It’s been a miserable season for Kyle Busch, right up until last Sunday’s race in New Hampshire. Busch started the race 30th but didn’t make much progress. Busch was two laps down at one point and spun on lap 154. When the race was about to resume after a two-hour, 15-minute rain delay, Busch spun again during the formation lap and couldn’t get the No. 8 Chevrolet back to the race and run.
And so Busch’s day ended, finishing 35th for the second consecutive year and his third in the last four races. Kevin Harvick went so far as to call Busch’s season so far a “disastrous mess” on the “Happy Hour” podcast this week.
Kyle Busch heading in wrong direction during playoff push
“I don’t even want to talk about it anymore, but I have to,” Harvick said. “This is one of those scenarios where things just keep getting worse. They ran it on what I think is one of the best race tracks, in over 30-degree dry conditions, and then he crashed under a caution. If I remember correctly, he rolled twice before the rain came. They were quick, so it’s easy to put yourself in the Christopher Bell scenario.” He spent six or eight weeks there and the results were terrible, but we all knew they were fast in the car.
The problem with Kyle Busch’s situation right now is that for the most part they don’t have the speed in the car. They had some places where they were OK, but they don’t have the speed that they need to have 20 guys in the places they need to recover from all these instances where everything went wrong. If anything goes wrong at this point, it’s going to be a problem for Kyle Busch, because unfortunately it’s going to be a disaster for everyone on this eight-man team.”
With the recent disappointment at New Hampshire, Busch is currently 45 points behind Joey Logano for the 16th and final spot in the playoff field. With no chance of staying in the points, Busch needs a win to maintain his playoff winning streak that dates back to 2012. Unfortunately for Busch, although he is on a 39-race win streak, Victory Lane seems a long way away with eight races remaining in the regular season.
NASCAR insider details 23XI driver lineup projections with third car for 2025
There are rumors that 23XI Racing is interested in purchasing one of Stewart-Haas Racing’s remaining charters. If that happens, 23XI would compete in three NASCAR Cup Series charters for the first time in its short existence.
But who exactly would be at the helm of this third charter? Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports looked at the options, mentioning Riley Herbst and Corey Heim. “Since the team already has a relationship with Monster Energy, it would make sense to add Riley Herbst and his Monster contract,” Pockrass wrote on Wednesday. “Corey Heim is the team’s driver of the future, but it may be another year or two before he’s fully ready for Cup racing.” The 25-year-old Herbst currently drives full-time in the Xfinity Series for SHR.
He has taken the checkered flag in 154 starts and is currently sixth in the points table. Herbst has made six Cup Series starts and finished last season with a career-best ninth place at Talladega. Meanwhile, Heim is one of the sport’s most promising drivers. Just 21-years-old, Heim has set a record this season with three wins in the Craftsman Truck Series and is second in the points standings behind Christian Eckes. Heim has nine Truck Series wins, 10 Xfinity Series wins and two Cup Series starts. He is also a reserve driver for 23XI in the Cup Series.
Denny Hamlin discusses 23XI’s potential interest in third charter
Earlier this month, 23XI co-owner Denny Hamlin mentioned potential interest for 23XI to take on additional charters. Hamlin said the team is focused on reaching an agreement with NASCAR on a new charter agreement before considering investing any more money in the team. “23XI is interested in entering into a charter agreement,” Hamlin said. “At this point, we don’t even have a charter agreement in place for Jan. 1, 2025.” So you can’t buy or sell something that doesn’t exist in our eyes. We have two charter agreements remaining at the end of this year.
And until we sign the charter agreements, that’s all we have. I mean, I didn’t build this facility to maintain a two-car team, but it always has to make economic sense. I’m not going to put myself in a position where I have to pay millions of dollars every year just to keep this running. I personally wouldn’t do that. “So it has to make economic sense and the charterparty has to be better than it is now before I invest any more money.”
