Kyle Busch’s 2025 season essentially ends this weekend. But his 2026 season will begin, both literally and figuratively.
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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, due to 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. And, 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’s interim role will become permanent next season remains to be seen. How well Busch and Street interact in the remaining quintet of races will give us an inkling of whether they have a future together in 2026.
Busch, meanwhile, is mired in the longest winless streak of his NASCAR Cup career. He has not won a race since 2023, that’s 88 races without a visit to Victory Lane.
That makes it all the more interesting to see 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 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 racers are expected to become full-time for RCR beginning in that season.
Next season is also rumored to be the final season behind the wheel for Austin Dillon. So, 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 toward keeping Street as his crew chief for next season.
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,” he added.
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 end up getting eliminated in Sunday’s race.
That means the potential for more contact and, frankly, crazy driving between both playoff and non-playoff drivers. “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,” added the two-time Cup Series champion.
