“It’s broken”: Kyle Busch delivers his blunt take on NASCAR's driver approval process

Richard Childress Racing driver Kyle Busch came out and slammed NASCAR for the driver approval process. The 39-year-old sat in front of the media before the race at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway and detailed what's wrong with the process.

NASCAR was slammed by driver Daniel Suarez after the Cup Series race at Phoenix Raceway, where Katherine Legge spun and crashed into the Trackhouse Racing driver. Legge was making her debut in NASCAR at the Shriners Children's 500 and didn't have any prior experience racing stock cars.

The IndyCar driver made contact with Josh Berry, who was in P5 ahead of Suarez in P6. Legge was a lap down, yet kept the high line, which led to the contract and ended Suarez's hope of a good result. The outrage from Trackhouse Racing driver led to multiple entities questioning NASCAR's approval process.

As Kyle Busch sat down for the media session, a reporter asked the RCR driver about his thoughts on the driver approval process while mentioning what happened between Suarez and Legge at the Phoenix Raceway.

“I feel like I've questioned the approval process for a long, long time. Being an owner in the Truck Series and seeing some young drivers get opportunities at different tracks versus my drivers that I was trying to get them opportunities at some of those same tracks getting denied. So I was very confused and probably I'm even more confused now on how it all works,” said Kyle Busch via Cup Scene. (3:20 onwards)

“I think it's broken. I think there's a lot of work that could be done to make it better. I also do feel as though it shouldn't be suit and ties making the decisions always. Certainly there can be some that need to be involved, but I do feel like there needs to be fire suits involved in some of those decision making processes on those that need to be approved or not approved for various activities,” he added.

NASCAR introduced the Open Exemption Provision rule earlier this year, which allowed experienced drivers from other top-tier racing categories to race in the series. Helio Castroneves participated in the Daytona 500 under the same. However, changes have been made to the same based on the drivers' feedback.

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“Contender for racing for the win”: Kyle Busch hails the improvements made by RCR since the 2024 season

Kyle Busch joined Richard Childress Racing in 2023 and arguably had one of the most underwhelming seasons in his career in 2024. Busch finished 20th in the Cup Series and failed to make it to the playoffs. It was the first time in his full-time NASCAR career that he failed to win a race during a Cup Series season.

However, the RCR driver came out before the race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and hailed the team for making improvements to the car over the off-season. The two-time champion feels that his car now has the potential to win races.

“I would say that the step that we made from last year to this year was a really good step. With another major step like that, we can be a contender for racing for the win,” Kyle Busch said (via Speedway Digest).

Busch has had consecutive Top 10 finishes in the last three Cup Series races and will be looking to replicate his performance at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2009, where he won his only race at the track.