Rampant speculation remains on the possible pending NASCAR retirement of Martin Truex Jr.

Sunday's result at Sonoma, in which Truex saw a top-three finish go up in smoke ... er, fumes ... may just add fuel to the fire.

But at what point do we start wondering about Kyle Busch?

I'm half kidding. Yes, I'd be surprised if Busch hung it up at the end of this year.

But where has Rowdy gone? And I mean "Rowdy," the unofficial alter-ego of a driver who once ruffled more feathers than a stiff ocean breeze keeping a flock of pelicans aloft.

Older? Wiser? More mature? Certainly, Busch is all of those things. His transformation from heel to hero in recent seasons has been well documented.

But there's no way mid-to-late-20's Busch would have dealt with this.

To recap, here's Busch's last four weeks: Punched in the face by Ricky Stenhouse. Multiple pit-road mishaps and a 15th-place finish in the rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600. Wiped out by Kyle Larson at Gateway, finished 35th. Wiped out by Ross Chastain on the last lap at Sonoma on Sunday, finished a merciful 12th.

He's outside of the playoff picture and in the midst of the longest winless drought of his career so, surely, a driver with that well-earned moniker was breathing fire in the postrace Sunday, right?

"A couple of guys there at the end of the race had better tires than we did but we were going to have a good day. Unfortunately, one of those guys got into us on the last lap and ruined our day. It’s frustrating to not get the finish that we deserved.”

OK, who is this and what have you done with Kyle Busch?

Eminem just brought back Slim Shady. It's time for Busch to bring back Rowdy.

After all, some drivers were just born to drive angry.

Let's go through the gears:

First gear

The misfortune of Busch and Truex Jr. was good news to others, particularly Front Row Motorsports as Michael McDowell surged to a second-place finish and Todd Gilliland backdoored a top-10, finishing 10th.

The solid points day was even more important for Gilliland, who will remain with the team while McDowell is bound for Spire next season. The organization also recently announced it had purchased a third charter for next season with two seats remaining open.

Second gear

Remember that time Kyle Larson missed the Coca-Cola 600, lost the points lead and was on pins and needles waiting to see if he'd be granted a waiver to remain playoff eligible?

Larson crushed the field like a Pinot Grigio grape Sunday, Denny Hamlin finished dead last and on the heels of a waiver approval, Larson is right back where he started, clear of the competition and in the points lead.

Meanwhile, both Busch and Joey Logano saw promising days fall by the wayside and both remain on the outside looking in at the playoffs as the regular season reaches the 10-to-go mark.

Third gear

Similar to Busch, Austin Hill was on his best behavior Saturday after being uprooted from the lead by eventual winner Shane van Gisbergen.

“I’m sure, no matter what comment I say, it’ll be wrong," Hill said. "I plead the fifth."

SVG claimed his second victory in a row and the New Zealander, who may just find himself full time in the Cup Series next season, continues to impress.

Fourth gear

With the Cup Series taking to Iowa for the first time, there's not much history to go off of. Brad Keselowski won three Xfinity Series races and had an average finish of third over seven starts there, with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. also claiming three victories in the heart of farmland.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR needs 'Rowdy' Kyle Busch back; Kyle Larson regains points lead