Austin Dillon’s crew chief shares his outlook for Kyle Busch’s playoff ticket with Daytona as the last opportunity

NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Busch is on the verge of missing the playoffs this year. There’s just one race remaining until the 2025 playoffs kick off at Darlington on August 31. That being said, the Richard Childress Racing driver has yet to log his maiden win of the season.

His teammate Austin Dillon is in the playoffs already, thanks to the latter’s win at Richmond Raceway. Busch, on the other hand, sits 16th in the driver standings with 537 points to his name. The way things are right now, the two-time series champ has to win to corkscrew himself into the playoff picture.

On that note, Dillon’s crew chief, Richard Boswell, hopes that Kyle Busch will make the playoffs. He looks at next week’s race as an opportunity for the No. 8 team to enter the postseason strong.

“It's obviously what we're going to be working hard for in these next few weeks, trying to get our mile-and-a-half program a little bit better,” Boswell said. “Going to Daytona next weekend, and I look at it as an opportunity to go and try and get that 8 car in the Playoffs and going to the post-season strong.”

Last Saturday at Richmond, Busch got involved in a big, multi-car wreck, which was perhaps the last thing he wanted to happen as he was looking for a win in one of the final two races of the regular season to clinch a playoff spot. Voicing his frustration, the Las Vegas native told his team about Chase Elliott’s No. 9 car,

“It’s f***ing killed. The nose is killed!”

Next up for the driver is the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway. Scheduled for Saturday, August 23, the 400-lap event will be televised on Peacock (7:30 pm ET onwards) with live radio updates on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

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Kyle Busch says there is no “added pressure” for him going to Daytona

Kyle Busch has won at least one race from 2005 to 2023, bringing his total to 63, the most among active Cup Series drivers. However, the last time Kyle Busch won a NASCAR Cup Series race was on June 4, 2023, at Gateway.

The NASCAR vet is currently on the longest winless streak of his entire career. But the Chevy icon is not stressed out about making the playoffs.

Weighing in on his chances, the 40-year-old athlete said,

“I’m not stressed out over it. I think we go to each and every single weekend with the mindset of trying to go out there and win. We haven’t put ourselves in that position to score a victory, so we need to, but I wouldn’t say this weekend puts any added pressure on.”

Kyle Busch has signed a contract extension with Richard Childress Racing that will keep him behind the wheel of the No. 8 car through the 2026 season.