We are in the fourth year of the Next-Gen, with no hint of improvement. Or at least that’s what ‘Rowdy’-less Kyle Busch thinks. Evidently stuck in a never-ending winless loop that is currently spanning through 80 races, it’s no secret that the Richard Childress Racing driver is falling behind on the same tracks he once dominated, leaving him with nothing but complaints and anger.

The veteran racer’s temper first shone through in April last year, when a multi-car pileup at Talladega compelled him to hop into X. “Ride in line=finish where u r. TRY to race for win=finish last. I hate these (expletive emoji) cars!!!” Just the next month, at Darlington (where he had finished P27), Busch complained about “many more balance issues” and “aero deficiencies” that leave a racer confused during traffic. “We’re literally all grasping at half of a tenth of a second to be the best car on the racetrack,” he had mentioned. Notably, the racer had broken a 19-year tradition of winning at least one race a season last year. In 2025, on the other hand, he’s had sporadic success, clinching 7 top tens and 2 top fives. Even in the latest Iowa Corn 350 race, Busch could only wheel from 37th place to a meager 20th-place finish—something that fans have definitely taken notice of.

In a Reddit post on August 7, one social media user brought forth an interesting take, noting just how successful some drivers (read: William Byron, who’s won a staggering 13 races in the Next Gen era) have in comparison to others. “My pick for who I think has benefited the most since the introduction of the next gen car in 2022 is no doubt William Byron,” the post began.

“This car alone, with the timing of Byron approaching his prime, has elevated Byron Out of the shadow of Eliott and Larson in the last few years, as he has the second most wins in this car and has mastered probably being the best around team in terms of mastering every track style and finds creative ways to take advantage of the natural chaos of this car unlike his teammates can ironically,” it further read, mentioning how the racer has literally won two of the four Daytona 500s since 2022. “And he might have inherited Jimmy’s Golden Horseshoe?”

At the same time, however, the fan reflected on Kyle Busch’s misery: “Busch is questionable whether it’s just the equipment, natural career/age fall off, all combined with the hard to drive next gen car.” And the misses are scattered across the season.

In Kansas this year, a track where Busch owns two victories, Busch had to start from 35th place after damage during qualifying. He could not wheel his No. 8 Chevy past P21 in the final race. During that race, Busch had a telling outburst, squarely blaming the Next-Gen car. “Unf—– believable. This car sucks so bad. Thank you, NASCAR.” Then, Dover Motor Speedway is another place where Busch used to dominate, owning three victories at the Delaware track. While his efforts were completely visible about fetching a top-five, Busch could not finish past 11th. This prompted his team owner to lament, “We are in trouble.”

The fans agree as well, eager to finally find the true reason for Kyle Busch’s downfall.

NASCAR fans shake their heads

Even when William Byron ran half-throttle to save fuel, his rivals could not overtake him. This situation set off alarm bells in the NASCAR garage, with veterans calling out the Next-Gen car’s continuing faults. Dale Earnhardt Jr. also jumped into the conversation, calling the car a travesty to the sport’s tradition. And Kyle Busch occupies a huge part of that tradition – that is why his performance has dipped as well. That is what a fan agreed with: “I’d say Kyle Busch has hands down suffered the worst since changing to the next gen. I know rcr isn’t great but they were doing ok before the next gen.” Somebody else referred to Shane van Gisbergen’s advantage, as the Kiwi speedster has admitted to the Next-Gen’s similarity with his home arena’s Supercars. The fan wrote, “Benefit – SVG…Detriment – Kyle Busch.”

Others threw Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott in the same pit. Both Cup Series champions grew up racing in similar ways – racing Late Models in the country. Hence, one fan said both have borne the brunt of the Next-Gen: “Def hurt Chase and KFB bad. they both had similar driving styles.” Somebody else brought Kyle Larson and Alex Bowman into the mix as well. Larson won 10 races in 2021, and since then, has suffered multiple DNFs. Bowman’s winning streak has also suffered blows. So somebody wrote about who has been the most afflicted: “All of the Hendrick cars except Byron. And Kyle Busch.”

Chase Elliott had been one of the vocal opponents of the Next-Gen back in 2022. He brought up power steering problems and tire issues back then. His stats also took a hit after 2022, going winless in 2023 and putting up a single-win season in 2024. So one fan wrote, “Chase has suffered greatly on roadcourses.”

Clearly, the Next-Gen dilemma is plaguing Kyle Busch and his rivals. With fans and veterans clamoring for a change, we can only wait and see if NASCAR takes action or not.