Kyle Busch takes shot at Dale Earnhardt Jr. as crew chief for Connor Zilisch at Pocono

One of the coolest stories of the week is Dale Earnhardt Jr. acting as crew chief for Connor Zilisch. Kyle Busch is skeptical, to say the least. The NASCAR veteran thinks that the whole situation is more of a publicity stunt than anything, comments he later attempted to walk back.

With Connor Zilisch’s crew chief getting a suspension for the week for a post-race penalty from Nashville, Dale Jr. is on the pit box. Move over, Mardy Lindley, this team is Dale’s now!

However, it might not be all it appears to be. Kyle Busch was asked about his former rival taking the spot on the pit box. Busch was less than enthused about it.

“It’s all publicity, but spin it how you want it,” Busch told Dalton Hopkins of Frontstretch. “He’s just going to be a warm body sitting on top of the box. You know, they’ve got enough stuff from the shop and enough technology these days of being able to have the crew chief still involved. So, um, I could say I could do the same thing with one of my truck teams, but the guys at the shop would be the ones handling it.

“Still, great, you know, cool. Eyeballs, and putting some attention on their team, and stuff like that. I mean, JRM is one of the top two, three teams in the Xfinity Series. So, let the best man win.”

When asked if he would like to crew chief in the future, Kyle Busch was clear: absolutely not. He’s got enough of that with his son Brexton.

“Crew chiefing? No, no,” Busch said. “I already crew chief enough with a 10-year-old driver, and it’s enough of a headache.”

After receiving more than a fair share of backlash over his comments, Busch attempted to walk back his previous statement on what he called a publicity stunt by Dale Jr.

“This has nothing to do with any animosity towards Dale Jr. I’m referencing how silly the suspensions for crew chiefs are these days with all the technology they have to stay in contact with their teams,” said Busch via X. “I’d say the same thing if [Jeff Gordon] went on a [Hendrick Motor Sports] box as a crew chief.”

Kyle Busch needs things to go right on Sunday

Now, I won’t harp on Kyle Busch and his skepticism over the Dale Earnhardt Jr. situation too much. Busch is honest and open with his media comments at this point in his career. He isn’t going to sugarcoat things. But COME ON! Dale Jr. as a crew chief, symbolic or not, is badass!

Of course, Busch is more focused on having a good race weekend. He needs a top-10 finish. A top-5 would go a long way. A win? That would completely change the outlook on this season and Busch’s short time at RCR to this point.

We know that Busch is returning to RCR for 2026. But how much longer can he keep riding around at these tracks where he should be competing for wins? Eventually, Childress has to bring Busch a car that can handle his racing style. If they can’t do that at this point in the partnership, then it might not ever come.

Kyle Busch doesn’t have a lot of prime years left in his career. Getting back to his winning ways sooner rather than later is almost a must for Busch. Could Pocono be the weekend?