Fans Declare Kyle Busch the “GOAT” as 2 Decades of Rowdy Hate Ends Amidst Going Under a Darrel Waltrip Arc

Back in the 1980s, Darrell Waltrip was NASCAR’s loudest villain. He won races, ruffled feathers, and got booed across the country. Kyle Petty once said, “That boy might win a lot of races and he may make a lot of money, but he’ll never be NASCAR’s most popular driver.” And for a while, that felt like the truth. Fans threw beer cans. They wore “Anybody But Waltrip” shirts. They hurled chicken bones. And Waltrip? He acted like he didn’t care, but it stung.

“It bothered me a lot. I didn’t want people to feel that way about me,” he later admitted in 2012. Despite the hate, Waltrip never gave up. He worked hard on changing his image. He let fans see the man behind the wheel. And back-to-back in 1989 and 1990, he won the NASCAR Most Popular Driver Award. That meant more to him than some of his wins. “That’s one of the biggest awards in my whole career,” Waltrip said in his Hall of Fame induction speech. And this wasn’t just about being liked. It was about being respected.

He turned the jeers into cheers, not by driving faster, but by being real with the fans. Similarly, for the better part of 20 years, Kyle Busch wore the black hat in NASCAR. He wrecked legends, talked trash, and walked away with trophies. Fans booed him almost everywhere. “Rowdy” became more than a nickname; it was a warning. But something changed recently. Busch posted a video of his trophy room, and just like that, it was as if fans saw a new side of him. Or maybe they realized what was always there, and the respect started to creep in. And now, some are saying it out loud, Kyle Busch is the GOAT.

The trophy room that changed everything for Kyle Busch!

It started with a simple video on X. Kyle Busch posted a sweeping view of his trophy room on Friday. Not a few shelves, a full room. Packed wall-to-wall with trophies from two decades of racing. Fans immediately noticed not just the volume, but the variety: classic trophies, swords from Bristol, ornate pieces from earlier NASCAR eras. Busch didn’t speak in the video. He didn’t need to. The hardware spoke louder than words.

One fan wrote on X: “I didn’t like Kyle for the longest time, but his 2015 championship season completely changed my mind. It’s hard not to respect the talent and what he can do with a stock car. 200+ wins across all three national series is an insane stat. He’s a GOAT.” That stat is no exaggeration. Busch owns 232 national series wins, 67 in Trucks, 102 in Xfinity, and 63 in Cup. Only Richard Petty has crossed the 200 mark, but all of Petty’s were in the Cup. Busch’s spread dominance is unmatched, as he holds the record for career wins in Xfinity and Truck.

Earned a few over the yrs https://t.co/sRBOCt5s0s pic.twitter.com/W1QaJeJtBD

— Kyle Busch (@KyleBusch) May 9, 2025

And Busch hasn’t ignored the shift in perception. In an interview with NASCAR in 2023, he’s been honest about the change. “When you’re young, you come in and start beating up on the guys that have been here a while… people don’t really take well to that. Especially doing it the brash way that I did,” he said. But he knows time changes things. “Now that I’ve matured, and I’m not winning as often, fans are starting to say, ‘Hey, I want that guy to win again.’” He finds it “pretty awesome.”

And this fan perception has changed even further ever since Kyle’s son, Brexton Busch, burst onto the scene. At just nine years old, little Rowdy is taking the racing world by storm, running over 100 races a year and clinching the coveted Golden Driller at the 2025 Tulsa Shootout. Busch has become less Rowdy on the track, as he realizes he has to set an example for his son, and with accolades for days, Busch can revel in his greatness.

Still, Kyle Busch’s recent on-track results haven’t reflected the love off the track. This ongoing season has been rocky. He opened with a wreck at Daytona and has finished outside the Top 10 in six of the last seven races. Most concerning has been his performance on 1.5-mile tracks, the bread and butter of the NASCAR schedule. Before last week’s Texas race, Busch had gone 11 straight 1.5-mile races without a Top 5.

Texas offered a glimpse of hope. He ran inside the Top 15 for most of the day. For a while, it looked like he might crack the Top 10. But then, a solo spin ended the momentum while he sat in third place. Once again, a strong run went to waste. Yet, there’s reason to believe Kansas could be different. It’s where he last scored a Top 10 on a 1.5-mile layout, back in spring 2024. Busch and Richard Childress Racing know it’s crunch time. With fan support finally behind him, perhaps it’s time the results followed.

Fans finally praise ‘The Rowdy’ legacy!

The comment section under Busch’s trophy room video was loud, and this time, it was positive. After two decades of boos, the cheers are finally catching up. A fan pointed out: “That’s not even counting the ones on loan at the @NASCARHall.” And they’re right. Many of Busch’s career-defining trophies are on display in Charlotte, not at home. His two Cup Series championships? Not even in the shot. The post didn’t show everything, just enough to remind fans of how much Busch has truly accomplished.

Even the Dale Jr. loyalists took notice, with one writing, “I’m a hard @DaleJr fan, but I love me some KB. He makes a race fun to watch.” Even the fiercest brand loyalties are being broken by Busch’s resume and personality evolution. Just like how Dale Jr has appreciated Busch’s iconic racing skills and his car control. Though that isn’t much on display since the next-gen era. One fan made a striking observation: “Honestly, if NASCAR never put any restrictions on how many races you could run in Xfinity and Trucks, he’d probably be very close to 300 wins by now.”

This is backed by numbers. Before the rule changes limiting experienced Cup drivers to 5 races in lower tiers, Busch routinely dominated Xfinity and Truck, winning up to 10 races a season across both levels. His last win in NASCAR came this season in Trucks at Atlanta Speedway. Another comment compared Busch directly to a NASCAR legend. “You have become the new Darrell Waltrip, but later he became loved and a fan favorite — you are there now,” the fan said, recalling when DW challenged fans to “meet me at Kmart” after being booed in North Wilkesboro.

Perhaps the simplest but most powerful comment was this: “Wow, just a reminder of who you are, Kyle.” That sentiment sums up what this moment means. For the first time in a long time, fans aren’t just watching Kyle Busch — they’re appreciating him. And in doing so, they may have finally handed him the trophy that means the most. The trophy of respect.

What do you think of Kyle Busch’s career? Let us know in the comments!

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