"It shows you how finicky these damn cars are”: Kyle Busch snaps at NASCAR's Next-Gen cars amid tough qualifying session at COTA

After a tough qualifying session, Kyle Busch explained his frustrations over the Cup cars heard from the radio. Busch told the media at the Circuit of the Americas that the current racecars could be completely out of control even with the slightest setup tweak.

Busch is a veteran NASCAR driver piloting the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro for Richard Childress Racing. Since the Las Vegas native entered full-time Cup competition in 2005, he has driver four generations of stock cars (Gen 4 to current Gen 7).

Speaking about the current next-gen cars in the qualifying session at COTA, Busch described the ride as "finicky", signifying how difficult it was to set the car up.

"That just shows you how finicky these damn cars are. I mean little bit here, a little bit there, and a couple things here and there, and it's a completely different racecar... drives entirely different," Busch said via Frontstretch on X. [1:17]

"You could have the least little thing off and be completely out of control," he added.

The two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion didn't disclose the changes made on the No. 8 Chevy at COTA, saying:

"Can't tell you the things that we did. It was a lot of knobs, but just find tweaks in them each a little bit and got us way better."

Despite a challenging qualifying session, Kyle Busch put the No. 8 car in the fourth row alongside Kyle Larson. The RCR driver will start eighth in the race, with teammate Austin Dillon qualifying in the 27th starting position.

The NASCAR grid will race on the shorter 2.3-mile configuration. The turn seven (midway the esses) through turn 11 (hairpin leading to the long straightaway) have been removed, thus fans can expect closer racing at the Texas-based track.

The 2025 EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix will be held on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET. The TV coverage will be available on Fox Sports, while the radio coverage will air on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

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Kyle Busch shared his thoughts on reconfigurated COTA track layout

With the reconfigured COTA track layout expected to produce closer racing, Kyle Busch believes fans would enjoy the race. He expects more pushing and shoving on the shorter configuration similar to racing at Martinsville Speedway.

The No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro driver said (via Speedway Digest):

"Being a shorter course and not having that long straightaway in Turn 12, you're going to get less separation from all those other cars around you. It's going to be more Martinsville-esque with cars staying closer together and probably a little bit more pushing and shoving."

He concluded:

"I'm sure that's what the fans will certainly enjoy."

Kyle Busch drives the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro in the premier series- Source: Imagn

The event at COTA is the first of six road course stops this year. NASCAR has added Mexico City on the calendar, which is slated for June 15. As of this writing, this season marks the final time the league hosts a race on the streets of Chicago.