“It’s the Dale Sr. curse”: Fans side with Kyle Busch, blame RCR during underwhelming season

Kyle Busch is going through one of his toughest seasons yet. NASCAR insiders like Brett Griffin, TJ Majors, and Freddie Kraft have not shied away from partially pointing fingers at him for his team's struggles, but his fans remain firmly in his corner. They suggest it’s the curse of Dale Earnhardt Sr. that’s kept the team from regaining its former glory since his passing.

Besides the Ambetter Health 400 in Atlanta and the Wurth 400 in Dover, Kyle Busch hasn’t finished top-5 in any races this season. Moreover, he has only managed to finish in the top 10 three times. The 2024 season marks the fifth time in his career that he hasn’t won in the first 18 races, with the last such season being the 2020 one. In comparison, by this point last year Busch had already clinched three wins.

Recently, on the "Door Bumper Clear" podcast, the hosts debated whether the issues faced by Kyle Busch and his team were solely the fault of Richard Childress Racing (RCR) or if Busch also shared some responsibility. Freddie Kraft weighed in on the topic, suggesting a combined fault:

"I think they're kind of going hand-in-hand right now. RCR doesn't have the speed that they need to compete. I feel like, right now, I don't think Kyle's handling that very well at the same time."

Fans, however, offered a different perspective, suggesting a bigger reason for the struggles and siding with Kyle Busch's #8 car:

"It’s the Dale Sr curse because Childress ran the #3 after he promised the family he never would," one fan claimed.

"There’s a reason Kevin Harvick left 10 years ago, and that hasn’t changed. RCR hasn’t been able to be at the top since before Dale Sr died. Look at their numbers from the late 90s till today. Sr and Harvick carried that team as much as they could," said another one sharing similar sentiments.

"Kyle’s talent didn’t just disappear. He ran very well in the few truck races he participated in for another team. RCR is an unserious race team," a fan siding with Kyle Busch said.

"I think the driving style doesn’t fit the new car and he hasn’t adjusted. But also when they have speed he wrecks or something like that happens," an enthusiast commented.

"If I’m not mistaken wasn’t Busch having some decent runs to begin the season and pit road mistakes ended up costing him?" one fan said, blaming it on RCR.

"RCR is at fault for the lack of speed/wins. Kyle is at fault for the lack of top 15’s and 20’s Sometimes a 20th place car needs to finish 20th and not 36th," another fan commented, defending Kyle Busch.

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Kevin Harvick sides with Kyle Busch blaming the RCR car's speed for his miseries

Kyle Busch, currently 45 points below the playoff cut-off, had a particularly rough outing at the USA Today 301 in New Hampshire. He spent much of the race struggling at the back of the pack and was involved in two crashes, one of which occurred under a caution flag, leading to a disappointing finish and only two points scored.

Speaking about the ongoing issues, Kevin Harvick expressed his disappointment: [via NASCAR on Fox]

"I don't even like talking about it anymore but we have to. It’s one of those scenarios where it just keeps getting worse. The problem with Kyle Busch’s scenario at this particular point? They don’t have any speed in their car for the most part.” [at 20:40]

Looking ahead, Busch will next compete in the Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway, where he has an average finish of 13.7 across three races with one top-10 finish.