"He's not been programmed that way": Kevin Harvick breaks down harsh reality behind Kyle Busch's 2025 Cup Series struggle

On the latest episode of the Happy Hour podcast, NASCAR expert Kevin Harvick talked about Kyle Busch. During the podcast, Harvick gave his take on the two-time Cup Series champion Busch's struggles in the 2025 season.

Since the introduction of the NextGen cars, the Richard Childress Racing driver has been struggling to perform in the Cup Series. He has secured only four wins since he began driving seventh-generation cars. Busch missed playoff spots in the 2024 and 2025 seasons. Additionally, he has been on a winless streak since 2023; his last victory came at the Enjoy Illinois 300 at Gateway.

Fast forwarding to the Enjoy Illinois 300 race this year, Kyle Busch spun out and finished the 300-mile race in 22nd place. Reflecting on Busch's struggles, the 2014 NASCAR Cup Series champion, Kevin Harvick, stated [45:17 onwards]:

"Uh, you know, I think their cars are just off. I think that Kyle, being Kyle, wants to push it faster, further than make things try to go faster. And when you do that in this car, you spin out. Um, so, you know, he's just—he's had a—he's in a tough spot right now where the cars are performing."

"And it seems like he goes overboard almost on a weekly basis. Um, you know, with the spinouts and and things that have happened because there's just no—there's no cushion there. Yeah. And you can't make the thing do more than it'll do. And you know, that's hard because he's not been programmed that way for his whole career," Harvick added.

The last race of the Round of 16, the Bass Pro Shops Night, is scheduled for Saturday, September 13, 2025, at Bristol Motor Speedway. Additionally, Busch has secured eight wins at Bristol and aims to secure his maiden win of the season at the venue.

---

"It's a spinout, a wreck, or something on pit road": NASCAR expert blames NextGen cars for affecting Kyle Busch's struggles in the Cup Series

Earlier in August 2025, on the Happy Hour podcast, former Stewart-Haas Racing driver Kevin Harvick held NextGen cars responsible for Kyle Busch's declining progress. Busch has been suffering with his #8 Chevy Camaro ZL1 since he joined Richard Childress Racing in 2023.

Before that, the Las Vegas native drove the #18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing and secured 56 wins, 206 top fives, 304 top tens, with 29 pole positions in 528 starts. Additionally, he secured two Cup Series championship titles during his tenure with Joe Gibbs Racing. However, since he moved to Richard Childress Racing and piloted the NextGen car, his stats have been declining constantly.

Reflecting on the same, Kevin Harvick blamed the seventh-generation cars for Kyle Busch’s downfall and said [32:30 onwards]:

"I think his car has totally disrupted everything that's made Kyle Busch good. Everything that made Kyle Busch good up until this Gen 7 car was the fact that he could drive it over the limit, save the car, and he could tell you every single thing that you needed to put in the car to make it go fast.”

Kyle Busch currently ranks 20th in the Cup Series points table with 585 points to his credit. He has secured eight top-ten finishes and two top-five finishes at the Chicago and the Circuit of the Americas races in 28 starts this season. Also, he has yet to secure his maiden win of the season.