What's behind Kyle Busch's winless streak? Inside the numbers and challenges

Kyle Busch, who is in his 21st full-time NASCAR Cup season, has failed to land a win in over two seasons. His winless streak has reached 83 races as of August 31. Busch's previous longest dry spell of 36 races came in 2017, when he was driving the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota.

However, this winless streak is unlike any other of his long Cup career. Busch lost his 19-year streak of winning at least one race per season and missed the playoffs in 2024.

His most recent Cup victory came at the Enjoy Illinois 300 at Gateway on June 4, 2023. He held off Denny Hamlin in a chaotic overtime finish and survived five restarts after leading 121 laps to notch his third win of that year.

Busch's transition to Richard Childress Racing in 2023 brought early success (three wins), but inconsistencies in speed and setup have hampered momentum. However, Busch has had multiple close finishes.

The Richard Childress Racing driver finished second twice in 2024. At Daytona, Busch led the overtime restart but was overtaken by Harrison Burton on the final lap and missed victory by a mere 0.047 seconds. He again found himself in contention at second place after a restart on Lap 351 the following week at Darlington. However, he could not pass, and Chase Briscoe won the race and secured the final playoff spot.

Similarly, Kyle Busch seemed dominant and led 42 laps at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) earlier this year but was overtaken late by Christopher Bell. Another road course top-five came at the Grant Park 165 in Chicago. Busch rebounded from the back of the field to finish fifth, even after an early spin and a pit road penalty.

Can Kyle Busch break the streak this season?

Kyle Busch has 10 more races this season to break the streak. The 40-year-old also extended his contract with Richard Childress Racing till 2026 and could.

While NASCAR Cup Series drivers like Busch's former Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Denny Hamlin, have continued to win, it is rare for drivers to maintain peak performance for over two decades in the Cup Series.

Hamlin, who at 44 continues to win races, is one of only six drivers to have won Cup races at his age or older. Legends like Jeff Gordon and Kevin Harvick also raced for over 20 seasons but saw a decline in their performance. For instance, Gordon retired after 24 seasons, and Harvick transitioned to broadcasting after his 23rd season.

Kyle Busch, with 63 Cup wins, is the winningest active driver in the Cup Series. He could still find success at road courses, where the No. 8 Chevy has shown strong performance this year. Busch has three top-5 finishes in his last four starts at the Roval; however, with Shane van Gisbergen on the grid, a win seems out of the question.