Kyle Busch made a statement on Sunday afternoon after dominating the Final Stage at Auto Club Speedway en route to his first victory with Richard Childress Racing. This was the second points race for Busch with the organization.
The driver of the No. 8 car moved to Richard Childress Racing after spending over a decade with Toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing. The departure of Busch’s sponsor, Mars, created a scenario where the two sides could not come up with a solution to keep him in the No. 18 car.
Now, Busch is already locked into the playoffs and looks to be a championship threat. However, what did Busch have to say about his progress at Richard Childress Racing after his self-admitted struggles at Joe Gibbs Racing last year?
Related: Toyota discusses Kyle Busch’s departure as NASCAR enters the 2023 season
Kyle Busch openly talks about his progress at Richard Childress Racing to start the 2023 season
The 2022 season was not what Busch or Joe Gibbs Racing were looking for out of each other. The two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion’s only victory came at Bristol Dirt after the leaders spun out during the final lap of the event.
Then, Busch had a miserable playoff run that was displayed when the No. 18 car was borderline undrivable at Martinsville Speedway. It was a rough ending to an all-time partnership that will forever go down as one of the best.
After his victory at Auto Club Speedway on Sunday afternoon, Busch talked about his progress at Richard Childress Racing and why he is not struggling like he was with Joe Gibbs Racing last year.
“I’m not sure. You look at how the No. 8 car ran here last year, and they were fast. They had a really, really fast car, and I did the sim session stuff with them and worked on what they had here last year, and then kind of changed a couple things to what I felt like I could do or race better, be more comfortable racing for myself, and today it was just a completely different feeling of a race car than what I had here last year. I think that’s just different philosophies of how you go about it and what this group here is doing to build grip versus my old group.”
Kyle Busch on his performance with Richard Childress Racing compared to Joe Gibbs Racing
There comes a time when change is needed. This has been on display in several sports as Tom Brady left the New England Patriots, LeBron James left the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Freddie Freeman left the Atlanta Braves.
It was time for Busch to leave Joe Gibbs Racing and re-energize himself around a team with new ideas. Sometimes, it takes a new situation to bring out the best in athletes, even if they are some of the greatest ones ever.
Busch is NASCAR’s most successful driver across all three levels and he looked like his old self on Sunday afternoon. Quite frankly, this is just the beginning as Busch looks to carry the momentum to his hometown this weekend.