NASCAR Cup Series: 5 drivers who will improve in 2021
By Konner Metz
Drivers who will improve in 2021 – Kyle Busch
The 2020 season was perhaps the most disappointing year ever for Joe Gibbs Racing veteran Kyle Busch. Coming off of his second NASCAR Cup Series championship, Busch struggled to keep up with teammate Denny Hamlin and rival Kevin Harvick, among others.
He did not secure his first win until late October at Texas Motor Speedway. Overall, his one win, 20 top 10 finishes, 13.8 average finish and 516 laps led were statistical lows that Busch had not seen since either 2014 or 2015.
His playoff run was cut short with an elimination in the round of 12, but that came as no surprise to the driver of the #18 Toyota, who was vocal about the team’s struggles all season long.
The probability that Busch, one of the sport’s most talented wheelmen, struggles at the same level he did in 2020 is low. The last time he earned only one win in back-to-back seasons was before he came to Joe Gibbs Racing in 2006 and 2007, his second and third full seasons in the Cup Series.
Former crew chief Adam Stevens is no longer with the #18 team after Stevens and Busch had their fair share of friction. Joe Gibbs Racing moved Ben Beshore up from the Xfinity Series program to the #18 team for this season. Beshore and Busch have been paired together in the Xfinity Series in the past.
With a new crew chief and a new schedule, there could be some bumps in the road for the 2015 and 2019 champion, but there will be ample opportunity for him to improve upon his seventh place tie in last year’s championship standings and secure more than one win.