Shane van Gisbergen rips Kyle Busch after Nashville restart move: ‘What a d***head’

Shane van Gisbergen seemed to have a big problem with Kyle Busch at the Nashville NASCAR Cup Series race. According to reports, Kyle Busch aggressively sent it underneath SVG on the restart, leading van Gisbergen to call out Busch on his radio.

“What the f**k was that 8 doing? What a d**khead,” van Gisbergen said, per Kelly Crandall of Racer.com. The move reportedly caused van Gisbergen to lose a few spots on the restart.

Shane van Gisbergen is in his first season in the Cup Series as a full-time driver and has had his challenges. The New Zealand native has one top-10 finish and three finishes in the top 20.

Before the Charlotte race last week, van Gisbergen talked about competing in the NASCAR Cup Series after winning three Supercars Championships. “I knew it was going to be the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” he said, per Joseph Srigley of Sports Illustrated. “I’m so far out of my comfort zone, last year in Xfinity and the Cup races I did, so I knew it was going to be very, very difficult.”

Shane van Gisbergen feels his team is improving each week

Despite the tough season, van Gisbergen said that the No. 88 team is improving. “If I had to sum it up, I guess it’s been difficult, but I feel like we’re getting better every week, we’re still learning,” he said. “I didn’t expect to go out and get great results on ovals, but it has been very tough for sure. We’ve had a lot of issues at the start of the year with car stuff, pit stops, and myself not being good enough, but I feel like it’s turning around.”

Kyle Busch is doing anything he can to get a win. His last victory came in 2023, and he missed out on the playoffs last year. In 2025, Busch has recorded four top-10 finishes and a top-five finish at COTA.

Last week, Busch and Richard Childress Racing agreed to a one-year contract extension. “This has extended our contract out another year, and we’re really excited,” Richard Childress said. “You know, Kyle has been great to work with. Everybody had questions going in. I love a driver that (doesn’t) like to lose, and we’ve worked hard. We’ve got some exciting things coming up.”