn’t hold up in the end. Since then, his average finish this season has been 19.0 in nine races.

Kyle Busch doesn’t have the equipment to win

To make things worse for Kyle Busch, last night’s race was won by Ross Chastain. Both drivers have ECR Engines under the hood, but Chastain has seemingly been able to will his car to the front of races, where Busch has not.

It is hard to tell what the biggest issue is for Busch. He can’t qualify very well. Then he has to go into the race and try to outdrive his equipment. That leads to accidents on the track. Spins, blown tires, and more. Busch is clearly better than the cars that RCR is giving him.

The worst part for Busch is that he’s stuck here at RCR. There isn’t a path elsewhere for him. Team Penske doesn’t want to replace 26-year-old Austin Cindric with 40-year-old Busch. He isn’t going to find a ride at Joe Gibbs or Hendrick, or another top organization. Trackhouse isn’t going to bring him in with the stable of talent they have.

So, right now, Rowdy is looking down the barrel of not just the rest of 2025 but another full season in the No. 8 car for 2026. What is the future for Busch? At this point, the future third car at Legacy Motor Club might look better than staying at RCR for 2027. Maybe a ride at Spire opens up?

Realistically, Richard Childress Racing is where Kyle Busch is going to be for the foreseeable future. Good or bad, that is his fate.