Kyle Busch has never been one to shy away from the spotlight, even when it casts him as NASCAR’s ultimate villain. With 63 Cup Series wins and two championships, he’s a titan on the track. But his “Rowdy” persona has made him a lightning rod for controversy. From brawls to intentional wrecks, Busch’s career is a highlight reel of feuds and fury that has kept fans and drivers talking for years.
But the Kyle Busch of 2025 feels different. Recently, in a candid chat with The Athletic, Busch opened up about why he was so intense and how he’s working to change the narrative. With Watkins Glen’s road course on the horizon, where rivalries can flare, Busch’s shift in mindset is a story worth watching.
Kyle Busch is trying to turn a new leaf
In a recent interview with The Athletic, Busch got real about his reputation. “I’m a focused guy, driven guy. I want things to be done the right way. A little OCD. Just like neat and tidy and clean and put together. All that sort of stuff. So I think some of that kind of relates into racing, right? If I’m doing all of those things, then I want those around me to also be doing all of those things.”
“…At Gibbs, you’re expected to win — like, if you’re not winning, then what are you doing? So when you lose out on close races or whatever, you get very frustrated, very mad, very angry. And those were always my bad moments that people hated me for. Now I’m in a different spot, and let’s call a spade a spade — we’re less competitive and not up front as much. So you’re just going with the flow and trying to work on things and make things better. And I guess for some reason, people respect that more.”
Looking back, Busch has had quite a few fiery moments. The 2024 All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro was a perfect example. Busch collided with Ricky Stenhouse Jr., sparking a post-race melee where Stenhouse threw a punch, crew members piled in, and Busch shouted, “Let’s go!” before security stepped in. NASCAR slapped Stenhouse with a $75,000 fine and suspensions for his crew, but the incident only intensified Busch’s bad-guy image.
Then there’s the 2011 Texas Truck Series race, where Busch’s villain status hit a new low. Racing under caution, he deliberately spun Ron Hornaday Jr. into the wall, crushing Hornaday’s championship hopes. NASCAR didn’t mess around. They parked Busch for the weekend across all series, fined him $50,000, and put him on probation. He called it a “step backward,” and the garage agreed. It cemented his reputation as a driver who would cross any line to win.
Over the years, he’s tangled with everyone. Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Richmond in 2008, Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, and even threw a HANS device at Casey Mears in 2006. As one Reddit fan put it, “Kyle was hated long before Richmond 2008… him wrecking Jr… just sealed his fate.”
He explained that his outbursts, such as the Stenhouse brawl or the Hornaday wreck, weren’t about tearing down his team but about pushing for perfection. At JGR, where he racked up 56 of his 63 wins, the pressure to win every week was relentless. Mistakes stung, and Busch’s fiery reactions, like yelling over the radio or clashing with rivals, became his “bad moments” that fans hated.
He went deeper, “So when we make dumb mistakes or whatever and I get mad, that’s not me berating my team. That’s trying to get us all on the same page and get us all wanting to be perfect and do the right things. But I would say the perception over the years was always the ‘black hat’ thing, right? And now it’s definitely different, where it just automatically flipped because I changed teams. So that’s a little weird. But I’m just taking things more in stride, and I feel like people are respecting that a little bit more.”
Since joining RCR, where the No. 8 car hasn’t matched JGR’s front-running pace, Busch has had to dial back. A tough Iowa weekend, where a practice crash led to a 20th-place finish, showed he’s still fighting. But he’s trying to channel that energy differently. The shift from JGR’s win-or-bust culture to RCR’s grind has softened his edge, earning him newfound respect from fans who once booed him. While that’s that, there have been a few drivers who have managed to bag the respect of the 40-year-old.
Who does Kyle Busch think is underrated?
Busch’s perspective carries weight. With 63 wins and five straight Championship 4 appearances from 2015 to 2019, he’s one of NASCAR’s all-time greats. In the same interview, he was asked to name the most underrated drivers in the Cup Series today. Back in 2011, he had picked Matt Kenseth. This time, he doubled down.
“There’s two. I would probably say Chris Buescher is one of them. And then I’d also go with AJ Allmendinger. I think AJ is really, really good. Being teammates with the Kaulig guys and stuff like that, and knowing where he’s at and what he’s doing and how he’s driving with similar stuff as us, I think he’s getting a lot out of his cars.”
Buescher, sitting 11th in points with a 2024 Watkins Glen win, and Allmendinger, 18th with a 2021 Indy victory, are quietly outpacing expectations. Busch’s nod shows his respect for drivers who maximize their equipment.
Buescher’s ARCA and Xfinity titles, plus multiple Cup wins, mark him as a consistent threat, especially on road courses like Watkins Glen, where he stole the show from Shane van Gisbergen last year. Allmendinger, a two-time Xfinity champ, keeps squeezing results out of Kaulig’s smaller operation. That’s something Busch, now at RCR, can relate to.
As Busch mellows, his shoutout to these underdogs shows a driver who’s not just reflecting on his own legacy but lifting up others who don’t always get the spotlight. With Watkins Glen’s twists and turns waiting, Busch’s newfound perspective and his picks could spark some extra attention on Buescher and Allmendinger.
The post “People Hated Me” — Kyle Busch Breaks Silence on ‘Bad Moments’ Sparked by JGR’s Winning Mentality appeared first on EssentiallySports.