“It’s Gone About What I Thought” – Kyle Busch Unsurprised With His Success This Year, But Admits There’s Room for Improvement

This time last year, the future of Kyle Busch in NASCAR was unsure. Nobody knew if he’d be racing in 2023, considering his situation at Joe Gibbs Racing from a sponsorship standpoint. Along with that, his results on the racetrack weren’t also exactly exciting or enticing for any future employers. But a year from that, every single one of those assumptions has been turned around on its head.

Busch, who found a new home in Richard Childress Racing’s #8 team, has not only secured his future in the sport, but he is also firing on all cylinders, showcasing every single week why he is a perfect candidate for one of the greatest drivers in the sport’s history.

The 2x Cup champion, as talented, successful, and experienced as he is, expected his first season to go well but didn’t expect it to go this well.

Kyle Busch assesses his first season with RCR

In a recent interview with Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports, Busch opened up on the expectations he had from his first season at RCR.“It’s gone about what I thought. I guess the three wins is probably a little bit ahead of where I thought we would be,” he described.

With that said, Busch also touched on the consistency he has brought to the team in terms of speeding on pit road, or issues and incidents on the racetrack along with the mistakes he’s made, he claimed were a lot and things that have kind of set them behind. “The team and I have really pushed through and powered through many of those to be able to get good finishes on days that maybe we weren’t really seeing the potential for a good finish. If we can clean that up, we can be better than what we are right now,” he added.

“But I think halfway through our first year, we’ve been strong. And it’s been nice to work with Austin and Richard and Randall and all the guys to continue to push and evolve and see any areas of weakness to work on.”

Busch’s first half of 2023 has been significantly better than his whole of 2022

Of course, Kyle Busch is having a great season and he can be claimed as a strong favorite to make it to Phoenix, something Denny Hamlin didn’t agree with, and win the whole thing. After all, he’s having a significantly better season in 2023.

While last season Kyle Busch only managed to win one race with 8 finishes inside the top 5 and 17 finishes inside the top 10, this year he has proved his caliber once again. So far in 2023, Busch has won 3 races along with 7 finishes inside the top 5 and 12 finishes inside the top 10.

In terms of wins, he is only second to William Byron. And of course, he’s had a few issues in terms of consistency and mistakes so far this year. But those issues aren’t exactly impossible to solve.

So given the season he’s had so far and given his talent and experience, it wouldn’t be a big stretch to imagine Kyle Busch making it all the way to Phoenix into the final 4 and winning his 3rd Cup title.