Busch
Kyle Busch straps into his race car at Talladega Superspeedway. (HHP/David Graham)

Busch Voices ‘Hate’ Toward Next Gen Car

It’s year No. 3 of NASCAR’s Next Gen race car and one of NASCAR’s greatest still has plenty to say about it.

After a multi-car pileup on the final lap of Sunday’s Geico 500 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, which engulfed over half the field on the frontstretch, two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch took to X (formerly Twitter) to voice his displeasure with the car.

Busch was among the drivers involved in the wreck, where he was credited with a 26th-place finish despite contending up front for much of the afternoon.

Ride in line=finish where u r. TRY to race for win=finish last.

“I hate these (expletive emoji) cars!!!”

At the time of the last-lap wreck triggered by Michael McDowell spinning in front of the field, Busch was mired mid-pack, with his No. 8 Chevrolet sent aimlessly spinning across the start/finish line. 

Increased aggression and side-by-side action has been a potent combo for late-race accidents on superspeedways. 

Notably, Busch won the spring race at Talladega last year. 

This isn’t the first time Busch has voiced his opinion on the Next Gen car, which was introduced in 2022. 

This year’s season opener at Daytona (Fla.) Int’l Speedway saw Busch speak critically on excessive fuel saving during the race where drivers were racing half-throttle at times, stating he “felt disgraceful” for having to race that way.

A few weeks later at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, the Richard Childress Racing driver spoke sternly on NASCAR’s short track package due to the lack of passing with the Next Gen car.

“I didn’t think we could make it worse, but by golly we did… for me anyways.”

It’s beginning to become a laundry list of items that one of NASCAR’s winningest drivers in Cup Series history would like to see changed with NASCAR’s Cup Series car.