LEBANON, Tenn. — Kyle Busch’s downhill slide in 2024 won’t let up.
It’s now been six races since Busch scored a top 10 in NASCAR Cup Series competition, with four finishes outside the top 25. Three of the last four races have been DNFs — a variety of different issues resulting in 35th-place finishes.
Even before the six-race stretch, it hadn’t been a banner year for the two-time series champion. Through 12 races, he ran 12th in points, but has now slipped to 45 points outside of the playoffs.
“We just have to stop the bleeding,” said the Richard Childress Racing driver Saturday at Nashville Superspeedway. “I think I’ve been saying that for the last six months, so it hasn’t stopped. In the last week, it’s been gushing pretty hard.
“Guys are busting their ass; they’re working as hard as they can work. I know that we’re all doing everything we can, all day every day to get what we want. But just the feel is not there for me, and at times, it’s not there for Austin (Dillon, teammate), either.”
Busch’s season went completely off the rails beginning at World Wide Technology (Ill.) Raceway in June, when contact with Kyle Larson resulted in a crash and an early end to his day. A week later at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway, he got spun out by Ross Chastain on the final lap, turning a likely top five into 12th.
In the inaugural race at Iowa Speedway, Busch’s No. 8 Chevrolet completed just 272 of 350 laps due to mechanical issues. A crash under yellow during wet-weather conditions took him out last week at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Busch’s usually one to maximize the bad days. For the most part, he feels like he has until outside forces have prevented it.
“We were running better than we probably should have been at Gateway — we got crashed,” Busch listed. “We were running better than we should have been at Iowa and we had a part failure. We were not running good at all last week at Loudon, and then we go out in the wet and I’m just trying to catch back up to the tail of the field and we’re crashed.
“I’ve been getting run into every week as well, so that’s probably some of it.”
Ultimately, Busch said he’s been missing two things this year: speed and comfort. He’s finished in the top five twice and the top 10 just five times.
However, RCR made a personnel adjustment this week. Competition director Andy Petree retired effective immediately, and Keith Rodden, former crew chief to Dillon, assumed that title.
“Change sometimes lends itself to an open opportunity, hopefully for the better,” Busch said of Petree. “I respect the hell out of Andy and what he’s done and what he’s done in the sport and the legacy that he holds. We had a lot of fun together and some good laughs and some good relationships.
“Hopefully we can better our program without him there and carry on in the future.”
Including Sunday at Nashville, Busch has eight races to find his way into the playoffs. He hasn’t missed the postseason since the start of the playoff era, and his 19-year streak of at least one victory is in serious jeopardy.
Can Busch still point his way into the playoffs?
“Sure, you can.”
But is it realistic? He’s reluctant.
“Twelfth place through 20th (in points) can be so random each week that you’re battling for those points in positions and stage points —everything throughout the day,” Busch said. “Those eight to 10 guys are on top of one another and it’s hard to make point advantages because one week, you might be 12th. The next, you might be 22nd and the other guy was 20th and now he’s 12th, so he’s net ahead.
“That’s why it’s difficult.”