Kyle Busch Moving to Backup Car After Major Crash in Practice

Screenshot from TruTV Broadcast

Richard Childress Racing (RCR) is going to have to work hard to unload a backup car for two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch, after a significant wreck in Saturday’s practice from Iowa Speedway.

Busch, who had laid down the second-fastest lap time in the first of two groups in the session, was on another run around the 0.875-mile racetrack when his No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet snapped loose at the entrance to Turn 1 and slammed the SAFER Barrier.

The damage to Busch’s Chevrolet was extensive and required a two back to the garage – where his Richard Childress Racing team will scramble to prepare a backup car for Sunday’s Iowa Corn 350.

Trouble for Kyle Busch in Iowa 😬 that was a huge hit, glad he got out okay #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/eRw7Dpz7xf

— B/R Racing (@br_racing) August 2, 2025

“Felt really good about the changes that we made there, came out of Turn 4 really hot and heavy and hard on it, and went off into Turn 1 with too much trust, then overcorrected it and smacked the fence,” said Busch. “Just not real sure how to find more trust or when you feel something good in one corner, it’s not there in the next.”

The incident makes the weekend infinitely more challenging for the Richard Childress Racing organization, who between their two full-time NASCAR Cup Series crews will have to scramble to prepare a backup for Sunday’s event.

“Obviously, it’s tough for the guys, hate it for the guys. Everybody at RCR, especially the No. 8 crew. I’m sure we’ll rely on some of the No. 3 car guys to prepare the backup car overnight and get us into the race tomorrow,” said Busch. “Obviously, we had decent speed, just trying to work on up to it and try to get consistently better and better with laps, so that’ll be about the same thing we have to do tomorrow.”

“I was probably built up to about 70 to 80 percent trust, now I’m down to zero. So, I’ll have to try to build that up lap by lap,” Busch added.

It’s not a great situation for the Las Vegas, Nevada-native, who at this point in the regular-season will need a victory to get into the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Busch, who hasn’t won since 2023, will start in a major hole at the beginning of the 350-lap event.

Coverage of the Iowa Corn 350 will roll from USA Network at 3:30pm ET on Sunday, August 3.