Kyle Busch to RCR

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Jorge De Guzman said:
I’m not sure about that. Harvick was contending for championships when he was driving at RCR and even sparred a few times with Prime JJ in the mid 2000’s when he was at his zenith in the 48. I thought Harvick had good shots to win The Chase in 2006,10, and 11. I have the utmost confidence Austin Dillon wouldn’t achieve even a quarter of that if he was driving the 29 in that time frame. I think Austin is a solid mid pack driver that IF things break extremely right when he has a fast race car, he can contend for wins on that day. And there’s no shame in that, he’s had a solid career with a few Crown Jewel wins. But to call him underrated, I don’t agree with that.
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Well yeah he's not prime Harvick. I think RCR had a stronger program during Harvick's time in the 29 even though they'd struggle in qualifying they were a monster in racetrim on raceday. That just seemed to be the perfect fit for Harvick during that time, and then the move to the 4 car just took everything up a notch performance wise for that championship season.

All I know is that Austin kicked the crap out of the field at Richmond and then backed it up the following year, that's a racer's track no accidents there, he's had some big moment showing's where it's been out of the blue impressive, and on tough tracks. So RCR is capable of bringing a fast racecar? if RCR is as slow as we're saying they are, why is AD not getting more credit sometimes? 12th at Vegas outfinishing KB by 16 spots. He's a consistent performer with an occasional high ceiling imo.

Reddick also had a good multi-win season in the 8 car.

Most of my inquiry revolves around is RCR actually slow? and if so why? I'm not sure that they are, I think Kyle Busch is sundowning in this car tbh.
 
KB doesn't seem as motivated at RCR as he was at JGR, plus he's admitted to not knowing how to communicate what changes the new car needs on race weekend. As a fan now that he's back in a Chevy, I'm holding out hope the lower downforce/more horsepower is his saving grace.
 
Turtle84 said:
Well yeah he's not prime Harvick. I think RCR had a stronger program during Harvick's time in the 29 even though they'd struggle in qualifying they were a monster in racetrim on raceday. That just seemed to be the perfect fit for Harvick during that time, and then the move to the 4 car just took everything up a notch performance wise for that championship season.

All I know is that Austin kicked the crap out of the field at Richmond and then backed it up the following year, that's a racer's track no accidents there, he's had some big moment showing's where it's been out of the blue impressive, and on tough tracks. So RCR is capable of bringing a fast racecar? if RCR is as slow as we're saying they are, why is AD not getting more credit sometimes? 12th at Vegas outfinishing KB by 16 spots. He's a consistent performer with an occasional high ceiling imo.

Reddick also had a good multi-win season in the 8 car.

Most of my inquiry revolves around is RCR actually slow? and if so why? I'm not sure that they are, I think Kyle Busch is sundowning in this car tbh.
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My point being even if RCR was operating at the level they were during prime Harvick, Austin Dillon isn’t THAT guy. So he’s fast at Richmond, that’s fantastic. He’s also fast on super speedways and at Texas. If you’re a serious organization and you’re touting Austin Dillon as your franchise driver to win the championship, then either you’re joking or delusional. The body of work over the last 13 years of his cup career supports this. His high ceiling? He’s mid 30’s now, there is no high ceiling. He is what he is, a solid cup vet that when things break right on a certain day he can win and has shown that in the past. It doesn’t matter if the RCR program is good, middle of the pack or elite, he’s not an elite Cup talent driver.
 
Jorge De Guzman said:
My point being even if RCR was operating at the level they were during prime Harvick, Austin Dillon isn’t THAT guy. So he’s fast at Richmond, that’s fantastic. He’s also fast on super speedways and at Texas. If you’re a serious organization and you’re touting Austin Dillon as your franchise driver to win the championship, then either you’re joking or delusional. The body of work over the last 13 years of his cup career supports this. His high ceiling? He’s mid 30’s now, there is no high ceiling. He is what he is, a solid cup vet that when things break right on a certain day he can win and has shown that in the past. It doesn’t matter if the RCR program is good, middle of the pack or elite, he’s not an elite Cup talent driver.
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Just my opinion but I don't think Austin Dillion outperforms Kyle Busch in equal cars.

I don't think that Austin Dillion is a joke or pathetic, he performs very well at times. I just wouldn't equate him to being as good as Busch.
In fairness Kyle isn't what he used to be either, but I still think he has more in the tank than Dillion.

A lot of speculation.... based on the personalities and history: my guess is that Kyle Busch has really pissed off someone at RCR, maybe even Pop Pop himself. I don't think they are intentionally sabatoging him but the enthusiasm to go the extra mile for him could have been lost somewhere along the way.

He started out a lot better (in 2023) than he is now at RCR. He won three times in his first 15 starts with them. But all of the wins occurred almost three years ago, the last one in early June 2023.
The consistency is also gone, he also has missed the playoffs of sixteen drivers for the last two seasons.

He may not like the current Gen-7 car, but he did win those three races with RCR in 2023 with the Gen-7.
He is almost 41 now; that could be a factor, but I wouldn't expect such a drastic fall-off.
 
I like reading people's well thought out reasoning and everyone has valid points.
Something I learned later in life is that everyone ages different and Nascar takes a toll at different times. DE at 49 was as good as any driver approaching 40 and better than most during his career.
One thing I learned that money equals comfort and comfort can lesson drive. I think Kyle has reached his limit and his son's career is more important to him. He will hang on as long as the money keeps coming but that is his only reason to continue.
 
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