Kyle Busch, the former JGR star, is arguably the most insane race car driver of his generation. While most drivers in the Cup Series garage are very careful about what they say to the media, Busch’s unvarnished and unapologetic remarks frequently caused a stir.
His jabs weren’t just directed at his on-track competitors; he frequently had a fallout with the race fans with his thoughts and opinions. Before Denny Hamlin took over the role in recent years, there were many savage interview moments where Busch lived up to his tag, but there were also times when he did his best to hide his true nature.
An excellent illustration of that is the 2019 Las Vegas autumn race, in which he maintained a poker face for as long as possible before exposing his true identity. Rather than Martin Truex Jr.’s victory, this post-race interview soon became the talk of the town. Fans reacted negatively to the JGR driver and criticized his actions, as was to be expected.
Surprisingly, however, Dale Jr., who was commentating the race from the booth, took Rowdy’s side and explained why he didn’t find his antics on and off the racetrack offensive. The No. 18 team had had a successful season, especially in 2019. They were in the running for another championship after five victories early in the season.
At the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, however, Busch was unable to get his title run off to a strong start. The JGR driver was facing numerous challenges, including a flat tire and heavy traffic. Dale Jr. saw the whole thing differently from the average fans, who thought that Rowdy’s tantrums following a race were just another one of his typical antics. “This sport doesn’t have a lot of personalities. That is incorrect; there are some outstanding figures in the sport.
There’s a lot of people that don’t quite get to exhibit their personality, and there’s not a lot of guys wanting to… And he says, You know what? I will simply be honest and express my feelings. Whether you like Kyle or not, we need a lot more of that. We must obtain that candid viewpoint. He was furious after finishing in 19th position, and the reason for his annoyance was a run-in with lapped drivers Joey Gase and Garrett Smithley, who gave him a fierce race and interrupted Rowdy’s hopes of finishing in the top 10.
After the race, he was surrounded by numerous reporters and cameras, which made things worse. He was asked questions like, “What happened there with the 53 and 52? How did that affect your vehicle? What transpired after the race? In order to avoid getting into trouble, Kyle Busch kept his responses to a minimum, saying, “I’m just here so I don’t get fined.”
He destroyed his character, nevertheless, because he could no longer stand the questioning. “I’m answering the dumbest f—-g questions over and over again,” he muttered to one of his teammates after turning around in a fit of rage. That version of Rowdy Busch is definitely missed by the NASCAR community.
That version of Rowdy Busch is definitely missed by the NASCAR community. He has considerably subdued his antics with the new team, RCR, which may be due to the lack of race victories and chances to compete for the championship. For Kyle Busch and the #8 Chevy squad, the 2024 NASCAR season was maybe the lowest of all time.
Kyle Busch had not won a race in the NASCAR Cup Series for the first time in 20 years. The 2024 season was extremely turbulent for Rowdy and the #8 club, as seen by this statistic alone. The two-time champion’s performance was a little bit like his 2005 rookie season run, in which he finished with an average of 21.0.
The Southern 500 and the fall Daytona race are prime examples of Busch coming very close to winning this year; aside from his altercation with Christopher Bell at COTA, the RCR driver handled the challenges quite well. The only difference here was that he had a big W to his name and was able to enjoy the feeling of being victorious. It’s not that Busch was never in contention for a race win, but for some reason he just couldn’t cross the final hurdle.
In an interview with NASCAR, Busch reflected on the chances he lost to reverse his bad luck and said, “We probably had a handful of opportunities that slipped out from under us.” Therefore, it is impossible to argue that we shouldn’t have won this year or that we never had the chance, but we clearly failed to complete the task. Rowdy is still capable of competing for a few more years at 39, and if RCR can improve its racing program, 2025 may be a year of great comebacks.
