Kevin Harvick's Happy Hour presented by NASCAR on FOX - Kyle Busch Opens Up To Kevin Harvick About His Winless Streak & Why He’s Still Confident

Episode Date: March 19, 2026

Kyle Busch opens up about racing in his hometown of Las Vegas, his ongoing winless streak with Richard Childress Racing, his evolution as a driver in the Next Gen era, and where he stands at this stage of his NASCAR career. On this episode of Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour, Kevin Harvick sits down with Busch to discuss what it means to race in Las Vegas, how his season has unfolded so far, the challenges he's faced during tough stretch, winning the pole for the Daytona 500, becoming an expert on the Next Gen car, mentoring younger drivers, and how his mindset and approach have changed as he’s gotten older in one of the most candid conversations of the season. 0:00 - Intro 0:38 - Kyle Busch Joins The Show! 2:01 - Pressure Racing In Vegas 5:07 - Working With Jim Pohlman 10:38 - Understanding The Car 12:58 - Approach To Being A Team Leader 20:58 - Watching Brexton Busch Race 23:30 - Racing Through Generations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Am I being held back a little bit? Maybe. Am I holding the team back at sometimes? Yes, if you don't know by going back and re-watching, then you're an idiot. I feel like losing has made you more popular. Do you feel like that? Yes, the fans are now to the point where they're like, how could this guy not have won a race in however many races by now, you know? To take him kicking your ass at some point.

It's gonna happen. I mean, that's fine. It sucks. That's awful. That's how it's supposed to be. It is awful. You know? Kyle, thanks for taking the time.

We figured we would get set up out in the middle of the desert so that you felt at home. Yes. Did we do okay? Very much at home. Yeah, I love the desert atmosphere. I'm from Las Vegas, so being a little bit of a desert rat myself, this puts me right back into feeling right at home.

When you were a kid, did you spend much time in the desert, like on side-by-sides, four-wheelers, anything? Not a whole lot, maybe a little bit. We had the old Joe's Honda back in the day, the three-wheeler. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I ended up on my side maybe a. more than enough times with that one. But it wasn't until I'd made it NASCAR that then I got the four-wheelers and the side-by-sides and the dune buggies and all that stuff. And we went out

and did the duneing thing with Biffle all the time, which was always a great time. But yeah, that came after the fact because all the stuff that we did growing up was working in the garage, working on our race cars, getting race cars ready to go and focusing on that and not just going to play. Yeah. Well, you come back to Vegas twice a year now. How much time do you actually get to spend in Vegas? I mean, do you like going home or is it just a pain in the butt? It's just another race. Yeah.

You know, like, yeah, we've got some friends in Vegas and stuff. When we come back to town or some sweet spots that we like to go eat at and everything, you know, see some of the friends that I grew up with. But other than that, it's just, you know, it's another race on the circuit. We come in, you know, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, we go right back out, you know, so sort of that deal. When you go to Vegas, you've had a lot of success at the Speedway. You know, you've gone and been able to win races there. You've gone and over the past couple years, you're getting close to approaching a hundred race, win in the street. What kind of pressure does it put on when you go back to Vegas?

Because you have had success there. You know what it takes. It's a very unique racetrack. Yeah, it's a fun racetrack. I mean, my first laps there were back on the old configuration back in the trucks in 2001. Nice and flat. Yeah, it was flatter, wider, all that, you know. And then they did the repave and all that.

sort of stuff and it took me a little bit I mean we ran second in the first Xfinity race there on the new asphalt and you know it took like we were always fast in the Gibbs cars and just took me a while to finally break through of being able to get a win at Vegas you know I always felt like I went there and put way too much emphasis and way too much pressure on winning in your hometown that it just never seemed to come to fruition so finally I kind of came up with the mindset of just you know what just just race the race you know just let it play out let it come to you you're in really good stuff like it's gonna

happen and then we want a couple of Xfinity I think I won a cup race actually before than winning a couple more Xfinity races. But then obviously the truck domination with Cowbush Motorsports there and winning a ton of times in those. When you go to Las Vegas and you know you've had that success and you guys have started this year with a new car,

I guess my first question is, what's the balance of the new car? You started off the year with the Daytona 500 pole. Obviously that's a big moment. Because of the preparation, new crew chief, everything that you have going, What's the, we talk a lot about the balance of the race car because in my opinion the Gen 7 car is so hard to figure the balance and then you throw in a new body.

What's been the differences in the body so far and what you guys have fought compared to what you thought you were gonna fight? Well, I feel like the emphasis obviously is always trying to make it better, right? And so it's a better piece than the previous one. It's really close to the Ford, really close to the Toyota. We're all in a tighter box now than I feel like we were before.

And so obviously with the reduced drag and the increased down force, you try to get closer closer on both of those, that we've always been really good qualifiers at speedways and we qualify on the pole. But what was really cool about that with Jim Pullman coming on board, new crew chief this year, he comes in the shop and he's doing all of his things that he knows how to make. And of course, RCR always knows how to build really fast speedway cars. So his little tweaks to that. And we'd always qualify top five, top eight, you know, and then he gets in there and he's like, we're going for the pole. We're making this thing a bullet. We're going for the

pole in Daytona. I'm like, yeah, yeah, whatever. I've heard this 22 years in a row. And we qualified 30th, you know. Right. But then you sit on the pole and it's like, okay, this guy knows what he's doing. This guy knows what he's talking about. We'll give you, we'll give you some cloud on that, you know. And so that was really special to see that he backed up his word. And I think that also gives a little bit of self-indication for him, a little bit more validation within the team, that everybody's like, okay, you know, this, we're doing the right things and we're going the right way for the speedway stuff. And now getting into the mix of the downforce stuff, I think it's still too early to tell on what all we have as far as the Chevrolet,

goes, but it's got to be better than what we had. So what's been the difference with Jim? Like what's the difference in his approach and the things that he does compared to how you guys have functioned last year and what's his attitude like and what do you like so far about just the way that he approaches things? His attitude is very different. He's a very methodical and go-getter and no bullshit kind of guy. Like he will say it straight and, you know, tell you if you're doing something wrong, tell

you if he's doing something wrong and you know he's he's admitted a couple of things so far this year where he's like I'm still learning this car like you know we went we went down a different path at Daytona for the race and we got really loose and then we kind of stayed more true to our guns of what we've ran the past couple times at Atlanta and we were a little bit tight the past couple times and we were a little bit tight again and he was like I should have went with my gut on freeing you up and having you you turn the corner better that wasn't the reason why we crashed out or anything but then we go to Dakota and we know that we had a really fast race car at Cota the year before And like the whole Chevy group kind of copied what the eight car had.

And I wouldn't say that anybody was really outrageously spectacular from the Chevy group, but we were all really close on top of one another. And it just seemed like everybody was the same and hard to get through traffic. And we had a top eight car. I figure we would have a sixth if we didn't have some of the mixups there at the end of the race and having to go wide on the restart and turn one where the spin was and stuff. But, you know, Jim's been doing a really good job leading the team, getting people, you know, pulling them in the right direction, back at the shop, I feel like,

is a big proponent of where he comes into play because he has such a big voice and, you know, such a big say of trying to make sure that he's leading the group the way that it needs to be led. Yeah. When Jim came and, you know, we went to the Gen 7 car, you had two years in it, when you guys sat down, all right, what did you say, hey, Jim, this is what I need the car to do better? because it's, I mean, it's a beast to figure out exactly what it needs to. And the things that you've done in the past, you always, and still do have great car control and can drive past the capability of the car, which is something that's really difficult to do with this car.

So what was the conversation like with Jim to say, this is what we need to focus on to make me better? It's very popular in all my post-race notes for the past two years is more right-rear-stick. More right-rear-stick. More right-rear stick. You know, it was easy with the old car. you just say, hey, lower the track bar and boom, that gives you the rear grip that you need. Because I'm a guy that, yes, I like to lean on the right front or I like to drive off the right front, but I like to lean on the right rear and, you know, do things with the steering wheel, with the pedals and all that,

to have me make the car turn where I can just mash the gas and drive off the corner. Yeah. Well, now, like, any time I ever try to do that with this current generation race car, I'm spun around backwards because I overtrust the right rear and it's not there and it's not stuck for me. So trying to figure those things out of being able to try to get the right amount of right rear lateral grip and the race car that you need to be able to feel the feel that I'm wanting to be stuck so I can hammer the car in the corners and make the speed that I used to make. Yeah. Well, it's a difficult combination to get the balance of it of it all right. And it's just a it's a very unique car to drive. You've got a whole bunch of management changes. And I think my favorite question that I wrote down here today is, how much have you had to deal with Mike Dillon? A lot or a little bit? A lot or a little bit?

A lot or a little bit? Medium. You know, when we were going through the whole crew chief change and interviewing crew chiefs and stuff like that, Mike Dylan was right there. He was sort of running point on that and he was in all the interviews and the things of the different guys that we talked to and stuff. So having really good conversations with him, you know, he's one that Dylan is one that will, he'll talk a lot and he'll kind of talk in circles. But once he comes back through and makes his point, you know, he's, he's one that Dylan is one that will, he'll talk a lot and he'll talk in circles. But once he comes back through and makes his point, you know, he's. You know, you're like, yeah, he's right.

Like, I get it, you know. So it just takes him a little while to get there. Yeah. So how is Richard right now? You know, look, I've been through a lot of the things that you've been through with this organization. When you're trying to find that last little bit of speed to put yourself back on top. And when I go back and think about those years, Richard, I mean, he gets tired of it. And he gets to a point where he's like, he's just mad at everybody and he just comes in and starts dropping the hammer on things.

Is he to that point? I don't know if he's to that point, really, but, you know, obviously with Mike Verlander coming in, new president, I feel like Verlander's taking a lot of that load. I feel like Dylan coming on and being a part of that as well, too. I feel like there's a more managerial piece to the team where Richard's still in there. He's still around. He still wants to be involved. He still wants to. It's his company, right?

And he needs to have a good feeling and a good understanding of people and where they're at and who's doing what and what's happening and making the race cars go better. And, you know, Richard's sort of the guy where I feel like he, he still thinks it's easy where it's one thing. We're just missing one thing. And I'm like, we're missing about 10 little things. You know, it's the areas now that you're playing within of like the thousands of an inch into this and to that. But it's 10 of those thousands that then will get you the whole thing of what you're looking for. And it's just not quite as simple as, you know, the years prior. So the other strength that I always admired about the things that you did, whether it was in the truck or the O'Reilly car or the Cup car, was you knew everything about it.

Yeah. So what is your role in understanding the car now in the engineering project that this whole thing is, how much are you involved in that now and trying to understand what springs and shocks and sway bars and all the things that need to happen with this car? in this stage of your career, are you involved in now? You know. Are you a sim guy too? Yeah, well, I'm only a sim guy because I'm told to be a sim guy. Okay. I could throw that thing in the trash.

Like, I don't, it's me being around all these racetracks as much as I've been there. Like, I know what it takes to go fast when we get there. And being able to find that feel on sim, you're not going to find it on sim and show up to the racetrack and have that feel be exactly what you need it to be. So, but as far as the understanding of the race car, like, yeah, Yeah, when I hear the engineers talk and the crew chiefs talk about changes into this and to that, I'm like, you know, I think back to prior races where I'm like, you know, we went bigger on bar or we put more bar load in or we did this or we did that or, hey, remember when we ran high roll center in the back of the race car and like that was sort of the feel that I'm looking for. But, you know, there's, I went back to in Phoenix, for instance, when we were in practice, I was like, I need more exited to. Like, that's, to me, it's as simple as dropping the track bar. Well, we don't have that adjustment anymore. But that's, that. That's the adjustment that I seem to lack of like, what is that?

I haven't found that adjustment in this race car to understand, like, yes, that's what I need. Like, you try softer on the springs. Now your platform gets all floppy. The car gets too roly. You try to go stiffer, and then it just shears because it's too stiff and it's too rigid, and it doesn't grip the racetrack. So there's so many, like, it's just so difficult to find the exact package of what exactly you're looking for and knowing that that setup is what you need.

For instance, like Austin Dillon goes to Richmond, and he found a Richmond setup that literally has worked for two years in a row. Don't change a thing. Just race it. And we tried it last year. And yeah, I was net better. Like, I was faster with it. But I blow the right rear tire off of it way quicker than Austin because I'm a guy that likes to have the right rear to lean on to punish it to then be able to make my speed that way. And Austin will be more of like a slick track dirt guy where he'll just kind of be like putting it right on the edge and just, you know, feeding it throttle and being under control with it that way.

and just being smoother with it. And so that's how he makes his speed. So who is Kyle Bush today as a teammate? Are you the, I mean, how old are you now? 40. 40. God, you're still young. Yeah, right.

Yeah. But so where are you as the team leader? Are you the guy that's going to Austin and saying, hey, this is, I like this, I like that? How are you, is it better, worse, do you like it? Where are you at as far as how you lead as a teammate or how does that work for you now? I mean, as you get older. Yeah, I mean, I.

Old guy. Thanks. Yeah. I feel like I've gotten better over the years of being better of being able to say things nicer, I guess. Not being so. But I mean, there are times you got to be blunt about something, right? It's like, this ain't working. Like you obviously like this, whatever it might be, we've got to make a change.

Like we've got to do something. And so you go in and you voice your opinions and you're like, this is wrong. And so you still do those. But I feel like now where I'm able to just sort of work and operate with the people that we have and who we've got there and you just do your job. I mean, you come in there, you put in the effort, you do everything that you possibly know how to do to the best of your ability. And for whatever reason, you may struggle a weekend or not get the best thing that you want to get out of that weekend. or it could be a good weekend and you over excel or you feel like, okay, we ran top 10 all day to day. This was a really good weekend.

Now what's the little bit of the next step that can get us into the top five? So last at Cota, do you put your arm around Jesse Love and say, hey, look, buddy, we don't block when I'm coming at you at 10 miles an hour faster two or three times in a row. Do you put your arm around him and try to help or do you let them tread water and just try to let them barely survive? I'm more of those guys, I'm more of the guy where those younger guys, like if they have a question or a problem or they want to know what happened, call me, reach out to me. Yeah. I'm not going to tell you why I did something. If you don't know by going back and rewatching, then you're an idiot. I mean, yes, I probably do need to do the old day learn heart of like, you know, putting an arm around the shoulder and talking.

But that's just not my personality. But, you know, sometimes, like I've talked. to Austin about it a little bit. I talked to Austin Hill about it because these teammates with them in the Xfinity series and I'm like, you know, did I do something? Like, am I in the wrong here? Like, am I seeing it right? And they're like, no. Like, it's such an interesting dynamic right now because you see Jesse and you see even Austin. I mean, he's not as young as those guys. And you see Zillich and you see so many of the younger guys coming in. And for me, I look at it and I look it's you and I'm like oh man I wanted to kill this shithead you know so many years ago and joey

legano and now you guys are all going through the same things that that I went through and for me it's fun to watch because obviously you have Brexton and you have to deal with being a dad and you have to deal with trying to teach him okay these are the things that I did wrong this is what I would do this is how I would do it so you kind of start to have to do that with the with the young kids and some of them on your team some of them not on your team that has has to be I mean have you realized that yet I mean how long when when did that transition happen what's funny is my my 10 year old Brexton after the race was over he asked me he goes dad what did why did you do that with Jesse and so like we went back and we rewatched the film the prior five

laps to what happened I'm like granted I'm on fresher tires you know I'm a guy racing for points in the series and you know so I go through the explanations of all of that and I show them the different you know crossovers and the things that was happening back there while we're racing for 30 And he's like, I put it in perspective for him and he's like, okay, like, I get it. And he goes, why do you think he blocked you right here? And I go, I have no idea. Like if he would have just ran the line getting into 20 and I poked it in on the bottom, like we all would have made it through 20 just fine and raced on it up the hill into turn one.

So, yeah, I don't know. Blocking. I look at blocking. And when I first came in, if I blocked somebody, I got wrecked. Yeah. When you started, it was probably that way. A little bit. Yeah.

When did that change? I don't it's it's for every position now every position every position you know and it's like I get it if we're racing for a win or even maybe in the top five but man there's still 20 laps to go and we're 30th right now like let me go but you would scold you would probably scold um brexton's ass oh yeah if he was if he was running eighth and didn't block right and i look at that i'm like well keelan why didn't you they've they battle for every position like in go-kart racing and legend racing and that's how they're taught to race Yeah, Brexton, he's not that aggressive yet. He's not a blocker.

You know, sometimes you get the indivision, into divisions where you get to run radios and stuff like that. So I get a chance to be at those races and have a radio. So that helps me help him be able to put him in a position where he's not going to get crashed. And so I feel like he does a good job of overchecking his mirrors at times where I'm like, man, you got to focus forward. You know, stop looking behind you and look ahead of you. Go chase down the next guy. So you're approaching a hundred race win the street. And I saw the, I think it was prime where you were standing there in front of all those trophies.

When you stand there and you look at that, just the trophy collection, you go to Atlanta. You win the truck race like it's nothing. And, you know, the cup car has been a struggle over the past year and a half. I mean, you came right in, fired right off with RCR. And then it's, you know, it's been a little bit of a struggle since then. And I've been there. I mean, you go through these. You've never been there until now.

You know, you've been very fortunate to go through the part of your career. But when you go back and you look at all that, do you think back to that time and say, damn, I didn't even realize that this was even possible? How do you approach it now just knowing that you're going to break that streak at some point and get the thing, get that out of the way? But how do you approach it now just with the mindset and everything with what you're having to deal with? I feel like it's almost, I feel like losing has made you more. popular. Do you feel like that? Yes, the fans are now to the point where they're like,

how could this guy not have won a race in however many races by now, you know? So yeah, now you get the sympathy vote of they're cheering for you to win. I mean, when you win, they're going to be over the top. I've got a hell of a lot of cheers in the truck racing at Atlanta. And I was like, I don't normally get this for a truck win. But okay, cool. So for me, when I joined RCR and we were fast out of the gate, we won Fontana. We won Tallade. We won Tallade. We won Gateway. I was like, okay, this is really good. Like I can still win, obviously.

I know what I'm doing. But we were a little bit ahead of the game, I would say, with the next gen and with the, you know, the development of that, the teams, the good teams, the Hendrick guys and the Gibbs guys, yeah, they were good, but they haven't surpassed everybody else like they always do, right? And so we were, it was at the right time that I was able to win those races.

We're now we're not winning as much. And so for me, I feel like I'm in my mind, I'm like, I haven't forgotten how to drive. I haven't forgotten what it takes to win at all of these different racetracks that we go to. Like, I know you need to be fast here. I know you need good segment times in the apex of the corner here. You got to be better on the exit of Richmond.

You know what I mean? Like, I know what it takes to win at those places. It's just not always being able to get that stuff in the race car every single weekend to be up there, up front, having the grip that you need to be able to go win the race. And so I feel like it's just, it's not an excuse, but it's just like, and I hate to say it, But like, am I being held back a little bit? Maybe. Am I holding the team back at sometimes?

Yes, like Kansas last year when I wrecked leading trying to pass Briscoe on the outside. You know what I mean? Like, that was a bad arrow situation I got myself in. So like I've thrown away some good runs as well too. Well, it puts a lot of pressure on you. And I think that, you know, for me, my favorite thing about you now because I'm a couple of years ahead of where you are with Brexton

is going to the racetrack. with him. How has that kept your motivation up? Because when I went and started racing with Keelan, I was kind of at the point where I'm like, ah, man, racing sucks. I don't want to be here. I don't want to do this. Too much work. I need to just quit. And then COVID happened. And we had to go to the racetrack on race day. He came home on race day. I'd go spend the whole weekend with him racing. And that's really what reignited my fire for racing because I realized why I liked racing again. Has it been like that for you with Brexton going to the legend car tracks and the dirt tracks and all those things? Yeah, to me, like, I get into those cars and I'm able to go out there and I'm able to be fast at times.

Or if we're not fast, I can work on them and like I can dial them in and I can build speed, you know, at the local level. Which has been fun for me. I've enjoyed that challenge of it of getting Brexton in something comfortable that he's good at being able to make speed in. So that's neat for me. And that gives me the passion of like, okay, me being able to understand the vehicle and help the crew chief or the engineers set it up to make it faster like that's, I still feel like there's more wins out there. I feel like there's more wins for me.

There's more wins for RCR. Like there's, there's more opportunity for us to be, to be successful together. And so that's what drives me. I wouldn't, I'm not a quitter. Like I don't just want to say like, yeah, throw your hands up and be done and get out of here. Like there's still more wins out there wherever those, those wins may be. And so I think the other thing too is like,

I'm going through this tough time of not being winning every single weekend like we're accustomed to from 10 years ago, right? And so Brexton now to the age of being 10 years old, he sees me in not winning all the time, where when he was just born, I was winning all the time. So he doesn't really remember all of that stuff. But I keep telling him, I'm like, as you get older, as you get into these bigger cars and into these tougher classes and racing against adults, your wins are going to becoming less and less as well, buddy. Like it is the young, He is far beyond the young kids of a straight up 10 year old that runs 25 races a year to a Brexton who runs 100 races a year.

He will outdo that other guy just based off of experience all day long and talent, but more of experience. And so I tell him, I'm like, as you get older and as you get into these bigger cars and stuff, like it's going to get harder, your wins will come a lot less frequent. Yeah. So your dad raised two Hall of Famers. Yeah. And you guys went through an era of NASCAR and racing and security.

and all those things. And I look back and I look at the things that my dad did. And I'm like, well, I wouldn't really done it like that or I wouldn't have done it like this. And then you get done and you're like, ooh, man, that was pretty good. How do you look at what your dad did with you and your brother? The brother just got inducted into the Hall of Fame. You're going to be a first ballot Hall of Fame

or whenever you decide to hang it up. And how do you say, okay, I love what he did. But what's changed today that needs to be? to be different from when you and Kurt came up, from when your dad was teaching you guys how to race with what you've learned and the generation of how you race today with Brexton? I don't think it's much different from what we did back in the late 90s, early 2000s, where I made my own in-car camera mount, right? Like that was the first of the Gopros.

You know, it was those little handheld cameras. I made a mount, put it in my legend car, and that was our in-car video that we had to go look back and restudy the next week. And then we had the out-of-car video stuff as well, too, from the streamers or the guys who would, it wasn't streaming, but they would cut up the tape and then replay it later. And so we would go back and look at the film and watch all of that stuff. Well, now we have the go-pros. I filmed from the outside or Aaron, our crew guy, he films from the outside. So we have all of that same stuff.

Well, now we have data. Now you have the tattletail. Right? That's right. And so, you know, like we have a video of me talking to Brexton, giving him the hard, harsh truth and the reality of. of like, you're slow. Like, look at my speed getting into the corner. Look at my brake point, my lift point.

I'm driving the same car you are. It's the same weight class, all that sort of stuff. And then we also had data from one of Joe Ryan's cars as well, which was the same kid in the same class as Brexton. And we're like, look, like, this is where you get better. This is how we can show you is because we have the data that tells us. And so we were able to go through all that stuff. So I don't think it's changed much from the time

when my dad was teaching. I just think there's more added on top of that So instead of it being a 15, 30 minute lesson, I think now it's an hour or an hour and a half lesson. You know what I mean? So how do you get that hour and a half message across to a 10-year-old who has a three-minute attention span? That's the challenge. That's the challenge.

So who takes the criticism better from the data, him or you? Him not so much sometimes. He's like, well, I can't do it. Like the car's too loose and stuff like that. But I'm like, you just told me one run you were tight, the next run you were loose. We didn't change the car at all. So, you know, he's still learning. Like he's still very new and very young, but he's been really fast and he's got speed.

And the thing about Brexton, too, is he's done a really great job of, which is what my dad instilled in Kurt and I both was not tearing up our equipment because we have to go to the racetrack with the same car every single weekend, right? Where Brexton's done a really good job of not always tearing up his equipment, us being able to race as much as we do because we always have cars to race with, you know, or the car to race with. We travel with a backup car, but rarely do we have to pull it out. Yeah. Coolest moment you guys have had racing together. You've got to race together a couple times in the same races. Yeah, we did, yeah. So what's the coolest moment that you guys have had?

It doesn't have to be in the same race, but what's the coolest moment that you guys have had to be able to share along the way so far? I would say the coolest moment was Brexton winning his Daytona 500 was the junior sprint, Tulsa Shootout. That was like where 110 cars from all across the country all come together at Tulsa for the Tulsa shootout and he wins that race and like he put a whole year's worth of effort in because the year prior he started sixth and got wrecked on the first lap and he was fast enough he could have won that one as well but we got tipped on our side and had to go to the back and he didn't win

that one but then the next year he came he won seven he loves to tell everybody he won 17 junior sprint races in a row during the season and you know it was just on a tear and everything was to focus on being able to go out there and win that race and to see his work and his ethic and all of that stuff that he puts together to be able to go out there and achieve that, you know, that as a father was like, man, this, this is amazing and, and was really, really cool. And then this past year, him and I actually raced in the same class, and a couple heat races and early features where he passed me, I passed them back and, or he passed me. That was that the cars to a race at Vegas?

You guys race together at Vegas. We race the Legends car as well in Las Vegas. I qualified fifth. He qualified ninth. He caught up to me, but was never able to get by me. but he was fast enough to be probably fourth or fifth. And so, yeah, there's been some races where we've had some time on the racetrack together.

It's been fun. How are you gonna take him kicking your ass at some point? It's gonna happen. I mean, that's fine. It's awful. That's how it's supposed to be. It is awful. You know?

It's the worst thing in the world because having to live with that little cocky teenager and them telling you that they kicked your ass is awful. Oh yeah? Yeah, it's terrible. It is probably one of the worst things. I haven't seen you in a legend car, so you didn't get more time in the legend car.

I never did the legend car. I drove the legend car one time and I went out on the racetrack and they said, just go out at Florence. So I go out there and I'm just tooling around. I'm like, okay, I'm starting to get comfortable and I'm doing pretty good. And all of a sudden, boom, knocks me out of the way, drives past me, and it pissed me off. And I'm like, okay. So I caught back up and he started looking in his mirrors and drives up the racetrack and I drive back by him after about 20 laps. Yeah, yeah.

It got worse from there. So that was the end of my legend career. I love the video of you guys racing at Tucson, though. Yeah. That was awesome. That was good. Oh, well, I mean, sometimes, you know, they all want their car to be way too loose, and they don't turn the steering wheel, and you get to those old worn-out, bumpy, rough race tracks.

Got to have wheel, man. They're like a fish out of water. And that's the only chance that I really have, because on the high-grip tracks, I'm just not as brave as they are. You've been there. You've done that. That's exactly right. So, last question. So I saw you at Coda, before Coda, line dancing.

That was, was that your first time line dancing? Okay, it looked like it. Yeah, and you have about as much rhythm as I do, by the way. So it is, me, you might have more rhythm than me, actually. I appreciate that. Yeah. I can teach you, you want to go? Well, that would be awkward.

I'll be the lead, you be the follow. Okay. That means you're the girl. Yeah, so how much, how much, because when I went through these phases, it's like, okay, how do I recreate? myself? How do I keep myself relevant? How do I do the things that I need? How much has it changed your off-track focus to the sponsors and the extra things that you need to do outside of the racetrack? Because like you look at Cletus and you look at some of these guys that have massive YouTube followings and things that we never did here because it was all about the performance on the

racetrack. How much have you shifted to off the racetrack? Because, I mean, you obviously want to do this. You want to be around this sport because of Brexton and have to have you. things to do when you're done driving. How much have you had to shift the focus to some of the off-track stuff to understand it, keep the sponsors happy, do things to create new avenues and sponsors and things in this phase of your career? Not a whole lot, honestly. I mean, as we all know, like performance will take care of everything, right? Like winning Cures All, that's what I say, you know? And so I feel like I haven't really had to switch a whole lot of off-track. There just has been more content on the off track stuff because of being a dad and having Brexton

racing and you know Lennox being around and always going to the races she she poor Lennox she's like the fifth wheel that's just along for the ride like come on dog you know and she's just there but maybe one day she wants to she wants to drive and she wants to race as well too but I feel like there's a there's a there's a relevance there to our community of NASCAR fans of you know being there for our kids being with family and going to the racetrack and being a track dad and all that sort of stuff. So, you know, it gives some perspective of, hey, we're just normal Joe's out here trying to do what we do on the weekends of being able to go out there. We want to win, of course. But then also, you know, raising the family of the next generation of

racer that wants to go out there and win too. Can you just go win so I can not ever have to ask any more of these questions? Trust me. It would be really, really nice to win. It'd be a great moment for the sport. And I never thought I'd be sitting here saying, Kyle, can you please go win? Right. Because it would be so awesome. Yes, it would be so awesome. And trust me, I know. I hear it all the time from our Legion of fans, Routy Nation, everybody's out there. They want us to win. Even the non-Routing Nation fans, they want us to win.

And no better place than to do that than Las Vegas, my hometown, no better car to do it in than the Cheddar's car because, hey, when we went on Sunday, we eat free on Monday, but we get some free chicken tenders from Cheddar, so it would be awesome to go out there and achieve that for all of America. I appreciate you taking a time and good luck. Thank you. Appreciate it. You got it.

Thank you.