Kyle Busch Loses All Hope in NASCAR’s Short-Track Quest

Of the many things NASCAR has accomplished with the Next Gen car, one thing it simply can’t get right is the short-track package. For a little more than a while now, the governing body has introduced and tweaked more than a few variations of a short-track package. But nothing seems to be working. The recent comments of Kyle Busch attest to that.

On Saturday, ahead of qualifying in Martinsville, Kyle Busch, in typical Kyle Busch fashion, made his thoughts very clear on the short-track package. “I didn’t think we could make it worse, but by golly, we did,” Busch said.

As for what NASCAR could do to make it better, Busch said, “It doesn’t matter, they won’t do it.”

Kyle Busch on the short-track package: “I didn’t think we could make it worse, but by golly, we did.”

Busch hasn’t finished inside the top 20 in three short-track races.

What could NASCAR do better?

“It doesn’t matter, they won’t do it.”

— Nathan Solomon (@NSolly02) April 6, 2024

But it’s not like there aren’t any solutions to the short-track problem. Many big names in the sport, including Kyle Busch, have been demanding more power under the hood of the Next Gen cars.

Kyle Busch and other big names from NASCAR demand more horsepower

Speaking about the subject of the current generation of racecars needing more horsepower, Busch said as per Autoweek, “We need these things to be faster going into the corner; utilizing the brakes more; utilizing the tires more and having the opportunity to overdrive the cars more to burn the tires up to see guys struggle over a run.”

Along with Busch, there were other big names who demanded the same from NASCAR. Chase Elliott was of the opinion that having more power would “make a really big difference for sure.” 

Kevin Harvick too wanted NASCAR to just test with more horsepower at “one of these damn tests” to see if the racing product is any better. Harvick claimed that if it works, then the engine departments would have time to prepare a new package for the season in front and if more horsepower doesn’t work, then, as Harvick put it, “I will shut up.” 

Now the decision ultimately lies in the hands of NASCAR, but by the looks of things, it doesn’t seem like they’re going to increase the horsepower.

So does this mean what Kyle Busch said is how things are going to be, that racing on short tracks is even worse now, and there’s nothing anyone can do to get it better?