Kyle Busch reveals key reason RCR hired Jim Pohlman despite limited experience with the NextGen car

Kyle Busch outlined the reasons behind Richard Childress Racing's hiring of Jim Pohlman as his new crew chief. He mentioned Pohlman's 'really good leadership traits' as one of the deciding factors.

Pohlman has prior experience working with RCR. He used to helm research and development in the early stages of the Next Gen Era.

Following the same, he jumped into a pretty successful outfit with the No.7 JR Motorsports team. As crew chief for Justin Allgaier, Pohlman pulled off a title win in 2024, in addition to the ARCA championship with the same driver.

Allgaier has now clinched a championship four spot after a top-5 placing at Talladega Superspeedway. Moreover, he's the only JRM driver who finished among the frontrunners in the 100-lap event.

Reflecting upon the No.7 team's success, Busch spoke to NBC Sports and went over Pohlman's hiring.

“They’ve had good cars for a long time," he said, "but it seems like the last two, three years they’ve really taken a step higher. Whether he’s the one responsible for that, I doubt it, but it’s a whole group, right?"

"I feel like a guy like that who has been able to jump into a system that’s been somewhat successful and improve it and to get results out of it and to almost win two championships already — going for a third — that led to some really good leadership traits for me and improvement of organization,” Kyle Busch added.

RCR's Austin Dillon echoed the sentiment in an interview of his own. He mentioned that Pohlman's former association with RCR played a hand in his hiring.

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Kyle Busch believes Jim Pohlman shares traits of his past successful partnerships

Kyle Busch reflected on his brief interaction with Jim Pohlman. He noted that the crew chief reminds him of his past collaborations that've been successful.

In an interview at Talladega Superspeedway, Busch spoke with NASCAR analyst Bob Pockrass and said,

"He gave me a little bit of personality traits from what I've had from others previously. You know, a little mix of a couple that I really enjoyed working with and had some great success with."

Kyle Busch is in desperate need of a breakthrough. The No.8 driver has never finished outside the top-20 in the standings, but is now P22 with 663 points to his name. He has gone winless for two consecutive seasons now, with his best result this year coming from a P5 finish at Chicago and Circuit of The Americas.

After a series of middling results, Busch bounced back in his home turf at Las Vegas. Despite a start outside the top-30, Busch chased down the field to finish eighth in last weekend's race. He now starts third at Talladega, making it his fourth top-5 start this year.