Ever since he joined Richard Childress Racing, Kyle Busch has not been the same competitive driver as he was. In his prime, he was considered one of the best and fastest drivers of his generation. His peak years were when he joined Joe Gibbs Racing, and he rewarded their faith in him with two Cup Series titles. Unfortunately, as all good things must come to an end, so did Busch’s form after the 2022 season.

In 2023, he began a new chapter with Richard Childress Racing. Sadly, things have not gone off to a great start for the veteran driver, despite three wins in his maiden season. The following two seasons witnessed a massive dry spell. But now that Chase is back, something that Busch has experience with, will it finally turn things around for him?

Is 2026 Busch’s comeback year?

One fan certainly feels so. Posting on Reddit, the fan made a “hot take” statement that Kyle Busch could actually make the chase in 2026.

“Initially, people might think that the lack of win and you’re in with the new format will hurt Kyle Busch since the last couple of seasons have been so tumultuous. However, Kyle Busch has been around the cutline battle the last couple of years and each year there have been guys lower than him in points that ended up winning races and leapfrogging him in the points,” the fan said.

This makes a strong point about those drivers who cannot maintain consistency and only rely on one-off wins to punch their ticket into the playoffs. The new format is hell for them. Mid-tier teams and drivers like Austin Dillon and Josh Berry will no longer be able to erase poor seasons with a single surprise win. This automatically brings Busch’s profile up.

Busch thrived under earlier Chase-era and pre-playoff systems, regularly making the postseason through consistency even in years with fewer wins. So if there’s any format that he could make a comeback in, it’s certainly this.

Then, you cannot rule out experience. With 63 Cup wins in over a mammoth 750 races, Busch will have an upper hand in his knowledge of tracks and conditions.

Busch faced a lot of wrecks, too, and a lot of it was due to the panic caused by the playoff drama. With that gone, the chaos will be reduced and he will have better luck and more merit to apply.

Nonetheless, despite all these reasons, fans still say otherwise.

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Fans still not convinced

As one person replied to the thread, saying, “He’ll be a bubble driver somewhere between 10th and 20th in points with no shot of winning the title unless something changes at RCR.”

His RCR curse has settled in many of his fans, where they don’t see him coming back from it, unless something very drastic happens in that camp. Obviously, he will have Jim Pohlman as his crew chief now, so there’s a chance that could change things.

Some also admitted that the win-and-you’re-in format was never going to benefit Busch at all. They said, “I don’t know if this really qualifies as a hot take. But the loss of win-and-you’re-in probably isn’t going to hurt a guy who can’t manage a W much these days. He has the experience needed to wheel a sh-tbox to a top 10 or 15 and salvage points.”

Though he’s got the experience, the fan means that because his form has dipped already for a while now, a format change really won’t make a difference in his case.

There was a bit of optimism, too, but sadly, even that had its limits. As someone put it, “He might make it in but would not make a deep run in the postseason. This is a RCR car we’re talking about here.”

The car is another problem. For once Busch might gain back his form, but what about the speed of his No. 8? Busch has repeatedly complained about the pacing issue.

“Balance of the race cars has been pretty good this year. The driveability feels okay. It’s just the lack of speed. There’s just guys out there…they have more potential. You know, they’re just faster,” Busch said.

Other responses said, “I hate to say it, but time may have caught up to him. I could see him getting another win or two, but I think his days of being a championship contender are over.” They also said, “I don’t think so. He struggled to look like a contender last year.”

People even pointed out the best and the worst-case scenarios. “He’s just not competitive at all. Any race, he’s consistently a 10-20 place driver at best. At worst he crashes or it falls apart. RCR ruined him and unless something changes, he’s gone.”

Few also came to the consensus that Kyle Busch has checked out and is going through the motions. One fan confessed, “I hate to admit it, but kyle is absolutely washed. He has entered the point of his career where he cannot compete anymore and he is just logging his last laps until he retires. Its sad to see this happening.”

Finally, someone said, “Your theory: He is so mid that he will accidentally get in because wins dont guarantee anything. Face it – he is the new Mike Skinner of RCR.”

So as we can see, most fans seem pessimistic about Kyle Busch’s championship prospects. They believe that with that age, his declining performance, and RCR car’s lack of speed, he won’t be able to do it. What do you think? Will he be able to use 2026 to turn things around?