Aside from the first half of his first season with Richard Childress Racing, Kyle Busch's four-year stint behind the wheel of the No. 8 Chevrolet has been a complete disaster, and the question appears to be whether or not he'll remain in the NASCAR Cup Series next year, not whether or not he'll remain with his current organization.
Busch won three of the 2023 season's first 15 races. He's been stuck on 63 career wins since his June 2023 victory at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, and the recent Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway extended his win drought to a career-worst 100 races.
Keep in mind, this is a driver who won at least one race each year from 2005 to 2023. That 19-year streak is an all-time record.
During that 100-race stretch, several (many) other drivers have managed to find victory lane; 25, to be exact.
Here's a list of those 25 drivers.
NASCAR drivers to win a Cup race more recently than Kyle Busch
Driver | Wins |
|---|---|
Denny Hamlin | 12 |
Kyle Larson | 11 |
Ryan Blaney | 10 |
William Byron | 9 |
Tyler Reddick | 8 |
Christopher Bell | 8 |
Shane van Gisbergen | 6 |
Joey Logano | 5 |
Chase Elliott | 4 |
Ross Chastain | 4 |
Chris Buescher | 4 |
Chase Briscoe | 4 |
Martin Truex Jr. | 2 |
Austin Dillon | 2 |
Austin Cindric | 2 |
Michael McDowell | 1 |
A.J. Allmendinger | 1 |
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 1 |
Harrison Burton | 1 |
Daniel Suarez | 1 |
Brad Keselowski | 1 |
Alex Bowman | 1 |
Josh Berry | 1 |
Bubba Wallace | 1 |
Bobby Allison | 1 |
If you add up those numbers, you actually get 101 victories, not 100, and yes, that 101st victory is indeed listed next to the name Bobby Allison, because the late Bobby Allison saw his win tally increase more recently than Kyle Busch has seen his increase.
In October 2024, just a few weeks before he passed away, NASCAR officially awarded the Hall of Famer with his 85th Cup Series victory, giving him credit for a disputed 1971 race at Bowman Gray Stadium.
Just two other drivers on this list are no longer full-time Cup Series drivers. Martin Truex Jr. retired after the 2024 season, resulting in Chase Briscoe replacing him at Joe Gibbs Racing, and Harrison Burton was replaced in his Wood Brothers Racing ride by Josh Berry. Briscoe and Berry have both found victory lane in their new rides.
For even more added context, there are 25 active full-time Cup Series drivers who have earned at least one victory throughout their careers. The only two a without a win since Busch's 2023 Gateway win are Legacy Motor Club's Erik Jones (September 2022, Darlington Raceway) and Haas Factory Team's Cole Custer (July 2020, Kentucky Speedway), and Custer didn't even compete full-time in the series during the 2023 or 2024 seasons.
Can Busch keep his win drought from reaching 101 with a victory at Bristol Motor Speedway, where he is an eight-time winner of the concrete surface? Tune in to Fox Sports 1 at 3:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, April 12 for live coverage of the Food City 500 from the "Last Great Colosseum". Begin a free trial of FuboTV and don't miss it!
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