Imago
Image Credits: Imago
Imago
Image Credits: Imago
When the pressure starts building around Kyle Busch, nobody has his back quite like Dale Earnhardt Jr. As questions grow around the two-time NASCAR cup series champion’s struggles with RCR, critics have started focusing on results, salary and whether the partnership still makes sense. But Dale Jr. sees a different story and he made it clear. RCR could regret giving up on Busch too soon.
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Speaking on the latest episode of the Dale Jr. Download, the 51-year-old veteran did not let up on Busch just yet.
“You’re not firing Kyle Busch. You’re just not.,” Dale Jr. said. ” So, I don’t know what they’re paying Kyle, but they could put Jesse Love in the car. Jesse would probably take a much smaller paycheck, right? That would be something the team would look at and say, okay, that’s a positive in the column. But Jesse Love, with all due respect…He will battle for Cup championships. But is he Kyle Busch today? I don’t think so.”
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For a driver like Kyle Busch, losing is never quiet. Every week without a win feels louder when the résumés championships, dominance and their reputation built on dragging cars across victory lane.
That is why the conversation around RCR has shifted from simple frustration to something more complicated, which is value.
As teams and organisations look forward to building a strong future, it is natural to want to tap into young talent. This is exactly where Jesse Love, RCR’s O’Reilly Auto Parts reigning champion comes into the picture. But racing in the cup series takes more than just being a champion in the divisions below it.
Further backing the No.8 driver, Junior ended his argument with a simple yet telling comment.
“I would say Kyle’s record, experience, knowledge, and overall ability still make him the safer choice. Right now, I’d still put Kyle Busch in the car before I’d put Jesse Love in.”
Dale Jr.’s comments were not really about replacing the two-time NASCAR cup series champion; they were about what happens when a team starts viewing performance through the lens of cost.
On paper, a younger and cheaper driver might sound practical. However, in reality moving on from Busch could create a much bigger problem than the one RCR is already trying to solve.
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DAYTONA, FL – AUGUST 23: Kyle Busch 8 Richard Childress Racing Cheddar s Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet during qualifying for the NASCAR, Motorsport, USA Cup Series Coke Zero Sugar 400 race on August 23, 2024 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, FL. Photo by Malcolm Hope/Icon Sportswire AUTO: AUG 23 NASCAR Cup Series Coke Zero Sugar 400 EDITORIAL USE ONLY Icon240823032400
The timing makes the debate impossible to ignore. At 40, every year matters differently. Drivers at that stage are no longer building towards the future, they are racing against it.
Busch knows he still has a talent to win but patience becomes harder when the window begins to narrow. He has entered 2026 carrying one of the longest winless droughts of his career, stretching back to June 2023. While a top 10 Talladega last weekend sort of softens the blow, the frustration hasn’t let up.
That’s exactly why Dale Junior touched directly on the urgency. The No.8 Chevrolet driver doesn’t want to spend his remaining prime years waiting for a rebuilding process to catch up. If the team cannot consistently run near the front, the possibility of looking elsewhere becomes less hypothetical and more realistic.
While recent changes inside the organisation, including a crew chief swap after only 10 races, underline how urgently RCR is searching for answers.
What makes the situation even more delicate is his contract. RCR exercised an option to keep them through the 2026 season, signalling belief in the partnership despite the results.
Last year, Richard Childress has publicly backed Busch saying, “His career is not even close to being over.”
But contracts in NASCAR rarely quit speculation, they simply delayed. Busch remain remains one of the sport’s biggest names and drivers with his resume rarely stop attracting attention. And that is exactly why Dale Junior’s warning fits perfectly.
Cutting costs might save money in the short term but losing Busch could cost RCR something hard harder to replace – credibility, experience and a driver still capable of changing a race with nothing more than instinct and feel behind the wheel.
But as the narrative shifts from driver to internal team changes, Junior did not hesitate to back his ex-crew chief up as he saw him getting replaced by Andy Street.
Dale Jr. relates to Busch’s crew chief swap struggles
Dale Junior has had his fair share of success and downfall is in the NASCAR cup series champion. And why his JR motorsports ex crew chief Jim Pohlman is no longer serving as Busch’s crew chief, he was not removed from RCR entirely.
Instead, he shifted into a leadership position within the competition department of 10 races of disappointing results alongside Busch.
The move reflects the organisation attempt to shake things up without fully parting ways but it also has another layer of changed to a team already searching for stability.
For Junior, the situation has close to home because he understands exactly what a mid-season crew chief which feels like
“I’ve been in this situation, when you make a change mid-season. It is really hard to find positivity and try to figure out how to be hopeful that things are going to improve,” Junior admitted.
They come from personal experience, navigating similar struggles during his own career where crew chief changes often arrived during difficult stretches. That perspective became even more relevant considering Busch’s earlier jab: “it’s never Junior. It’s always the crew chief,” remark aimed at Junior’s own past frustrations.
However, Junior has not ignored the irony. And Busch’s recent history bags set up – from Randal Brunnett to Andy Street to Jim Pohlman and back to Street again, the revolving door of crew chief changes has only made the search for consistency more complicated.
