NASCAR legend reveals how 'nuisance' Kyle Busch cost him THOUSANDS of dollars

NASCAR legend and team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr has reflected on what a nuisance Kyle Busch used to be in the Xfinity Series.

Earnhardt Jr is currently enjoying another fantastic year in NASCAR's second division, with JR Motorsports having the series' most dominant driver on their books in Connor Zilisch.

The 19-year-old has nine Xfinity Series wins to his name so far in 2025, won the regular season championship, and will be driving full-time with Trackhouse Racing in the Cup Series next season, such is his talent.

Zilisch is undoubtedly a rising star, and his coming of age this season has been mightily impressive. Earnhardt Jr has been around the sport for decades and believes he has only seen such dominance from one man in the Xfinity Series previously - Kyle Busch.

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Connor Zilisch most dominant since Kyle Busch

Busch has 102 Xfinity Series wins to his name over the years, but what differs is that he used to drop down and race in Xfinity while also being full-time and established in the Cup Series.

This was before NASCAR tightened the rules to only allow Cup Series drivers to race in the Xfinity and Truck Series on five occasions per season.

Earnhardt Jr cites multiple drivers who have enjoyed good success in the Xfinity Series over the years, but believes only Busch was more of a dominant force than his driver.

"I think that what Conor's doing, the only thing that I could say is similar is the Kyle Busch run when Kyle could run all the races," Earnhardt Jr explained on the Dale Jr Download podcast.

“Carl Edwards was close, Brad [Keselowski] was close, but I don’t really remember them being as annoying as Kyle was.

"I was an owner in the series during all of those times, and when Kyle was winning all those races, and he would come, we knew we weren’t gonna race for wins."

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Kyle Busch cost team thousands

Earnhardt Jr continued, branding Busch as a 'nuisance' for him as a team owner in the Xfinity Series, and claiming that the two-time Cup Series champion's dominance cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars come the end of the season.

"I only put Kyle Busch up there by himself because I look at the bottom dollar and go, well, at the end of the season, that’s a $400,000 swing or a $200,000 swing from winning races to running second or third and battling for top 5s," Earnhardt Jr explained.

"Kyle Busch, man, he was such a nuisance, and I mean that in the most complimentary way.”

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