It’s not very often that a two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion has to look for a job. But that’s the position Kyle Busch found himself in this summer.
Busch had called Joe Gibbs Racing home for 15 years, keeping Toyota near the front of the pack week after week, but after M&M Mars informed team owner Joe Gibbs it would not be returning for the 2023 season, the team struggled to find a replacement sponsor.
And as the days, weeks and months passed, it began to look as if Busch may not return to JGR or even Toyota for that matter.
On the other side of the coin was Richard Childress, one of NASCAR’s longest tenured team owners. Fueled by losing the driver — Tyler Reddick — he felt was the future of his organization to Toyota, Childress was determined to get his man.
After several discussions and some soul searching among both parties, Busch agreed to terms on a multiyear contract for Busch to drive the No. 8 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing. It brings Busch back to Chevrolet where he started his NASCAR career with Hendrick Motorsports. More importantly, it opens a new chapter for both Busch and Richard Childress Racing.
“The last few months have been stressful. It’s been 15 years since I’ve had to make a decision quite like this, but 15 years ago, it was just me,” Busch said. “You know, I didn’t have a family. I didn’t have a wife and a son and a daughter and a race team around me that I had to worry about. It was just what I needed to do. So this process took a lot longer than I expected it to.
“But this is one of the most important decisions of my life. And I definitely couldn’t rush through it.
“I had to find a place where I could go and win races immediately,” Busch continued. “Collecting trophies is still the main reason I get up every day and go to the race track. I also needed a place where I could hit reset and I could be welcomed just as I am. This change allows for a clean slate for me and my family — a new team, new teammates and most importantly a new boss who accepts where I have been and can help me get to where I want to be.”
As the summer season dragged on Busch became more convinced that a return to Joe Gibbs Racing, where he won both of his championships and 56 of his 60 Cup Series victories, was no longer an option.
He began taking phone calls from other teams and ended up with numerous opportunities to consider.
One of those calls came from Childress’ grandson, Austin Dillon, who drives the No. 3 Chevrolet for RCR. That led to a meeting between Busch and Childress, and RCR quickly became a player in the Kyle Busch Sweepstakes.
Busch agonized over the decision.
“The toughest part for me was coming to a decision when I knew what that decision was,” Busch said. “Every week there is one winner and everyone else is a runner-up, so just appreciating the opportunity to meet with all of those (suiters) and communicate my appreciation of their willingness to meet with me and giving me a shot to race for those different teams. That was important to me — not to burn any of those bridges and to have that shot to do it respectfully and the best way I knew how as we worked through this process.”
Busch claims he told every team he talked with the same thing.
“We told them we would like to be between ‘x’ and ‘y’ and if you add in a ‘z,’ let’s go. Let’s see what that looks like,” Busch said about his free-agent process. “It wasn’t a money play. That had nothing to do with it.
“The opportunity in itself, talking about the legacy and the history of RCR, talking to some of the people who are there, having the chance to go there and work with a race team that is welcoming. To have the opportunity to go up there and race is exciting for me. I am ready for the next chapter.”
That next chapter will come aboard the No. 8 Chevrolet with crew chief Randall Burnett. It’s the same team that Tyler Reddick has won two races with this season.
“The opportunity to just go race with a team that has won races this year, it’s a proven team already,” Busch said. “I will be able to go there and jump in it and carry it to the next level.”
Reddick, meanwhile, is under contract with RCR through 2023, but has already informed the team he’ll be leaving after that season to race a Toyota for 23XI Racing. As a result, Childress plans to acquire a third charter and run a third car for Reddick.
The late Dale Earnhardt won six of his seven Cup Series championships for RCR, but the team hasn’t won a Cup Series title since Earnhardt claimed his last in 1994.
“When we first started talking with Kyle, we talked about winning races and I looked at him in his eye, and I’d seen that same look in Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s eye,” said Childress. “He’s hungry. And we’re going to win. I’ve seen that look before.
“Watching Kyle, I’ve watched him for many years, ever since he started in the Busch Series. Just seeing how he handles a car, the car control, the way he drives a car and his take-no-prisoner attitude — that’s the Dale Earnhardt style that I was accustomed to racing with. And I think Kyle has that modern-day style of racing that Dale Earnhardt had.”
Busch has been compared to Earnhardt before.
“It’s flattering. It is a great honor,” he said. “Dale Earnhardt is Dale Earnhardt, though, and there is only one of those. There’s probably only one Kyle Busch, it’s going to be hard to figure out someone who is as close to me as I am.
“I look forward to continuing RCR’s winning tradition and bringing some more championships to an organization that has a storied legacy.”
Busch’s respect for Childress played a big role in his decision.
“He’s a racer’s racer,” Busch said. “This is all he has known for 50 years, so for me to have the opportunity to look up to somebody like him and to be able to go race for somebody like him, gives me full confidence that we are going to be able to have the stuff that we need. To see the success of the organization that they have already been creating is certainly very intriguing, but I hope I can add to that and continue the legacy of Richard Childress Racing.”
According to Busch, there was no ride available for him at JGR and his last few years with the team have been a struggle.
“I had the most fun of my life in 2015, ’16, ’17, ’18 at Joe Gibbs Racing but 2019 on, it has been a struggle and not to see the benefits has been frustrating,” Busch said.
So it’s on to the next chapter.
“When Richard and I sat down and we first had discussions of this opportunity, it was easy,” Busch said. “It was a clear-cut choice that this was a place that you could go win races and win championships right out of the gate.”
Childress believes Busch’s presence will help his team improve immediately.
“Kyle is going to bring that drive to our entire organization,” Childress said. “I know Austin is looking forward to being a teammate with Kyle. We’ve talked about it and he’s excited about it. I think our teams will step it up and Kyle is going to bring some things to the table that help us a lot.”
And a championship is the goal.
“I still want to win another Cup championship and I feel like I have a driver here that can do it,” Childress said. “Not that Austin can’t do it, he’s won two other championships, but it increases our odds of winning the championship.”