NASCAR insiders react to Kyle Busch Xfinity Series broadcast performance, career after racing

Kyle Busch drew rave reviews for his performance in the booth during this past weekend’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It has some yearning for him to make the transition into the television world when he finally decides to hang up his wheel for good.

During the latest episode of The Teardown, NASCAR insiders Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi heaped praise on the two-time Cup Series champion’s showing. Busch’s tendency to call out what he’s seeing in an unfiltered manner is something that Gluck believes will serve him well on the television side of the sport.

“Another part of the Xfinity Series experience that was super impressive to me was Kyle Busch being in the booth. … I mean, Kyle Busch is not ready to be in the booth, but I do think Kyle Busch showed immediately that he has a future in TV when he’s done racing. He should be in a Cup Series booth on Sundays when he steps out of that car. He was awesome,” Gluck proclaimed. “A lot of these drivers have brought so much, but it just felt like he was bringing this — it was these expert takes immediately of what was happening in the car and why drivers are thinking a certain way.

“He also has the Kyle Busch stuff where he doesn’t care what you think. He doesn’t care about hurting anybody’s feelings. He doesn’t care about trying to frame it up nicely. He’s just going in on it. He’s just saying, ‘No, this is how it is,’ and like you could get these glimpses. Imagine if he’s in the cup booth every week and he sees somebody do something or whatever? He’s just going to call it out and not worry about it. I was just really, really impressed by that.”

Moreover, Bianchi shared Gluck’s sentiment about Busch, believing the star wheelman is next in line to make the move from behind the wheel to the broadcast booth. He harkened back to past wheelmen who have had similar success, like Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kevin Harvick, thinking Busch can follow in their footsteps.

“He feels like the next big NASCAR TV star,” Bianchi added. “I’ll say this, we kind of knew this about Dale Earnhardt Jr. — we felt like towards the end of his career, it’s like, ‘Man, he’s going to get in TV booth. He’s done a few cameos. He’s going to be really, really good’ He got in and he did it. Made the transition rather flawlessly, and he’s very good. [Kevin] Harvick was the same way. We knew like, ‘Man, Harvick’s going to — once he gets out of the race car, he’s going to be just lights out.’ I think he’s been very, very good. Kyle Busch feels like that as well. I actually put [Joey] Logano in that mix too.

“But Kyle Busch specifically, because we’re talking about him, he is so good. He’s one of those guys, if I’m a TV network, I’m just handing him a check, handing him a contract, ‘Fill it out. You let us know, and when you’re ever ready to retire, you are just going to slide in over here, because you are an A-lister.’ He’s got the name recognition. He’s got the credentials. He has everything that you want for a main guy in the booth. He’s that guy, without a doubt.”

All told, Kyle Busch still has some good years left in the NASCAR Cup Series, and it remains to be seen if he’s even interested in a full-time broadcasting gig. Still, it’s easy to see why he’ll be courted by networks when he decides to retire, and here’s to hoping he chooses to take someone up on their offer when the time comes.