Two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch has picked up an option in his contract that will keep him at Richard Childress Racing for the 2026 season.
Busch is a winner of 63 Cup races -- more than any other current full-time driver. He also has more NASCAR Xfinity and Truck Series wins than any driver in history The highly successful driver began his Cup career with Hendrick Motorsports, earning Rookie of the Year in 2005.
He joined Joe Gibbs Racing in 2008, racing there through the 2022 season. In a shock to everyone in the garage, the two parties split after 15 seasons together with Busch moving over to RCR for 2023. He won three races in his first season with the team, but 2024 was a struggle. His streak of 19 consecutive seasons with a win came to an end and he enters this weekend's Coca-Cola 600 with a winless streak approaching 70 races. He currently sits 17th in the regular season standings.
Even still, he called his time at RCR "fun but challenging" as he decided to pick up an option on his current contract for next season. He will continue as a teammate to Austin Dillon, who drives the No. 3 RCR Chevrolet.
"I really want to give thanks to Richard and Judy (Childress) and everyone at RCR for another opportunity to be able to go back and drive the 8 car for next season," said Busch in a Saturday press conference. "Certainly echo Richard's statements that there's a lot of things happening behind the scenes. It's a great place to be, a great place to work, a great atmosphere, and a lot of grit and determination with a lot of people up there in Welcome, North Carolina. We have certainly had our battles.
"It's been fun, but yet challenging. It definitely isn't easy. This sport is very, very tough, very, very close and challenging. Being able to score those wins and compete for those each and every week… we know those areas in which we can improve both behind the wheel, on pit road, in engineering, all of the above. This is just the pinnacle of that, and I hope to continue to build on our successes that we've been working towards for the last two years.”
Busch is the second Cup driver to reveal their future plans this weekend with two-time Daytona 500 winner William Byron agreeing to a four-year contract extension with Hendrick Motorsports that will keep him as the driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet through 2029.
