{"id":638680,"date":"2026-04-30T14:03:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T14:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/638680\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T14:03:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T14:03:10","slug":"nascar-legend-dale-earnhardt-jr-warns-kyle-busch-struggles-wont-be-fixed-by-richard-childress-racing-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/638680\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Jr. Warns Kyle Busch Struggles Won\u2019t Be Fixed by Richard Childress Racing change"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t<img width=\"780\" height=\"439\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1777557790_436_GettyImages-2231548647-e1776299501582.jpg\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" alt=\"Dale Earnhardt Jr. wearing sunglasses and JR Motorsports hat during NASCAR qualifying at Daytona\"   decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>Dale Earnhardt Jr. looks on during qualifying for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Wawa 250 at Daytona International Speedway on August 22, 2025.<\/p>\n<p>Kyle Busch\u2019s struggles are now one of the biggest stories in the <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nascar\/talladega-superspeedway-2026-nascar-cup-series-standings-stats-show-early-pressure-building\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">NASCAR Cup Series<\/a>, and the latest move by <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nascar\/nascar-cup-series-denny-hamlin-kyle-busch-rcr-struggles-2026\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Richard Childress Racing<\/a> has not eased the pressure. The team made a mid-season crew chief change after only 10 races in the 2026 NASCAR season, replacing Jim Pohlman with Andy Street.<\/p>\n<p>The decision comes as Kyle Busch remains in a long winless streak that has passed 100 races. A recent top-10 finish at Talladega Superspeedway offered some relief, but results across the NASCAR season still fall short. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=tuPT0J2QjCo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">NASCAR Legend Dale Earnhardt Jr shared<\/a> his view on the situation, explaining why changes like this rarely solve problems quickly in NASCAR news today.<\/p>\n<p>Kyle Busch\u2019s Struggles Continue as Richard Childress Racing makes a Crew Chief Change<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ovalinsider.com\/nascar-news\/nascar-kyle-busch-dale-earnhardt-jr-crew-chief-switch-warning-1082665\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">Kyle Busch\u2019s struggles<\/a> have continued despite a major change in Richard Childress Racing\u2019s crew chief. Jim Pohlman stepped down after 10 races, with Andy Street, the crew chief, now leading the No. 8 team for the rest of the 2026 NASCAR season.<\/p>\n<p>Before the switch, results showed a clear drop. The team recorded five straight finishes outside the top 20 before a slight recovery at Talladega Superspeedway. That race marked Busch\u2019s first top-10 result of the year, but it did not change the overall trend in NASCAR driver performance.<\/p>\n<p>This Richard Childress Racing crew chief change reflects urgency inside the team. Kyle Busch RCR expectations remain high, but results have not matched the resources available. The organization continues to search for consistency as the NASCAR Cup Series moves forward.<\/p>\n<p>NASCAR Legend Dale Earnhardt Jr Explains Kyle Busch\u2019s Struggles<\/p>\n<p>Dale Earnhardt Jr. addressed Kyle Busch\u2019s struggles on his podcast and offered insight into the midseason crew chief change. He made it clear that situations like this are common but often misunderstood.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s been a lot of radio chatter that\u2019s become public. \u2026 That\u2019s not uncommon. It\u2019s just highlighted because it\u2019s Kyle Busch, and he\u2019s struggling unlike Kyle Busch.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He added context from his own experience managing teams.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve been in this situation when you make a change mid-season. It is really hard to find positivity and try to figure out how to be hopeful that things are going to improve.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Earnhardt Jr also spoke about Jim Pohlman.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJim\u2019s an awesome, awesome guy. Very, very passionate. But now, just a handful of races into the season, it\u2019s not working.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The comments by Kyle Busch on the Dale Earnhardt Jr podcast emphasize an important point in NASCAR news: changing a crew chief does not necessarily lead to improved performance for NASCAR drivers, particularly amid a hectic NASCAR Cup Series schedule.<\/p>\n<p>Kyle Busch\u2019s Winless Streak Continues as Richard Childress Racing Backs Its Driver<\/p>\n<p>Kyle Busch\u2019s winless streak remains a major concern in the 2026 NASCAR season, even with full support from Richard Childress Racing. Busch responded directly to criticism about his form and commitment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s frustrating. Because I feel like I\u2019ve done nothing except positive things in the time in which I\u2019ve been at RCR. The last four years, I\u2019ve done nothing but work as hard as I could possibly do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He pointed to the strength of the team around him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of great people there, and a lot of smart people there as well, in Richard and Mike and all those guys have given us all the resources and tools to go out there and succeed. It\u2019s just not quite come together with the results of winning.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kyle Busch\u2019s 2026 results show a clear gap between effort and outcome. While his first year with Richard Childress Racing brought wins, his performance has declined since then. The recent Talladega Superspeedway finish offers some progress, but the wider NASCAR trend remains unchanged.<\/p>\n<p>As the NASCAR Cup Series continues, Andy Street, the crew chief, will try to build momentum. For now, Kyle Busch\u2019s struggles remain unresolved, and the Richard Childress Racing crew chief change has yet to deliver a turnaround.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/author\/dogliwilberforce\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Dogli Wilberforce<\/a> is a writer covering NASCAR, Formula 1, and the IndyCar Series for Heavy Sports. He has also written for Sportsnaut, FanSided, Total Apex Sports, and Last Word on Sports. Wilberforce focuses on the NASCAR Cup Series, breaking down news, driver stories, and key moments with a clear, fast, and engaging style. His work connects headlines to context, helping readers understand what matters most in the sport. <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/author\/dogliwilberforce\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">More about Dogli Wilberforce<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Dale Earnhardt Jr. looks on during qualifying for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Wawa 250 at Daytona International&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":607486,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,634,82],"class_list":["post-638680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nascar","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=638680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/607486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=638680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=638680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=638680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}