What’s Happening?

Sunday at Pocono was another disastrous day for Richard Childress Racing as Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon were again well out of contention for the win. The team has already made some internal changes with executive Vice President Andy Petree’s retirement, but those within the team have described what they believe the core issue is. Jordan Bianchi reported on a recent episode of “The Teardown” that the issue RCR team members focus on is a lack of attention to detail. How true is that?

• Richard Childress Racing experienced a resurgence early in the Next-Gen era, winning four races in 2022 and getting both cars into the Playoffs. Kyle Busch joined the team in 2023, and he won three of the first 15 races of the season. Since then, RCR has fallen on hard times, as both Busch and Dillon are on pace to have one of if not their worst, seasons in NASCAR.
• It’s been a tough year at RCR, and Andy Petree’s departure will be far from the first change made at the organization. What is the core issue that the new hire, whoever they may be, will have to fix?
• Fans are scrambling for answers about what happened to RCR. They hope to see the correct changes made to give the team the boost it needs.

What Has Happened to RCR?

Bianchi’s report of the lack of “Attention to detail” comes directly from those within the team. As a result, many of those issues likely happen behind the scenes, and we may not see that. However, we can see some of those issues rear their ugly head during the race.

Bianchi highlights the beginning of Pocono, a race Busch was slated to start 24th, but was forced to start at the rear thanks to an oil leak. Busch was unable to move towards the front, and he was eventually caugh up in a crash in stage three thanks to Corey LaJoie turning him.

However, it’s not the first time this season that RCR has dealt with pre-race issues. This was the fourth time this season that Busch and the No. 8 team have dealt with a pre-race penalty.

Texas and Daytona were due to backup cars thanks to crashes Busch was involved in during the weekend. COTA was due to two pre-race inspection failures, but Busch only lost pit stall selection and had a cew member ejected. He came back to finish in the top-10 at both Texas and COTA, but Daytona highlighted another issue, pit road.

Busch led 12 laps in the 2024 Daytona 500, and he seeemed to be well in contention to win his first ‘500’. However, an issue on the pit stop dropped him back, and he employed a conservative strategy to make it to the end, finishing 12th.

Six more pit road penalties have impacted Busch this season. He sped on pit road at Atlanta, slid through his pit box at Las Vegas, had a safety violation at both Bristol and Charlotte respectively, and a commitment line violation at Bristol along with a tire violation at Charlotte. Much of these are down to Busch and his aggression, but his penalties at Las Vegas and Charlotte both dropped him further back than he could have.

However, those penalties even cannot offset just how slow the team has been. Busch currently sits 18th in points, more than 100 points out of the Playoffs, and Austin Dillon (with only three penalties this season compared to Busch’s 11) is 32nd in points with only a pair of top-10s.

Could a lack of attention to detail be the reason for it? Are there little things going on behind the scenes that add up to overall struggles on the track? It’s certaintly possible, even though it’s tough to pinpoint what exactly it is.

RCR seemingly has everything needed to be a top team. They’re a “Tier One” team with a top level talent in Kyle Busch, yet the team struggles to win races. Those within the team though, seem to have an idea how to fix it.

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