RCR’s NASCAR champion reacts to being considered the ‘king of restarts’ before Las Vegas showdown

NASCAR aficionados often regard two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and RCR driver Kyle Busch as the king of restarts. His ability to hold the gas pedal flat on the floorboard allows him to further capitalize on them.

Busch is ahead of his fifth race of the season. Scheduled for Sunday, March 16, the Pennzoil 400 will mark his 28th start at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Just recently, the RCR star appeared in a press conference at the 1.5-mile quad-oval in Nevada, Las Vegas.

When asked how a restart could look at LVMS, Busch said:

“Restarts are sort of the name of the game, I guess, now, because once you get single-filed out and spread out a little bit, it's hard to make up time and make up ground unless you're really, really good. And to get by guys that you're around or in front of you, as well. So you try to get as many as you can and whatever you can.”

With the advent of the Next Gen car, getting an edge over one’s opponents solely based on speed has become harder than before. Needless to say, having a good restart is the key but as per Busch, it's a tough thing to do.

“It's kind of tough, you know, with the defense being as good as the defense can be with guys, where they pull up in front of you and block your air and things like that, where you've got to, you know, get out of the gas and whatnot. So, you know, it's definitely changed over the years,” Busch explained.

Busch will start this weekend’s race from P4 (Row 2) alongside Team Penske’s Austin Cindric. He has been dominant at Las Vegas before with three top-10s and 13 top-fives to his credit. However, his lone win at the track came 16 years ago, back when he was driving for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Kyle Busch gives his take on “much better” RCR cars

Kyle Busch feels that the RCR cars are running way better than last year. Since the beginning of the 2025 season, each start that the Las Vegas native made with his No. 8 Rebel Bourbon Chevy Camaro has translated into a top five or a top 10.

Reflecting on the same, the NASCAR vet said,

"So far so good. I mean, from last year to this year ….. just, you know, Legos being the same, apparently they're not because we're doing something different, and the cars are driving much better.”

"I just appreciate the efforts and values of everyone at RCR putting all that in. And so, you know, there's not a team out there that will outwork us, that's for sure,” he added.

However, it’s been a while since Kyle Busch logged a Cup Series triumph. He won three events in his inaugural season with Richard Childress Racing, but that’s about it. He hasn’t won a single race since June 2023 and is currently on a career-long, 60-race winless streak.