Kevin Harvick sounds alarm for Kyle Busch, No. 8 team

Kyle Busch has qualified well this season. His No. 8 Richard Childress Racing has shown more speed than it did in 2024.

So, why is Busch down in 16th in the NASCAR Cup Series points standings through 10 races? It comes down to mistakes, specifically on pit road, Kevin Harvick said on Tuesday’s “Happy Hour” podcast. Harvick pointed out that Busch has had four speeding penalties this season and his pit crew has lacked speed getting him off pit road.

“When you look at Kyle Busch and that whole team, they’re 16th in the points right now. But I feel like they’ve had their moments where they’ve run a lot better,” Harvick said. “You know, Kyle, in general, we’ve seen him spin out in qualifying, we’ve seen mistakes on pit road. He’s had four speeding penalties on pit road, they’ve had one loose wheel, their pit crew is 20th ranked in overall speed. But this is the stat that really stuck out to me about the pit crew: they’ve had three stops all year that were under 10 seconds. The No. 1 pit crew of Bubba Wallace has had 18.

“So, between the mistakes and the speed of the pit stops, really putting themselves at a deficit for days like this, making those mistakes and the stops being slower compared to the rest of the guys, really puts them in a position that they’re not able to capitalize on those good qualifying efforts because of all the mistakes and everything that are happening. So, it’s a close game. It’s a game of milliseconds, whether it’s the pit stops or qualifying or whatever that is and the mistakes will pile up for you and I think the mistakes for that 8 car and Kyle Busch’s team are holding them back a bit.”

Mistakes on pit road costing Kyle Busch in 2025

This past Sunday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway was a great example. Busch overcame a Stage 1 wreck. He made his way back into contention before a speeding penalty on his final stop derailed his day for good.

Busch missed a chance to snap his career-long 67-race winless streak. Instead, he finished a disappointing 27th.

“How many weeks can you think back where it’s a moment like that, that always seems to happen with the 8? They’re critical moments and in the critical moments, it seems like those are when the mistakes happen and then takes them out of contention,” Harvick said. “They definitely had a car that was capable with plenty of speed. And you just can’t take yourself out of those races in critical moments.”