Kyle Busch's NASCAR crew chief replaced at Richard Childress Racing after just 10 races

Richard Childress Racing has announced that Kyle Busch will have a new crew chief for the rest of the 2026 season.

Jim Pohlman lasted just ten NASCAR Cup Series races in the role, concluding with the No. 8 car's first top-ten finish of the year at Talladega on Friday night (after a run of five straight races outside the top 20).

Pohlman won't be leaving the organization entirely, but instead moved to a new role in the RCR competition department as Andy Street takes over as the No. 8's crew chief for the remainder of the season.

Street was previously Busch's interim crew chief at the end of the 2025 season, leading the group for the final five races after the departure of Randall Burnett toward the end of the year.

Richard Childress: We have talent across the organization

Owner Richard Childress said in a team statement: “This move is about putting our people in the best position to succeed. We have strong talent across this organization, and we’re focused on having each person in the right position to help deliver the results we expect.”

The team statement added: "The adjustment reflects RCR’s broader commitment to returning to consistent, front-running form on a weekly basis."

Cynical fans might be tempted to translate that from wordy management-speak into 'we have panicked a bit, because we just cannot figure out how to make Kyle Busch fast and he's getting more and more irritated by it, sorry Jim'.

Back in the realm of things that team personnel actually said in their statement, RCR president Mike Verlander added: “We strongly believe in the people we have. At the same time, we expect better results, and that requires us to continually evaluate and make adjustments.

"Jim has more than two decades of success in this sport and will remain an important part of our team. We believe Andy and Kyle’s previous working relationship positions us to improve the No. 8 team and compete at a higher level.”

Speaking to NASCAR.com back in October when his move was originally announced, Pohlman had said: “Working for Richard Childress, a Hall of Famer, and Kyle Busch, a future Hall of Famer, speaks paramount for the organization and what they are trying to accomplish.

"Who better to take a swing at the Cup Series at with somebody other than those two guys?”

Who better, indeed.

NASCAR Cup Series points standings after Talladega

Pos	Driver	Manufacturer	Points (Stage)	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s
1	Tyler Reddick	Toyota	484 (78)	5	6	7
2	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	374 (83)	1	4	6
3	Ryan Blaney	Ford	344 (87)	1	3	6
4	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	340 (48)	1	4	6
5	Ty Gibbs	Toyota	322 (59)	1	5	7
6	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	315 (91)	0	3	6
7	Chris Buescher	Ford	309 (58)	0	1	5
8	Carson Hocevar	Chevrolet	292 (42)	1	3	4
9	Christopher Bell	Toyota	290 (73)	0	3	4
10	Brad Keselowski	Ford	279 (42)	0	2	4
11	William Byron	Chevrolet	277 (55)	0	2	5
12	Bubba Wallace	Toyota	276 (71)	0	1	5
13	Ryan Preece	Ford	269 (37)	0	0	2
14	Daniel Suárez	Chevrolet	235 (26)	0	1	2
15	Joey Logano	Ford	234 (54)	0	2	3
16	Austin Cindric	Ford	226 (49)	0	1	3
17	Chase Briscoe	Toyota	222 (32)	0	3	4
18	Ross Chastain	Chevrolet	205 (22)	0	1	2
19	Shane van Gisbergen	Chevrolet	195 (24)	0	1	2
20	Zane Smith	Ford	183 (11)	0	1	3
21	AJ Allmendinger	Chevrolet	183 (15)	0	0	1
22	Todd Gilliland	Ford	181 (19)	0	0	1
23	Michael McDowell	Chevrolet	179 (19)	0	1	2
24	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	163 (8)	0	0	0
25	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Chevrolet	161 (11)	0	1	2
26	Erik Jones	Toyota	161 (0)	0	0	2
27	Kyle Busch	Chevrolet	160 (11)	0	0	1
28	Josh Berry	Ford	147 (30)	0	0	2
29	Riley Herbst	Toyota	144 (9)	0	0	1
30	Noah Gragson	Ford	144 (4)	0	0	1
31	John H. Nemechek	Toyota	141 (14)	0	0	0
32	Ty Dillon	Chevrolet	123 (0)	0	0	0
33	Connor Zilisch	Chevrolet	103 (2)	0	0	0
34	Cole Custer	Chevrolet	89 (3)	0	0	0
35	Cody Ware	Chevrolet	85 (4)	0	0	0
36	Alex Bowman	Chevrolet	80 (10)	0	1	1
37	Casey Mears	Ford	9 (3)	0	0	0
38	BJ McLeod	Chevrolet	3 (0)	0	0	0