Denny Hamlin Is Hopeful Jim Pohlman Can Give Kyle Busch Desperately Needed “Performance Jump”

Joe Gibbs Racing veteran Denny Hamlin has shared his thoughts on Kyle Busch’s team signing new crew chief for 2026.

Denny Hamlin Is Hopeful Jim Pohlman Can Give Kyle Busch Desperately Needed “Performance Jump”

Kyle Busch, Jim Pohlman and Denny Hamlin (Via IMAGO and nascar.com)

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The last two season hasn’t been kind to RCR and Kyle Busch. He moved to the team in 2023 hoping to contend for championships, but other than three wins in the first half of his debut season, there hasn’t been any highlights for him in the No:8 car. Now the team has made a massive change within the leadership that could make or break their season.

RCR has announced that Jim Pohlman, who is currently the crew chief of Justin Allgaier in the No:7 JR Motorsports Xfinity Series team, will be the new crew chief of the No:8 Chevy team from 2026. Kyle Busch’s ex-teammate Denny Hamlin has high hopes about this change as the team needs a fresh set of eyes.

Maybe it’s just a fresh set of eyes. I like that RCR is hiring out of the company versus promoting someone.

Denny Hamlin said via Actions Detrimental.

Further talking about the point on his podcast, Hamlin admitted that he is happy to see RCR signing an outsider, instead of an internal promotion and the current performance of the team shows they don’t have a string candidate inside them to put them in a better spot. Jim Pohlman can hopefully given Busch the performance jump, by giving them a new perspective.

More than likely, if someone was really good within the shop, their cars will be running better. Maybe he can come up with something to where why aren’t you guys looking at Y versus X? Hopefully it gets Kyle Bush the performance jump that he’s looking for.

Denny Hamlin added.

Kyle Busch explains why Jim Pohlman was hired

One of the big questions that was raised after the announcement was around the lack of Next-Gem experience from Pohlman. Busch addressed the scepticism and pointed out that the veteran has the passion and leadership qualities to deliver. So, he is hopeful that the signing will get them back on the right direction.

Kyle Busch
Kyle Busch (Via @KyleBusch/X)

I would say his passion and just the leadership conversations that we had. You’re not hiring a guy based off of results in a Cup car, right? That’s yet to be seen and to be made. Hopefully, he’s the guy that can help lead us in the right direction with not just the 8 car but also RCR as a whole.

Kyle Busch said.

Further talking about the signing, in a separate conversation Kyle Busch pointed out that Pohlman proved his capabilities by making the JRM team a formidable force after he joined them and he expects the same organizational improvement within RCR.

I feel like a guy like that who has been able to jump into a system that’s been somewhat successful and improve it and to get results out of it and to almost win two championships already — going for a third — that led to some really good leadership traits for me and improvement of organization.

Kyle Busch added.

The comments from the two times Cup Series champion seems rational and he might be right to believe in Jim Pohlman to deliver for him. If this RCR signing fail as well, Kyle Busch would most probably leave the team as soon as he could, considering he only has a few more years left in him before retirement.

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