Can Kyle Busch 'Stop the Bleeding' in 2024 NASCAR Season at Nashville?

LEBANON — After Kyle Busch’s first victory at Nashville Superspeedway, he acted like a rock star when he destroyed a Les Paul trophy guitar after winning the Federated Auto Parts 300 on June 7, 2009.

Earlier this week, Fox NASCAR analyst Clint Bowyer said Busch, a two-time NASCAR Cup champion, needs to reestablish his rockstar status.

Busch has a 38-race winless streak heading into Sunday’s Ally 400 Cup race at Nashville Superspeedway (2:30 p.m. CT, NBC). His last victory dates back to June 4, 2023 in Illinois.

He is 19th in the NASCAR standings with two top 5s this season and five top 10s.

Asked Saturday what would have to happen for him to regain his lofty status, Busch said: “Fast cars cure everything. Being able to have confidence and go out there and run hard and fast and put myself in a position to win, that’s it. I’ll definitely make a lot of wins and make everybody happy.”

Busch’s frustrations continued last week in New Hampshire. He struggled for most of the first half of USA TODAY 301 before falling two rounds in.

While trying to move back forward, Busch spun around the first turn and slid into the wall. Later in the race, Busch got stuck with several drivers at Turn 2, spun and hit the inside retaining wall.

“I lifted some weight early and just rolled easy into the turn and he slid three lanes and came onto the old asphalt and spun sideways and I tried to correct him to chase him and he just spun and hung the other way and spit me into the fence,” Busch said. “That’s exactly the story (of his whole season).”

Busch said he thinks he still has a chance to force his way into the top 16 and secure a playoff spot this season.

“The last three weeks definitely haven’t helped, it’s been a huge setback,” Busch said. “We just have to stop the bleeding. I think I’ve been saying that for six months and it hasn’t stopped. And last week it came out pretty hard.”

Contact Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on X @MikeOrganWriter.com.