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Kyle Busch to Have New Crew Chief Starting This Weekend at Charlotte: Randall Burnett is Out, Andy Street is In

Jerry Bonkowski
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NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Busch looks on from pit road during practice and qualifying for the Go Bowling at The Glen at Watkins Glen International.

Kyle Busch’s 2025 season essentially ends this weekend, while his  2026 season will begin. Having signed a one-year contract extension with Richard Childress Racing about two months ago, Busch heads into this weekend’s race on the Charlotte Roval road course with plans already underway for next season.

The reason is threefold:

First, it was announced earlier this week that Busch’s crew chief, Randall Burnett, will be moving to Trackhouse Racing next season to be the crew chief in the Cup Series for Connor Zilisch.

Second, as a result of Burnett’s impending departure, he will remain with Richard Childress Racing for the remainder of this season, but will serve in more of a support role for the five remaining Cup races. Replacing Burnett as Busch’s crew chief is Andy Street, effective this weekend.

Third, because Busch failed to qualify for the NASCAR Cup playoffs for the second season in a row, his team will start preparing early for 2026. Whether Street remains in his interim role and it becomes permanent for next season remains to be seen. But it would not be surprising to see how well Busch and Street interact in the remaining quintet of races as to whether they have a future together for 2026.

Busch has not won a cup race since 2023

Busch remains mired in the longest winless streak of his NASCAR Cup career. He has not won a race since 2023, a streak that is now at 88 races without a visit to victory lane.

It should be interesting to see how Busch and Street work together this weekend. But it’s not like the two men are strangers: Street has served as crew chief for seven Cup races this season, heading RCR’s third (and part-time) team, with four of those starts coming with Austin Hill, and the other three starts with Jesse Love.

Street’s joining Busch could very well be a sign of things to come, as the two-time Cup champion is expected to either retire after next season or potentially move to another team. But if Street, who has 11 wins in 167 races in the Xfinity Series as a crew chief, remains as Busch’s crew chief through next season, it will likely set him up to take over as crew chief in 2027 for either Hill or Love, both whom are expected to race full-time for RCR beginning in that season.

Next season is also rumored to be the final season behind the wheel for Austin Dillon, meaning team owner Richard Childress – who is also Dillon’s grandfather – will have to fill two new driver roles in 2027 if both Busch and Dillon leave the organization at the end of next season.

How will Busch and Street fare in this Sunday’s road race? Actually, Busch could make the perfect spoiler. He has nothing on the line, so if he can finally snap his winless streak, it would go a long way towards keeping Street as his crew chief for next season, as well.

Busch to tiptoe through the Roval

With three top-five finishes in seven career starts on the Roval, here’s how Busch is looking at Sunday’s race:

“The key to running well at the Roval is just staying out of trouble and trying to keep your momentum rolling all the way around the racetrack,” Busch said during media availability this week. “There are some big braking zones where you can really attack and get a lot of slowing down done in a quick period of time, but the infield section has such little grip and is so bumpy that you’re just trying to control the slip and not go too fast and crash. It’s about tiptoeing as much as you can with carrying the right amount of roll speed.”

And while it won’t have any direct impact on Busch, per se, since he never made the playoffs, Sunday’s race will have a lot on the line for the 10 drivers left in the Round of 12 (two others, Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott, are already locked into the upcoming Round of 8), which means four of those 10 drivers will ultimately wind up being eliminated in Sunday’s race.

And that means the potential for more contact and, frankly, crazy driving between both playoff and non-playoff drivers is likely enhanced.

“I think you expect more contact, more chaos, and more desperation moves at times,” Busch said. “I also think there are some payback opportunities where guys will dump guys if they know they’re in a make it or break it situation and they’re on the bubble. That is always kind of on the table as well at the Roval. It would be nice to just stay out of that.”

About the author

Jerry Bonkowski

Jerry Bonkowski

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Jerry Bonkowski is a veteran sportswriter who has worked full-time for many of the top media outlets in the world, including USA Today (15 years), ESPN.com (4+ years), Yahoo Sports (4 1/2 years), NBCSports.com (8 years) and others. He has covered virtually every major professional and collegiate sport there is, including the Chicago Bulls' six NBA championships (including heavy focus on Michael Jordan), the Chicago Bears Super Bowl XX-winning season, the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs World Series championships, two of the Chicago Blackhawks' NHL titles, Tiger Woods' PGA Tour debut, as well as many years of beat coverage of the NFL, MLB, NHL and NBA for USA Today. But Jerry's most notable achievement has been covering motorsports, most notably NASCAR, IndyCar, NHRA drag racing and Formula One. He has had a passion for racing since he started going to watch drag races at the old U.S. 30 Dragstrip (otherwise known as "Where the Great Ones Run!") in Hobart, Indiana. Jerry has covered countless NASCAR, IndyCar and NHRA races and championship battles over the years. He's also the author of a book, "Trading Paint: 101 Great NASCAR Debates", published in 2010 (and he's hoping to soon get started on another book). Away from sports, Jerry was a fully sworn part-time police officer for 20 years, enjoys reading and music (especially "hair bands" from the 1980s and 1990s), as well as playing music on his electric keyboard, driving (fast, of course!), spending time with Cyndee his wife of nearly 40 years, the couple's three adult children and three grandchildren (with more to come!), and his three dogs -- including two German Shepherds and an Olde English Bulldog who thinks he's a German Shepherd.. Jerry still gets the same excitement of seeing his byline today as he did when he started in journalism as a 15-year-old high school student. He is looking forward to writing hundreds, if not thousands, of stories in the future for TheSportsRush.com, as well as interacting with readers.

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