“He’s a big part of future RCR”: Kyle Busch’s crew chief presses on his driver’s importance amid future speculation 

Amidst the rumor about Kyle Busch leaving Richard Childress Racing, crew chief Randall Burnett weighed in on Busch's position in the Chevy team. Burnett spoke to SiriusXM NASCAR radio, explaining how important the North Carolina-based outfit is to the two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and vice versa.

2024 is Kyle Busch's second full season driving the number 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing. He has 63 wins in the Cup Series under his belt, including victories in the Southern 500, the Coca-Cola 600, and the Brickyard 400. Busch made it to the coveted Championship 4 five times in a row between 2015 and 2019.

Although the Las Vegas native is yet to record his first win of the season, Burnett believes that Kyle Busch is an undeniable part of Richard Childress Racing's future.

"I feel like he's a big part of the future of RCR, obviously. We spend a lot of time together, we talk about a lot of things. He's very involved with the team and with the guys here at the shop."

Last week at Iowa, Busch had a strong run but mechanical issues ended his day. Sadly, Busch was handed a DNF and a P35 finish. Nevertheless, the team wasn't disheartened. Busch rode along with the team back to the airport while discussing what went wrong and how they could bounce back from it.

"He (Busch) rode back to the airport with us after our struggles at Iowa. He rode to the airport with us," recalled Burnett. "And we all sat in there, myself, my engineers, my car chiefs and him. And we all talked about it on the way back to the airport after the other night about how we’re going to do better."

Busch will enter the upcoming race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, 16th in the Cup Series driver standings with 383 points to his name. He has led a total of 130 laps this season, picking up two top 5s and 5 top 10s along the way.

Veteran NASCAR insider urged RCR to favor Kyle Busch before it's too late

Kyle Busch earned three victories (Auto Club Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway, and the World Wide Technology Raceway) in his first season driving for Richard Childress Racing. However, it's halfway through the current season and the 39-year-old driver has no wins yet.

As reported by On3, Kyle Petty found last week's maiden Cup Series race at Iowa Speedway extremely competitive. However, not so much for the Chevy star.

"It was competitive for everyone, but Kyle Busch. Where has Kyle Busch gone?" the NASCAR analyst wondered. "I have no idea. He started last season pretty strong and I thought, ‘Man, this is pretty good. You go from Gibbs to Childress, you make that organization a winner,’ and then they disappear."

Interestingly, Petty then drew a parallel between Busch's journey from Joe Gibbs Racing to Richard Childress Racing and that of Kyle Larson from Chip Ganassi Racing to Hendrick Motorsports. Comparing the two, Petty said,

"The organization (Hendrick Motorsports) has made Kyle Larson a better winner. The organization (Richard Childress Racing) has taken Kyle Busch from being a competitive, winning driver, to just being a guy racing for eighth, ninth and tenth. He’s only had five top tens and two top fives this year."

Petty thinks RCR should act fast to preserve its partnership with Busch. With that said, only time will tell if RCR will succeed in aiding Busch to regain his winning momentum.