FILE - Kyle Busch, left, jokes with team owner Joe Gibbs, right, in victory lane after winning the pole position for Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 auto race at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., Thursday, May 22, 2008. At bottom right are Ty Gibbs, left, and Colin Alpera, right. Kyle Busch will move to Richard Childress Racing next season, ending a 15-year career with Joe Gibbs Racing because the team could not come to terms with NASCAR's only active multiple Cup champion. Busch will drive the No. 3 Chevrolet for Childress in an announcement made Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2022, at the NASCAR Hall of Fame. (AP Photo/Terry Renna, File)
FILE - Kyle Busch, left, jokes with team owner Joe Gibbs, right, in victory lane after winning the pole position for Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 auto race at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., Thursday, May 22, 2008. At bottom right are Ty Gibbs, left, and Colin Alpera, right. Kyle Busch will move to Richard Childress Racing next season, ending a 15-year career with Joe Gibbs Racing because the team could not come to terms with NASCAR's only active multiple Cup champion. Busch will drive the No. 3 Chevrolet for Childress in an announcement made Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2022, at the NASCAR Hall of Fame. (AP Photo/Terry Renna, File)
The saga of Kyle Busch not being able to reach an agreement with Joe Gibbs Racing and ultimately signing with Richard Childress Racing dominated much of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season.
Heading into the 2023 season, the question is whether the two-time NASCAR champion can have the same performance in the No. 8 RCR Chevrolet that he enjoyed so many seasons while driving the No. 18 JGR Toyota.
Jeff Birchfield is a sports writer for the Johnson City Press with a lifelong passion for motorsports. The father of two attended ETSU and served in the Tennessee Army National Guard.
