What is "the Kyle Busch" rule? Exploring NASCAR's method to curb Cup Series drivers' supremacy

Kyle Busch has carved his name among NASCAR's most dominant drivers, with one Xfinity Series and two Cup Series championships. He embarked on a full-time Cup Series journey with Hendrick Motorsports in 2005 but has always exhibited dominance in Xfinity and Truck Series as well. However, his superiority led to NASCAR taking a big step as it introduced a big change.

Busch has raked in 231 victories thus far, with 102 in the Xfinity Series and 66 in the Truck Series. Even though he failed to secure a Cup Series win this past season, his 63-win record still stands atop the winningest active drivers list.

But unlike the era from 2009 to 2016, when Busch was seen in a majority of Xfinity and Truck Series races, acing several of them, the Nevada native's participation in disciplines other than NASCAR witnessed a big drop. This happened not because Busch didn't want to race but because the sanctioning body introduced rules to “elevate the stature of future stars”.

NASCAR introduced a new rule from the 2017 season, prohibiting any driver with more than five years of full-time experience from participating in more than 10 Xfinity races, seven Truck Series races, along with the playoffs in those series. The measures were tightened the following season, barring drivers from the regular-season finale, in addition to the race caps.

In 2020, the rule was narrowed further, reducing the experience prerequisite from five years to three, with only five races permitted in each of the disciplines. The Cup drivers were also barred from competing in specialty events such as the Dash 4 Cash and the Triple Truck Challenge.

When the rule was implemented in 2017, Kyle Busch had collected 86 Xfinity wins and 46 Truck triumphs.

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When Kyle Busch expressed wanting "more" Truck Series races amid NASCAR's rule implementation

After NASCAR's new rules came into being, the veteran driver was left with no choice but to limit his races outside the Cup Series to 10 times a year, five in each of the other two categories. However, Busch expressed that increased participation of Cup Series drivers in Truck Series would ultimately help the budding drivers.

The RCR driver said during a conversation in June 2023 that experienced drivers like him possess the knowledge to "dictate and tell what's exactly wrong" with the Truck, something young talent might lack. Busch said (via racer.com),

“That would be one that I would really like; to get back into would be the Truck Series and running my own stuff a little bit more; having some more races to build the program and make sure that we are where we need to be with our younger drivers (who are) not necessarily having that experience to be able to dictate and tell exactly what’s wrong with our vehicle dynamic and stuff like that,"

Kyle Busch fielded Truck entries for his outfit Kyle Busch Motorsports. He witnessed a performance decline after triumphing in the outfit's first race of the 2023 season at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.