What's Next for Kyle Busch as His Winless Streak Nears 100 NASCAR Cup Races

WELCOME. N.C. — Kyle Busch's NASCAR career has seen him set records and make history that made his Rowdy persona an icon.

Yet, lately, Rowdy has gotten a little tame lately.

While Busch extended his streak of winning NASCAR seasons to 23 with a victory in February's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at EchoPark Speedway Atlanta, he hasn't won a NASCAR Cup Series race since Gateway, nearly three years ago.

Now, instead of leading winning and leading triple-digit laps in races, like he did that day, he is on a winless streak that is about to approach triple-digits if he can't win this weekend at Martinsville.

It has been 99 Cup races since Busch last won. This weekend will likely make it 100.

Chevrolet has struggled but Richard Childress Racing is noticeably behind. For the first time since 1982, RCR failed to get a top-10 finish in the first six races. Busch and Austin Dillon also sit outside of the top-20 in points, in 23rd and 26th.

The points are deceiving to how RCR has actually run. Austin Dillon drove into the top-10 at Phoenix and had similar pace at Las Vegas, finishing 16th and 12th in those races while Busch had one of the slowest cars on the track in each race.

At Darlington, Busch showed promise in practice and qualifying but finished 21st. 

These early-season struggles are not a good sign for Busch, who has been known to start the season strong before cooling off toward the summer and fall.

Last fall, Busch had five races in a row where was outside of the top-15 more than 75% of the laps, including Gateway where he won just two years before. RCR removed Randall Burnett from his role as Busch's crew chief after a 30th-place finish at New Hampshire but the No. 8 car's speed lagged, despite a pair of top-10 finishes in the final four races.

New permanent crew chief Jim Pohlman is in a tough spot. Although he had three successful seasons with Justin Allgaier in the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series and even led him to his first, long-awaited title, not much translates to the vastly-different Cup cars and his Cup experience is from before the massive shift in 2022.

And again, Chevrolet is still trying to figure out a new body that has caused even the most established teams to take a dip in performance so far.

Finding the light at this point in the tunnel seems like something that's going to take carving out a hole in the wall, rather than getting to the end of the tunnel itself.

It appears Busch may be taking notice of this too. 

Usually one to hold himself to high esteem, Busch admitted at Darlington that Denny Hamlin would likely pass him on the wins list this year. 

In 2018, when Hamlin went winless and Busch finished fourth in points, with a career-high eight wins on the season, Hamlin had 31 wins and Busch had 51.

Now, after Hamlin won at Las Vegas, he has 61 wins while Busch has 63 – quickly catching up to him on the all-time wins list despite being four years older.

The factors in Busch's decline have been talked about plenty, including his adaptability to the current NextGen car that debuted in 2022, but the fact is, he is nowhere near even his initial NextGen performance. Hamlin even commented that Busch appears to be "searching" with his driving style and noted Dillon's strength.

RCR has also been "searching," while teams like Spire and Roush have soared with key additions to their program. 

Could Busch be that addition to another program?

With Alex Bowman questionable and some young prospects still needing a couple more seasons of lower series development, Hendrick Motorsports could use Kyle Busch as an effective stopgap. The No. 48 team needs a rebuild and a driver like Busch with Hendrick's resources could be the right mix for one more round of Rowdy.

What's next for Busch remains to be seen with his performance this season. If he can't pick it up as the season goes along and rides dry up, Rowdy may go gentle into the good night of his illustrious Cup career and give way to a young, more malleable prospect like Jesse Love. 

No matter what, Busch is a NASCAR Hall of Famer who will get his flowers one day; whether resurrected after years of neglect or plucked from the gardens of old that spring once more in celebration of once was.