Kyle Busch’s first season at Richard Childress Racing has received mixed reviews, with some taking the three race wins as a sign of things improving after a dismal 2022 season and others focusing more on the downhill trajectory in the second half. Recently speaking on his podcast, Dale Earnhardt Jr. reviewed the two-time Cup Series champion’s season that ended at the Round of 12 stage in the playoffs.
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“Kyle Busch, three wins, first year at RCR, I would say it was a tale of two-halves man. The first half of the year very good, very promising, expecting improvements and expecting that to continue to evolve…”
“But the second half of the year man, they just sort of lost something. In those handful of races, for whatever reason, they really really struggled to make speed and it seemed that you know at times Kyle was bewildered on what they needed to do,” Earnhardt said.
Busch scored all his three wins within the first 18 races of the season, with the latter half marked by incredible inconsistency, eventually leading to a much earlier-than-expected playoff exit.
What lies in store for Kyle Busch in 2024?
After the acrimonious exit from JGR, Kyle Busch has been visibly happy in the new setup, with no sign of his previous feud with Richard Childress surfacing.
“I think this is a very interesting off-season for Kyle Busch and that team. What changes can be made, what can they do to get back to where they were at the beginning of this year and trend-forward right? Be able to get that car up front and stay there consistently,” Junior expressed about the #8 team for the next season.
Currently, Busch sits at 63 wins in his Cup Series career and is just 13 wins behind the great Dale Earnhardt in the all-time wins list. The former JGR driver’s trophy cabinet is also missing the Daytona 500, something that, by his own admission, is the priority for him with time running out.
