Kevin Harvick terms Kyle Busch’s present RCR situation as a “disastrous mess” - “They don’t have speed”

Kevin Harvick recently weighed in on Kyle Busch's ongoing struggles, noting that if things don't turn around, it could spell broader trouble for the entire #8 Richard Childress Racing team. Harvick drew parallels between Christopher Bell and Busch's recent performances, pointing out that despite Bell not clinching any wins mid-season and facing challenges, his car still showed competitive speed—a luxury #8's car apparently lacks.

Kyle Busch is currently lagging 45 points behind the playoff cutoff line. His recent performance at the USA Today 301 in New Hampshire was particularly disheartening. The 39-year-old languished at the back for most of the race and was involved in two accidents, including one during a caution period, which led to a dismal finish and a mere two points added to his season tally.

Aside from the Ambetter Health 400 in Atlanta and the Wurth 400 in Dover, Kyle Busch hasn’t managed a top-5 finish in any other races this season. Additionally, he has only achieved top-10 finishes three times.

The 2024 season is the fifth time in his career that he hasn’t won any of the first 18 races, the last occurrence being in 2020. By this time last year, Busch had already secured three victories.

Addressing the struggles, Kevin Harvick shared his concerns: [via NASCAR on Fox]:

"It's one of those scenarios where it just keeps getting worse. […] I think that at some point it's easier to be in Christopher Bell's scenario because they at least had speed. He went through a rough patch of six or eight weeks with miserable finishes. But they all knew they had speed in the car. The problem with Kyle Busch’s situation right now is that they just don’t have any speed in their car for the most part."

"They've had a couple of places where they've been okay but they don't have that speed like the 20 has to be able to keep the morale where it needs to be to recover from all these instances where they're having all these things go wrong. And right now if it's going to go wrong it's going to go wrong with Kyle Bush because it is a disastrous mess unfortunately for everybody on that #18 team."

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Clint Bowyer remains optimistic about Kyle Busch's talents despite Busch's challenging Cup season

Even though Kyle Busch's Cup Series season has been less than successful, he managed to clinch two Truck Series victories in Atlanta and Texas driving the #7 Chevy for Spire Motorsports. Clint Bowyer, who took the wheel of the #7 at the Rackley Roofing 200 in Nashville, shared his high expectations before the race, drawing on Kyle Busch's earlier successes in the same truck.

Speaking to the media before the event, Bowyer was clear about his goals for the race.

“Expectations are to win. The truck is winning. Put Kyle Busch in it and it wins. It darn well better win with me in it. It’s a good track for me. I’ve won in the Truck Series before. I’ve won with Brian Pattie before,” Bowyer said via Speedway Media.

Despite starting strong at P11 and finishing Stage 1 at P9, a mishap on lap 61 led to Bowyer finishing Stage 2 at P24, and he ultimately secured a P17 finish in the race.