NASCAR insiders react to underwhelming season debut for Kyle Busch at Clash

Kyle Busch largely had a race to forget in Sunday’s Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium.

Busch, who started 13th in the 200-lap feature, was never competitive at any point in the race. He went for a spin on Lap 21 and never found his way inside the top 10. The Athletic‘s Jordan Bianchi and Jeff Gluck were in Winston-Salem for the event and discussed Busch’s struggles during “The Teardown” podcast.

Bianchi said that Busch being a non-factor was “surprising.”

“Kyle Busch — it was a struggle for him,” Bianchi said. “… He got knocked out of the way, just really not a — like there was no point this weekend where he jumped out and you were like, ‘Oh, Kyle Busch is here.’ And so, that was certainly surprising.”

Kyle Busch off to poor start to 2025 NASCAR season

Busch came into the 2025 season hoping performances like this were in the past. The two-time Cup Series champion missed the playoffs last season for the first time since 2012 and went winless for the first time in his 20-year Cup career. Busch last got to Victory Lane at World Wide Technology Raceway on June 4, 2023 — 57 races ago.

While The Clash is just an exhibition, Busch still found himself frustrated with his No. 8 Chevrolet. At one point during the race, Busch came out on the team radio noting he “can’t f***ing turn.”

“The overall event at Bowman Gray Stadium was a good one. But it wasn’t the result we wanted for our zone Chevrolet team. At the start of the feature, the car was plowing tight and wouldn’t turn,” Busch said after the race, via Dustin Long of NBC Sports. “We got spun around and ended up going two laps down before the halfway break.

“[Crew chief] Randall [Burnett] and the No. 8 guys made adjustments during the break. And when we went back green, it was the best the car had felt. It was doing what it needed to do. With the help of a couple cautions, we got back on the lead lap and worked our way up to 15th at the checkered.”