Kyle Busch Confesses He Is The “Driver That Was Hurt the Most” Since Adopting Next-Gen Cars

Two times NASACR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch named himself as the driver that was hurt the most with the introduction of the 7th gen cars.

Kyle Busch Confesses He Is The “Driver That Was Hurt the Most” Since Adopting Next-Gen Cars

Kyle Busch (Via IMAGO)

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The Next-Gen cars were introduced to the sport in 2021, with the primary goal of making the racing more competitive. It has produced some exciting moments, helping the likes of Joey Logano, Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney, William Byron, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell to dominate the series.

But at the same time, two times Cup Series champion Kyle Busch has failed to adapt to the new era. He has secured just four wins in the Next-Gen car, one with JGR in 2021 and three with RCR in his debut season. The veteran has been winless since 2023. Only one of his three wins was really the product of a strong performance, as the other three were due to lucky breaks he got towards the end of the race.

Recently the No:8 Chevy driver was asked about who he thought was hurt and benefited the most with the new car. He named Ryan Blaney and William Byron as the ones that took advantage the most. The veteran then named himself as the one that was hurt the most. It’s hard to argue against this, as almost every driver that was on his level before the current era, is now winning races more consistently.

Who has it benefited the most? I think that’s hard to say. It’s not all driver. It’s the crew chief, engineering, the shop. It’s everything. But I would say [Ryan] Blaney, [William] Bryon, those guys have probably benefited the most. The ones I would say it hasn’t really changed a whole lot for, they’re still just as successful as they were before, would be Denny, Christopher [Bell]. And the ones you would say arguably have hurt the most have been me.

Kyle Busch said via racer.com.

Further talking about the point, Kyle Busch admitted that the lack of practice has been a major set back in 2021 for him, as he didn’t have enough time to adjust with the new racing style. That negative seems to have followed him over the years as he is still playing catch-up with the rest of the garage that has integrated better with the new car, and RCR failure to field faster cars are hurting his chances more as well.

I would say practice is probably a key to that. If you look back to my last year with Adam [Stevens, at Joe Gibbs Racing], we didn’t have practice; it was COVID time. So, we had zero practice, lined up and raced, and we only won one race in the era. It was coming from the shop and being (good) right out of the gate.

Kyle Busch added.

Kyle Larson confirms Kyle Busch was hurt the most in the Next-Gen Era

When asked the same question to the reigning Cup Series champion Kyle Larson, he didn’t hesitate to name Kyle Busch as the one that was hurt the most with the change. He thinks the likes of Byron and Blaney are the ones that benefited the most with the change. But at the end of the day the cars being strong plays a significant role.

Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch
Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch (Via IMAGO)

The easy answer is to say it’s hurt Kyle Busch the most, but he’s gone to another team since then. I guess he got the one year at Gibbs, but I would say it’s hurt him the worst. I would say it’s benefited a William Byron, a Ryan Blaney, for sure and again, all that could be circumstantial. But it is a little bit different driving technique. But it’s still a race car, and it’s still a stock car on a pavement track where your equipment has to be good.

Kyle Larson said.

The comments from the two times champion seems rational and he like many in the NASACR community is hoping that Kyle Busch will get out this poor form sooner than later. It would be interesting to see how long it will take RCR to give the champion racer the right car to be successful in the premier stock car racing series.

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