Kyle Busch opens up about retirement rumors amid struggles at RCR

Kyle Busch is one month away from turning 40 and has just one year left on his deal with Richard Childress Racing. Busch self-admittedly hasn’t adapted as well to the Next Gen car.

With all that being said, there have been rumors of Busch possibly stepping away from full-time NASCAR Cup Series competition. Busch addressed the speculation on Sunday, revealing that retirement was under consideration in 2022. But Busch still enjoys racing in Cup and is determined to help RCR return to its glory days.

After racing his son Brexton earlier this week, Kyle Busch was asked on FS1's pre-race if he's started to consider retirement. Busch turns 40 in May and has one year left on his current deal at RCR.

Busch says retirement was a "consideration" in 2022 but intimates that he still… pic.twitter.com/bvpQOgeiv5

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“It was a consideration three years ago,” he told Chris Myers of FOX Sports, via Steven Taranto of CBS Sports. “I think daily, you kind of work through those things and thoughts and where you wanna be and what you want to do. When you’re still out here being able to enjoy what you’re doing, working with your team and continuing to try to improve RCR and improve the program and get it to where we all want it and put ourselves in Victory Lane, we’re gonna keep working at it.”

Busch, the two-time Cup champion, has three victories since joining RCR ahead of the 2023 season. Not bad, but context is needed. Busch is currently riding a career-long 63-race winless streak. He last took the checkered flag June 4, 2023, at Gateway. 2024 was arguably his worst season in Cup, as RCR struggled to find speed.

2025 has been better. Busch had one of the fastest cars at COTA and had the lead late before fading in the closing laps. He finished fifth, the best finish for an RCR driver. Busch has already led 58 laps this season and has three top 10s.

Kyle Busch addresses RCR’s struggles: ‘Not due to lack of effort’

But then came the last two Sundays, where Busch finished 33rd and 21st at Las Vegas and Homestead, respectively. Busch and RCR are up and down. The struggles are frustrating. It’s not for a lack of effort, he said Saturday.

“It’s definitely not due to lack of effort, that’s for sure,” Busch said at Martinsville Speedway, via Kelly Crandall of RACER. “Everybody works very hard; I know the long hours and everything that everybody does. The only thing I can really say is, fundamentally, it’s just work smarter, not harder. I think [that] part of it has been better.

“One week at Homestead… we can’t focus [on that derailing our season].”