“Heard some names; hard to judge their character” - Kyle Busch on RCR's team shuffles amid dismal season

Kyle Busch, the driver of the #8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, recently hinted at some major changes coming to the organization in the mid-season amid their struggling 2024 NASCAR season. Busch spoke to the media ahead of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and revealed RCR owner Richard Childress was planning on changes to the team.

When renowned NASCAR journalist Bob Pockrass asked him about more changes in the team, the two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion admitted that he heard some names and rumors but was unsure if any formal agreements or contracts had been finalized. The shuffles reflect RCR’s efforts to address the weakness and improve results in a season that hasn’t met expectations yet.

After Brickyard 400 qualifying at Indianapolis, here’s what Busch said:

“A little bit. I've certainly heard some names and some rumblings. I don't know if any signatures have been put on paper or what not to get some of those people in. I know we lost a lot of them. Maybe we did not get any. So that's that.” [1:17]

However, it’s uncertain who Kyle Busch was hinting at, whether it’s driver, crew chief, or inside the RCR team.

Further in the pre-race interview, the 39-year-old driver appreciated that RCR kept him involved in the team’s comings and goings. Busch said:

“It would be kind of nice to know I guess. They have been bringing me into the form of some of the names and whatnot that they're looking at. Honestly, besides the people that I've worked with before, I don't know anything about the people that I've never worked with before. So that's kind of hard to judge their character, their work ethic, their genius level, all that.” [1:40]

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Kyle Busch excited about NASCAR’s return to the Indianapolis Oval

Richard Childress Racing driver opened up about NASCAR Cup Series’ return to famous Indianapolis Oval for the first time since 2020. The last three races were held at Indianapolis Road Course.

Kyle Busch, who has won back-to-back races at IMS Oval in 2015-2016, admitted that he prefers IMS Oval over a road course. Speaking about the return of IMS Oval, here’s what Busch said in the pre-race interview (via Frontstretch):

“I mean, the brickyard is great. This is what we all wanted to have here and be here and doing is racing the Oval. But the road course is what we had for the last few years, but now we're back on the Oval. So I think everybody's gotten a little bit more excitement around that and the fans show their excitement around that and they'll come out and support it.” [4:28]

Catch Kyle Busch qualified 34th in the starting lineup for Sunday's Brickyard 400 at IMS Oval. The event will begin at 2:30 pm ET.