"We need more racers" - Richard Childress demands cultural shift at RCR following Kyle Busch's slump

Looking at the performance of Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon this season, Richard Childress wants the team to change the culture. In a recent team meeting he conducted at the shop, Childress said that the team needs more racers.

Kyle Busch is currently 104 points behind the cutoff mark for the top-16. So far, he has only managed to finish two top-5s, at the Ambetter Health 400 in Atlanta and the Wurth 400 at Dover. Along with that, the #8 driver has also managed to finish three top-10s in the first 19 races of the regular season.

Busch's 2024 season has differed sharply from his last year's performance. By this time last year, in his first season with RCR, he already had three wins. With merely eight races left, Kyle Busch needs to win a race to secure a spot in the playoffs.

Likewise, even Austin Dillon has not been able to perform too well this season, having only two top-10s. And that's why the frustration has continued to mount for Richard Childress. He called a shop meeting on Tuesday in an attempt to change the attitude. He said: [via Fox Sports]

"We need to change the culture. We need to have more racers."

However, he doesn't doubt the ability of the #8 driver of RCR. Childress expressed his confidence in the #8 driver saying:

"I feel as strong about Kyle Busch as I did when he became a part of this company a year-and-a-half ago. I feel as good about that. We've got to change some things. You'll see it."

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Kyle Busch shared his thoughts on Andy Petree's retirement

Kyle Busch acknowledged that while he will miss the friendship and good times with Andy Petree, he is optimistic that the change could pave the way for improvements. Amid the most challenging winless stretch of his career—40 races—Busch shared his thoughts on Petree’s departure, saying:

"I mean change sometimes lends itself to an open opportunity, hopefully for the better. So, you know, I respect to hell out of Andy and what he's done and what he's done in the sport and the legacy that he holds."

He continued:

"And so, we had a lot of fun together and some good laughs and some good relationships and, you know, hopefully, that we can better our program without him there and carry on in the future."

Richard Childress praised Petree for his contributions, noting he "did a good job for us," and announced Keith Rodden as the interim competition director.

Looking ahead, Richard Childress’s team, featuring Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon, will next compete in Chicago at the street race, the Grant Park 165. The average finishes of the two drivers at the event are 5.0 and 36.0, respectively.