Kyle Busch’s Move To Richard Childress Racing May Return Championship Glory

No one really believed that Kyle Busch would actually leave Joe Gibbs Racing following months of failed sponsorship talks, but here we are. The two-time Nascar Cup Series champion is officially a driver for Richard Childress Racing, as he will take over the No. 8 Chevrolet in 2023.

The move is a serious blow to Toyota, which invested in Busch when he joined the OEM in 2008 as a hot-headed young gun. No matter what trouble Busch got himself into, Toyota and Mars Wrigley — his primary sponsor until 2022 — always had his back.

Two championships and dozens of wins later, Busch was waiting for JGR to sign a new primary sponsor and then have a contract extension of his own. But when an unreported company backed out late in the going, it left JGR with little time to find a new multi-million dollar primary sponsor for Busch’s No. 18 car. In return, team owner Joe Gibbs’ grandson Ty Gibbs will take over the car, which moves the No. 54, in 2023.

Now, Busch will focus on his return to Chevrolet, the manufacturer that believed in him from the start. Busch was originally a Hendrick Motorsports driver, one who quickly found success in the Xfinity Series. He was so strong in Xfinity competition that in 2005, the team elevated him to the Cup Series program to replace veteran Terry Labonte.

Meanwhile, RCR has been in rebuilding mode for quite some time. The team has made major changes over the years, starting with naming Dale Earnhardt’s former crew chief Andy Petree as vice president of competition in 2017. They even created an industry-leading command center, which gained much attention for its predictive analytics technology to be used during races.

With wins by Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick in 2022, it enabled Busch to see what they are capable of. Given his vast experience and understanding of how to win championships in the current playoff format, Busch may very well be the driver who returns RCR to its championship glory.

“When Richard and I sat down and we first had discussions of this opportunity, it was easy,” Busch said. “It was a clear-cut choice that this was a place that you could go win races and win championships right out of the gate.

“It just seemed that their overall culture—being around Richard, talking with Austin and having the chance to just look at the whole picture of what’s going on with RCR of late, and I felt like it was a no-brainer.”

Busch will indeed have his work cut out for himself. His career average finish is 13.8, and no full-time RCR driver has reached that mark since Ryan Newman in 2015.

And on top of driving for RCR, his deal is also leading him to swap manufacturers for Kyle Busch Motorsports in the Craftsman Truck Series. His team will be branded by Chevrolet in 2023, a major overhaul with Chase Purdy and Jack Wood joining the team.

Fortunately for Busch, he will not have to worry about finding sponsors at RCR. 3CHI, Alsco, BetMGM, Cheddars and Lenovo have all confirmed they will sponsor the No. 8 car.

And if anyone can bring back a championship trophy to RCR, it will be Busch.