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With the end of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season, Kyle Busch's 15-year-long tenure at Joe Gibbs Racing also came to an end at Phoenix Raceway. He is now already slowly settling himself into his new team at Richard Childress Racing for the 2023 season.
RCR driver and Busch’s 2023 teammate, Austin Dillon, is looking forward to partnering with the two-time Cup Champion. Having one of NASCAR's biggest drivers in the garage is going to be insanely valuable for Dillon and the team.
During a post-race interview at Phoenix Raceway, Dillon spoke about how it felt with Busch joining the organization.
He said:
“He is already wearing everybody out about, ‘hey, we’ve got to be ready to go,’ So that fire is definitely there, and that’s what you want to see.”
Richard Childress Racing will plan a new course with Austin Dillon and Kyle Busch, who joined them after a phenomenal tenure with Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota. He will be in the #8 and will drive a Chevrolet for the first time since 2004-2007 when he was with Hendrick Motorsports.
Busch was already involved at preliminary levels. He visited the Childress shop in Welcome, North Carolina, and encouraged Dillon to spend more time in the simulator to validate his performance on the track.
“We’ve already started a little bit” – Kyle Busch
Kyle Busch is still curtailing his obligations at Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota. During a post-race interview at Phoenix Raceway, Busch said:
“We’ve already started a little bit. My duties say JGR and Toyota — one of them continues through the (awards) banquet, the other one continues through December 31. So we’ll see what happens in the month of December.”
He continued:
“I had one once upon a time. I’ve been before. Don’t let things completely shock you. Actually, (crew chief) Jason Ratcliff and I, when we were really close and racing for a championship in ’09, him and I went together. So it was fun. I’ve done it before, I’d enjoy doing it again. I’ve just never really I guess had any invites to go.”
These opportunities are likely to become more frequent as Busch and Dillon get to know each other in the three months of the offseason, but will be dealing with other new faces once their attention turns to racing. It will be interesting to see how Busch and Dillon work together next season.
