Kyle Busch circles main cause of RCR struggles during 'dismal and heartbreaking' season

Heading into the Chicago Street Race on Sunday, July 7th, Richard Childress Racing has been going through what driver Kyle Busch has described as a dismal and heartbreaking season.

Busch has been one of the drivers who has struggled this season for RCR, having gone 40 races without a win. Now, with Richard Childress stepping into a larger role with him, he’s doing his best to make a playoff spot.

“Richard and I have had some discussions on some stuff and just trying to get better, trying to push in every area that we possibly can, body shop, chassis shop, assembly, all that stuff,” Busch said. “It’s just the competition side, the engineering side, all of that stuff and be making sure that we’re doing all the best we can and understanding the information we have given to us the best we can as there are other Chevy teams that are being able to do a better job than what we are with all of that.”

Kyle Busch is an incredibly successful driver, as a two-time Cup champion. If he did miss the playoffs, it would be the first time he did so since 2012.

Kyle Busch isn’t alone in struggling at RCR this season, though. The entire team is struggling after having won about 10 percent of races in the previous two seasons. This comes as Hendrick Motorsports, another Chevrolet team, is finding plenty of success. It success that RCR is hoping to replicate.

“If we were the best of the Chevy teams and we were struggling and not winning, then it would be a different problem across the board,” Busch said. “But Hendrick seems to be doing just fine, so we’ve got to catch up to at least that.”

Last week was a disaster for Kyle Busch and RCR. He was fourth on an overtime reset before Kyle Larson ran out of fuel. That led to a wreck that Busch got caught in and ended with him finishing 27th in the field at Nashville. Now, he’s only finished one of his last five races.

This season, Kyle Busch has run in the top 15 for just 44 percent of his laps this season. That’s good for 17th among NASCAR Cup Series drivers.

“It’s been so dismal and so heartbreaking that I have a hard time dealing with enough stuff in my life that every Sunday to keep adding to it is getting harder and harder to deal with,” Busch said.

The hope for Kyle Busch and RCR is that these struggles are something they can bounce back from this season. However, if that’s going to happen, it’s best for the team to start on Sunday in Chicago.