How Kyle Busch’s Strategy Heading Into Phoenix Raceway Could Indicate Turnaround Year for RCR Driver

Kyle Busch’s career reached a low point in 2024. He failed to win a race throughout a season for the first time since 2004. The two-time Cup Series champion is under huge pressure to stage a comeback in 2025 and has kicked off the ongoing season with some optimistic results. Heading to Phoenix this weekend, hopes are that he will continue the good work.

Teams will be equipped with two different tires for the upcoming race. The primary tire will be a harder compound, while the option tire will be a softer one. This combination was first experimented with on short tracks last year. Busch was asked in a recent media availability if he liked racing with such tire options.

He admitted that he did and pointed out how his team could learn crucial lessons from it that would help them in the Championship race in November. He said, “I didn’t mind it. I think playing with that again here for Phoenix is a good idea to kind of see where we need to be and what we need to come back with for the fall for the championship race.”

This kind of tire setup was used in Richmond last year. Busch had crossed the checkered flag in 12th place. He noted that he liked how the race went and added, “What was interesting last year is we ran a more traditional shared setup with all the Chevy group guys at Richmond, and we were going to run, I think we were in third or fourth or something like that.”

He finished seventh in Atlanta and fifth in the Circuit of the Americas. His results have put him ninth on the points table currently. He said in the press conference that Richard Childress Racing made fresh hires in the offseason. He expects the additions to translate to great performances on the race track.

Busch is beyond confident that none of his competitors are going to outwork him or his crew in the No. 8 team. The goal right now is to finish inside the top 10 in Phoenix. He gave shape to it, “I feel like a legit top-10 run and top-10 finish there would be a win for us right now.”

Once that’s done, the focus will shift to Las Vegas. He added, “And then going back to Vegas, you know, a place where it’s home for me, and I’d really love to win there and run well there. We were fast there last year, and we’d love to repeat that speed to go race for a win there.” With such resolve, it’s only a matter of time before Busch is back in victory lane.