Kyle Busch says 'forward progress wasn't enough' at Kansas as winless pressure mounts on NASCAR star

For over two years, Kyle Busch has not returned to the victory lane, and this frustration is seemingly boiling over for the 40-year-old. Despite making progress on raceday in Kansas, the two-time Cup Series champion lamented how the inroads to the front end of the field weren't enough, leading him to set his sights on the Roval to possibly bag his first win of the season.

Busch has the most wins of any active NASCAR Cup Series driver on the field. His 63-race win tally still helps him boast his impressive previous records, but these feats have gone stale in the past few years.

He joined RCR in 2023 with the hopes of taking the squad back to the front of the field. Though he was initially able to fulfill such aims by taking three race wins during the 2023 regular season, it all started going downhill after his last race win at the World Wide Technology Raceway in the early part of 2023.

Since then, Busch has had multiple near misses at a race win, but the tale of 2025 has been entirely different, where he has not even finished inside the top three even once. Subsequently, with another race weekend under his belt keeping him away from making victory donuts, his frustration had the best of him, as he said in the post-race interview (via NBC Sports):

"The entire No. 8 Chevrolet team worked throughout the race to make adjustments to make us competitive today. We made forward progress, but it just wasn’t enough to get us where we needed to be to contend for a victory this afternoon at Kansas Speedway. This race is in the books, and our attention is now on securing that first win of the season next weekend at the Charlotte Roval."

On the other hand, Kyle Busch's side of the garage would also suffer a change for the next year, as his current crew chief, Randall Burnett, will leave the team in favor of Trackhouse Racing.

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Kyle Busch's crew chief needed a fresh start that led to his move away from RCR for 2026

Richard Childress Racing's Kyle Busch stands on pit road during the 2025 Go Bowling at The Glen at Watkins Glen International - Source: Imagn

Kyle Busch and Randall Burnett's pairing has earned three race wins in their time together as the driver-crew chief duo. However, with the opportunity of guiding an incoming teenager arising with Trackhouse Racing, Burnett decided to move over to pair up with Connor Zilisch for his rookie full-time Cup Series season.

Reflecting on why he decided to jumpship, Burnett said (via NASCAR's official website):

"I’m excited about my opportunity over there, and you know, obviously, something’s got to change on this 8 car. We haven’t been performing the way we needed to. I think everybody needs a fresh start. I got a really good opportunity with where I’m going. Obviously, Connor’s a great young talent. I miss working with the younger guys. So, you know, just kind of all worked out.

Kyle Busch sits 21st in the interim championship standings. If he ends the 2025 season in the same position, it will be his worst-ever result during a championship season since he became a full-time Cup Series driver in 2005.