Kyle Busch drops a blunt verdict on NASCAR’s All-Star Race ‘gimmick’

Kyle Busch didn’t hold back when sharing his thoughts on NASCAR’s new twist for the 2025 All-Star Race. Appearing on the Door Bumper Clear podcast after Sunday’s race at Talladega, Busch criticized the addition of the new 'Promoter’s Caution,' calling it a "gimmick" that turns the event into a circus.

The 2025 NASCAR All-Star Race, set for May 18 at North Wilkesboro Speedway, will allow Speedway Motorsports' president, Marcus Smith, to throw a random caution flag at any point before Lap 220. The move, which can only happen once, is designed to shake up the race, but Kyle Busch believes it will negatively impact the quality of the competition.

"If we're Bailey and Barnum, then let's just fricking' call it Bailey and Barnum," Busch said, comparing the new rule to a traveling circus that eventually went out of business. (37:30 onwards)

Podcast co-host Brett Griffin agreed, joking that if NASCAR wants to introduce drama in the All-Star race, they should put a drunk fan in the flag stand to throw the yellow flag whenever they felt like it. The Richard Childress Racing driver joined in the humor, suggesting:

"No, the guys gotta drink a beer every ten laps, and when he falls over, the yellow comes out. That is content, alright?"

When Griffin called this move by NASCAR a gimmick, Kyle Busch added to it by saying:

"You just said it, it's a gimmick, we're gimmicking. Like, why are we gimmicking in the good racing, I don't get it."

The Promoter’s Caution can only be used before Lap 220. If there’s a natural caution after Lap 200, and the promoter's option hasn’t been used yet, it goes away. This new rule is part of several changes to the All-Star Race format for 2025. NASCAR has also extended the main event by 50 laps, now totaling 250 laps, and opened up the pit crew challenge to the 'open cars' trying to qualify for the All-Star race.

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Kyle Busch is disappointed with NASCAR’s Superspeedway racing package

Kyle Busch is not happy with the way racing works at NASCAR’s superspeedway tracks like Talladega and Daytona. Even though he has learned to adapt, he doesn’t enjoy the fuel-saving strategies teams now use during these races.

Before Sunday’s race at Talladega, the two-time Cup Series champion explained how it feels to race at drafting tracks with the current Next Gen car. Kyle Busch said the car drives better now that teams aren’t playing around with the car’s rear setups. But he still has major problems with the way the races pan out, especially with the fuel-saving.

"The cadence of the race is not very good," Busch said (via Frontstretch). "That’s not very fun. It’s really hard to get runs or any sort of separation. Especially with the fuel-saving. Shorter time on pit road is how you pass guys. That’s no fun." (0:20 onwards)

Kyle Busch has been frustrated with this style of racing for a while. After the 2024 Daytona 500, Busch was openly angry that drivers were spending much of the race running at half-throttle just to save fuel.