- After being spun on lap 312 by Riley Herbst, Kyle Busch settled the score.
- Frustrations boiled over in No. 8 camp between crew chief and spotter.
- Busch’s winless streak has surpassed 100 races and first eight starts of 2026.
The NASCAR Cup Series’ winningest active driver is stuck in one of the worst slumps of his career; that’s been Kyle Busch’s 2026 story so far. Heading into Bristol Motor Speedway, the Richard Childress Racing driver had a chip on his shoulder, with a reputation to defend at a track where he has won eight times.
Even amid a 100-plus race winless streak, the two-time champion kept his hopes, looking to claw back ground and steady his spot in the standings. Then came Riley Herbst.
In the closing stages of the 500-lap feature, the 23XI Racing driver sent Busch spinning, snuffing out any hopes the No. 8 camp had. What followed was vintage “Rowdy.” With a handful of laps remaining, the two-time Cup champion struck back in fury, turning Herbst’s day from a P4 start into a mid-pack finish, a cold reminder to the field: mess with the bull, and the horns follow.
Kyle Busch settles the score at Bristol as tempers boil over on the radio
On a venue long touted as “The Last Great Colosseum,” Sunday’s Food City 500 didn’t deviate from the usual short track derby script, though with limited dramatic spills. But the most significant one had severe implications.
On lap 312, the spark was lit when the No. 35 Toyota Camry of Herbst leaned into Busch’s rear bumper and shoved the No. 8 Chevrolet out of the groove off Turn 4. Busch spun, collecting Erik Jones and Christopher Bell in the process. Although all drivers managed to continue, the damage, both on track and emotionally, had already been done.
Busch was battling a loose race car that refused to cooperate, and the frustration quickly spilled over onto the team radio. Crew chief Jim Pohlman’s patience wore thin as adjustments failed to deliver results.
“What is the fricking problem now? Is the thing sideways or is it plowing?” Pohlman snapped. “What the f**k does it look like!?” Spotter Derek Kneeland tried to offer clarity, but the answers weren’t coming.
“Why? I don’t get it! We tighten it up, and why can’t it get in the f***in’ corner!?” Pohlman continued, exasperated. “I don’t know. I’ve got a headset on, not a helmet,” Kneeland replied, attempting to keep things grounded.
As the car continued to struggle, the frustration only deepened. “We keep tightening it up, and we keep going slower!” Pohlman added, summing up a day where nothing seemed to click.
The tension reached a point where Kneeland had to step in and urge the team to regroup. “Listen, I know you’re frustrated. I don’t like running 30th either. But us yelling at each other during the race isn’t going to help. We’ve got to keep it together here.”
On the other hand, an eerie silence from Busch’s side hinted at what was coming. With just four laps remaining, the opportunity presented itself. Busch closed in on Herbst and returned the favour, planting his front bumper into the back of the No. 35 Toyota. The contact sent Herbst sideways, spinning into Turn 1, and backed it into the wall.
It was a typical “Rowdy” response, just without the results to back it up.
Subsequently, Herbst (27), despite rolling from P4, what could have been a statement finish turned into a mid-pack result at 21st. Busch (40), meanwhile, made his own statement but came home four places down from Herbst at P25.
So close, yet so far: Busch’s winless streak tells a deeper story
The Bristol incident might have caught headlines, but it also served as a snapshot of a bigger, more troubling reality for Busch and the No. 8 team.
Since WWT Gateway 2023, Busch hasn’t won a single race. His winless streak has now crossed the 100-race mark, a staggering statistic for a driver who once found Victory Lane with routine ease. Between 2005 and 2023, the Las Vegas native won at least one race every season. Now, nearly three years have passed since his last triumph.
And yet, the drought hasn’t been for a lack of opportunity.
Since that last win, Busch has come agonisingly close to the victory lane on multiple occasions. In 2024, there have been seven finishes of second or third place, including near-misses at Atlanta, Daytona, and Darlington. At Kansas Speedway, he spun from the lead.
In the following season, he dominated only to walk away empty-handed at COTA. In total, he has led 381 laps during this stretch, further highlighting just how close he has been.
But in 2026, the situation has gone from bad to worse. Through the opening eight races of the season, the No. 8 driver has yet to record a single top-10 finish. His best result stands at 12th, and Bristol marked his fourth consecutive finish outside the top 20.
That said, the 2026 season did begin with a glimmer of hope. The veteran captured his first-ever Daytona 500 pole, a moment that briefly reignited expectations within the RCR camp. But since then, the scene has remained awry.
Mechanical struggles, poor car handling, and on-track incidents have all played a role in keeping Busch out of contention. Even at Bristol, a track where he once dominated and owns eight Cup victories, the results have been underwhelming in the Next Gen era. In fact, excluding his Bristol Dirt win in 2022, he has yet to finish higher than 14th at the track in recent years.
For now, Busch remains in a fight not just against the field, but against circumstance itself.
