As NASCAR's new generation asserts itself, Busch proves there's still fight in the veterans
Today at 12:58 PM
Kyle Busch has been the outlier through the first three weeks of the NASCAR season.
Across the three national series there have been eight races contested and seven different winners. The average age of the winners has been 26.5. The youngest was Connor Zilisch, at 18, in the Xfinity Series race at Circuit of the Americas. The second youngest was Jesse Love, at 20, in the Xfinity Series race at Daytona International Speedway.
Corey Heim, who won at Daytona in the Craftsman Truck Series, is 22. William Byron, who won the Daytona 500, is 27. Christopher Bell, who has won the last two Cup Series races, is 30. And Austin Hill, who won at Atlanta in the Xfinity Series, is also 30.
And then there is Busch. Busch is one of the oldest drivers in the sport, and certainly in the Cup Series, at 39. He will celebrate his 40th birthday in May. Busch won the Craftsman Truck Series race at Atlanta.
On Sunday, Busch tried his hardest to hold off NASCAR's next generation once again in the final laps at Circuit of the Americas. But Bell, Byron, Tyler Reddick (who is 29) and Chase Elliott (also 29) hunted down and disposed of the two-time series champion.
Bell, Byron, and Reddick are among the future of the Cup Series. All three have made at least one appearance in the Championship 4, and over the last few seasons, have established themselves as drivers who can win multiple races in a season. Elliott is already a former series champion.
Zilisch, meanwhile, is coming fast. At 18, he's won two Xfinity Series races and made his Cup Series debut at Circuit of the Americas. There is already conversation about Zilisch being ready for full-time Cup Series competition, and Trackhouse Racing has locked him into a multiyear development deal. A good season driving for JR Motorsports in the Xfinity Series will lead those conversations to continue as the 2026 season approaches.
And not to be overlooked, Carson Kvapil was a part of an entertaining Xfinity Series battle with Zilisch at COTA. Kvapil, the 21-year-old son of former Craftsman Truck Series champion Travis Kvapil, is also getting his first shot at full-time NASCAR competition this year with JR Motorsports.
In the finish at Atlanta, it was Bell prevailing over Carson Hocevar. Hocevar, 22, has raw talent and can make his race car go fast. Spire Motorsports is high on its young driver and his future, and there is no reason to believe he won't have a long and fruitful career – although some of his fellow competitors would say that his raw talent needs to be harnessed.
And it continues.
Heim is headed for Cup Series starts this season, and like Zilisch, would be deserving of a full-time Cup Series car sooner rather than later. However, Denny Hamlin, who has signed Heim to a development deal with 23XI Racing, indicated Heim will be doing select Cup Series races again in 2026.
In the meantime, expect Heim to continue to run roughshod through the Truck Series. He will be one of the contenders for the championship again.
Hill is also on the path to a Cup Series ride. The question is, when? Richard Childress Racing is getting its money’s worth with Hill in the Xfinity Series as he's won 11 races there since 2022. One would think Hill has to know there is a plan for his future with Childress if they've been able to contain him to the Xfinity Series for this long. But time will tell if 2026 is the year that movement happens, and make no mistake, Hill wants to be a Cup Series driver.
It would be easy to keep plucking out and analyzing individual drivers. But one only needs to look at those who have been involved in the finishes – and the winners – for proof that NASCAR's next generation has well and truly arrived, and is taking over. Busch used to be one of those drivers.
Busch winning would have been just as noteworthy, and dare say, popular. There are a few layers to it: Busch working on breaking a winless drought, adding to his already being one of the most accomplished drivers in the sport, and continuing to endear himself to fans in the second part of his career.
Youth – or NASCAR's present and future – prevailed on Sunday. The good news is that Busch is far from done. As some of the best talent continues to develop and succeed, there will be times where Busch, and his fellow veterans, will score one for the older generation. It’s a good place for the sport to find itself with a lot of racing left to go in the season.
