The season has been slipping through Kyle Busch’s fingers at an agonizing pace. Back in June at Mexico City, he was dumped off track in Turn 1 on Lap 7 and triggered a multi-car pileup that left him with a last-place finish, dropping him 50 points below the playoff cut line. Then, at Pocono, Busch committed a pit road speeding violation and got tangled in mid-race contact, ultimately finishing a deflated P20 and sliding even further, about 63 points short of postseason range.
Those were just the headline flops. All season long, he’s been haunted by a winless drought stretching back to 2023, consistently coughing up stage points and watching rivals like Bubba Wallace lock up playoff berths while Busch sits stuck on the bubble in 19th place. And now, he’s dealing with a new setback before the race has even begun.
Another gut punch for Busch before the green flag even drops
As first reported by Bob Pockrass on Twitter, Kyle Busch’s uphill playoff fight took another brutal turn during Group A practice at Iowa Speedway, ahead of the 2025 Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol. On his 18th lap, Busch had just clocked the second-fastest time in his group when his No. 8 Chevrolet snapped loose entering Turn 1. “Felt really good in 3 and 4 there. I throttled up, the car stuck well… so I trusted it into 1, and obviously it wasn’t there,” Busch said after the crash. The result was a violent nose-first hit into the outside wall. This may prompt Richard Childress Racing to roll out a backup car and side-line Busch from qualifying.
Some of what Kyle Busch said at the care center after his hard crash in practice Saturday at Iowa. He is OK and the team has pulled out the backup car. pic.twitter.com/tN10azPDtk
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) August 2, 2025
The two-time Cup champion walked away uninjured and cleared the infield care center, but the misstep added to an already spiraling season. “Just trying to find the right grip that we needed… and it wasn’t there.” Busch admitted. He noted that the track had felt progressively grippier during each run, enough to lull him into a false sense of stability before Turn 1 bit back. “Each time I got out there, it felt stickier and better… I just tried to feel like the right rear was there off of 4 and trust it getting into 1, and it wasn’t.” The crash not only stripped Busch of momentum, it locked him into a rear-of-field start on a short track where track position is everything.
The timing couldn’t be worse. Busch entered the Iowa weekend already buried 81 points beneath the playoff cutline and winless since 2023 a stat line, uncharacteristic for one of the sport’s most aggressive closers. The crash is just the latest in a series of critical missteps: a Lap 7 wreck in Mexico City, a pit-road speeding penalty at Pocono, and now, a confidence-shaking practice wreck just hours before race day. “It’s definitely not one of my favorite ones,” Busch said of the Iowa crash, “but not one that I haven’t had before.” The question now is whether there’s enough time and grip left for Busch to claw his way back.
How far can RCR go with Busch?
When Kyle Busch jumped to Richard Childress Racing in 2023, optimism surged. He promptly delivered three wins, at Fontana, Talladega, and Gateway asserting himself as a strong fit in RCR’s rebuild effort and giving initial proof that the switch could reset his championship trajectory. That early success brought fresh belief from team owner Richard Childress, who said, “I still think Kyle will win him a championship…and we’re going to have it at RCR.”
But as 2024 unfolded, inconsistency crept in. Busch posted the worst single-season winless drought of his career, missed the playoffs entirely, and RCR’s car performance dipped sharply across the board. As the current campaign reached midseason, those cracks deepened. Despite flashes of strength like stage-point finishes at COTA and some early top tens, Busch remained stuck outside the playoff cut line and winless for nearly two full seasons.
Team dynamics are under scrutiny. RCR owner Richard Childress openly lamented the situation following a Dover race, declaring: “Gotta get some race cars. We are in trouble. Period.” Meanwhile, Busch offered dry reassurance: “It is not due to lack of effort, that’s for damn sure,” even as he admitted to a litany of issues inside and outside the shop.
For Kyle Busch, Saturday’s crash at Iowa was another crack in the foundation of a season spiraling out of reach. With no wins, no momentum, and now no qualifying effort, his playoff hopes have shifted from urgent to desperate. Now 81 points adrift and rolling out a backup car, Busch faces another must-execute race with everything on the line and no guarantees left. The veteran’s margin for error is gone, and if a turnaround is coming, it’ll need to start on Sunday.
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