Another week, another setback for Kyle Busch and Richard Childress Racing. Their first season was a success, which saw three wins. But since then, it has all been in limbo. In 2026, after an underwhelming start to the season, the #8 team has somehow gotten worse, to the point that dysfunction is now showing among the team members.
Kyle Busch’s crew chief couldn’t get a hold of his emotions at Bristol
During the Cup race at Bristol, Kyle Busch’s crew chief and his spotter shared a passionate exchange over the radio.
“No fun on the No. 8 team radio right now. ‘I know you’re frustrated. Us yelling at each other during the race isn’t going to help. … We’re in this together,’ Derek Kneeland tells Jim Pohlman. ‘It’s the same shit every week,’ Pohlman responds,” Dustin Albino reported.
No fun on the No. 8 team radio right now.
“I know you’re frustrated. Us yelling at each other during the race isn’t going to help. … We’re in this together” Derek Kneeland tells Jim Pohlman.
“It’s the same shit every week” Pohlman responds.
Oof. #NASCAR
— Dustin Albino (@DustinAlbino) April 12, 2026
In another radio exchange from the race, Busch’s crew chief can be heard screaming about what’s wrong with the car. “What is the frickin problem now?”, he asked Kyle Busch, who claimed he is still not getting it in the corner.
“Why? I don’t get it,” Pohlman responded, to which Busch remained clueless. “I don’t know,” the 2x Cup champion replied.
At Bristol, Busch started the race in 29th place. But despite his previous record at Bristol, a racetrack he has won 22 races in total across the three series, he finished the race in 25th place.
Following getting three top 20 finishes in the first four races, Kyle Busch and team have finished outside the top 20 for three races in a row. But more worryingly, every passing race increases the winless streak for Busch.
His last win in a Cup car came at Gateway in June 2023, which was nearly three years and 100 races ago.
Kyle Busch hoped his crew chief would turn things around at RCR
For the 2026 season, Kyle Busch got Jim Pohlman as his crew chief. Pohlman, who had previously worked with Justin Allgaier at JRM, is known to be a passionate leader with a proven championship-winning pedigree.
Speaking about his new crew chief, Busch said, “He gave me a little bit of personality traits from what I’ve had from others previously. You know, a little mix of a couple that I really enjoyed working with and had some great success with.”
Kyle Busch claimed that Pohlman wasn’t being hired based on his Cup resume. That part would later ‘be seen’. But he hoped his new crew chief would be the person who leads the #8 team ‘in the right direction’ along with the whole of RCR.
So far, that hasn’t happened. With that said, it’ll be interesting to see how the rest of the season turns out for Kyle Busch and the #8 team after the tensions ran high at Bristol.
