Kyle Busch has a legendary "Triple Crown" dream before he retires from NASCAR. However, Dale Jr. firmly believes that the lower series are no longer the simple retirement homes they used to be.

Speaking to SiriusXM Business Radio back in 2023, Busch laid out his goal clearly. With two Cup titles and an O'Reilly Auto Parts Series title, a Truck title is all that remains for Busch to win.

"I’d go run a full Truck series season to see if I can win a Truck series championship because that, I would be the first one to have ever won all three (national) series of NASCAR, you know, the championship, which I’ve won the most races across all three of those divisions, than anybody combined," the RCR driver said.

On this week's episode of the "Dale Jr. Download", Earnhardt Jr pointed out the purpose of the Truck series, saying:

"There are some people out there that feel like that the O'reilly Series and the Truck Series are not feeder series. They're not minor league."

Contrary to this popular theory, he explained the purpose of the Truck Series.

"The Truck Series, it was developed for one single reason: to sell trucks. For the truck manufacturers in the world would have an outlet to race their product and sell it. That was the reason. It wasn't a series established for veterans like, you know, guys that had kind of on a tail end of their Cup careers or whatever," Dale Jr said

He looks at the O'Reilly and Truck series today and sees a completely different identity than the one that existed in the late 70s. He believes these series have transitioned into a strict developmental ladder.

"The original identity of both the trucks and the O'Reilly series are far different. What they've transformed into is absolutely your minor league, your triple A, your double A, your Single A. That is what they serve at this point of time."

For a veteran like Kyle Busch, trying to win a title in a system designed strictly for young and inexperienced talent might not be the best of achievements. And who knows, maybe the new batch might turn out to be more competitive than expected. That definitely wouldn't help Busch's "Triple Crown" dream.

How the Brexton Factor Influences Kyle Busch’s Retirement Timeline

The centerpiece of Kyle Busch's ambitious plan is his son, Brexton, who is currently 10 years old. Busch has calculated his exit strategy around his son’s growth, hoping to align his own final championship run with Brexton’s entry into the higher ranks of racing.

“I would say in a perfect world, I’ve kind of dreamt this up a little bit. I would retire from Cup racing when Brexton is 15, run a full truck series season to see if I can win a truck series championship,” Busch shared in a 2023 interview.

This gives the NASCAR veteran a five-year window to resolve his current struggles in the Cup Series before shifting focus. However, the wait introduces a significant gamble. By the time Brexton is 15, the Truck Series will likely have evolved even further. It could turn into the hyper-competitive minor league system Dale Jr. described.

For Kyle Busch, the challenge will be maintaining his championship-winning speed long enough to meet this "perfect world" deadline.

Read more at the RFK Racing Digest!

Written by

Sanskriti Pastor

Edited by

Yask Kotak