Rumors have been circulating like wildfire regarding the future of two-time Nascar Cup Series champion Kyle Busch, and a new report indicates that he will, in fact, leave his current Toyota-backed race team and join a Nascar Chevy team in 2023.
The Athletic broke the news on Saturday afternoon, stating that several sources confirmed to the outlet that Busch will leave his current team, Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), at the end of the 2022 season amid sponsorship woes. Beginning in 2023, Busch will join the Nascar Chevy team of Richard Childress Racing (RCR).
The uncertainty of Busch’s future kicked off with the announcement that his longtime sponsor, Mars Incorporated, would pull its funding at the end of the 2022 season, ending a 15-year partnership with Busch and the No. 18 Toyota TRD Camry. JGR reportedly struggled to find a replacement sponsor that would allow the team to pay Busch’s requested salary, prompting the driver to explore options with other Cup teams like RCR.
The report also states that RCR will likely field a third Chevy Camaro ZL1 race car to accommodate Busch. Currently, the organization fields the No. 3 Camaro of Austin Dillon and the No. 8 Camaro of Tyler Reddick. It’s not clear what number Busch would command at RCR, or what sponsors could appear on the hood of his Camaro.
If Busch makes the leap to RCR, this would be the first time he has driven a Nascar Chevy in the Cup Series since his stint with Hendrick Motorsports from 2003 through 2007. He is also likely to bring his Truck Series team, Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM), over to The Bow Tie, abandoning his long-standing relationship with Toyota Racing Development (TRD). That means KBM will work closely with Chevrolet’s racing division to field Silverado race trucks for up-and-coming Nascar drivers.
Busch won the Nascar Cup Series championship in 2015 and 2019 in the No. 18 Camry, and has 56 wins with JGR under his belt. An official announcement regarding the driver’s plans for next season is expected to drop on Tuesday, September 13th.
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Comments
Great… we get a crying whining little immature baby driving a Chevy. Richard dropped the ball on this one
Yea Right like they are going to dethrone Dillion from an Earnhardt (family) Numbered Car! But honestly, love him or hate him, Kyle is the next Dale!
Most disliked driver in NASCAR. Even Toyota was tired of him. Mary can put him in a Camaro commercial.
I think more importantly, his sponsor, M&M/Mars tired of his act. Imagine paying out all that money to represent your company & name brand to quite possibly the most disliked driver on the circuit. And yes, Toyota too, had to be embarrassed at times watching this guy using their “cars” as a rolling wrecking ball against some competitors on the track who ticked him off for some ridiculously immature reason.
Sure, Toyota & Mars got tired of KB winning 224 races across the three NASCAR national series — 60 in Cup, 102 in Xfinity and 62 in trucks. His past 46 truck wins have come while driving for his own team, Kyle Busch Motorsports, which has had extensive support from Toyota. Now KBM goes to Chevy who desperately need help in the Truck series that is key in driver development where KBM has excelled!
60 is the Total wins, Even Richard Petty said it. Kyle pushed his wins by racing with inexperience kids in Trucks and Xfinity and that’s not how we count wins in Stock Car Racing / Nascar. He can’t even hold a job as a commentator.
A few stock car racing facts and how NASCAR use to count wins:
Richard Petty’s 200 wins were collected between 1960-1984. 27 of them came in 1967 alone, a year that saw a schedule of 49 races.
On May 20th, 1967, Richard Petty took the win at Langley Speedway. There were only 16 cars that took the green flag that day.
Some of his early “wins” were against drivers whose “racing cars” were the same vehicles that drove them to the track! Some of these early stock car race wins were 50-lap races against competition that was hardly as professional as today’s Infinity and Truck series “teams”!
Vigorous pre and post race inspections rarely happened in the 1960 to 1984 timeline in which Petty competed. The reality is that if you rewind the clock back to a few decades earlier, the sport was not anywhere near as strict. Had the present-day rules been in effect in those days, Richard Petty would have had a hard time.
“In the 1983 Cup Series race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, he managed to best most of his rivals. In the process, he stormed to the 198th win of his career, but that win was not without controversy. Inspecting cars was not as strict as it was today, a situation arose after the race that caused officials to inspect his car. Suffice to say, there was a lot going on under the hood of that Pontiac. First and foremost, the left-side tires were located on the right side of the car. This is because the team wanted to extract as much performance as possible.”
“However, the bombshell dropped once the officials popped the hood of the car. Back then, the engine had to be 358 cubic inches, but the Petty Enterprises car’s engine was 381 cubic inches. As a result, NASCAR fined the team $35,000 and docked 104 points. Interestingly, Richard Petty was allowed to keep his win and register his 198th triumph.” How many of his previous 197 wins were also tainted?
It should be noted that many of Kyle Busch’s Infinity and Truck series wins were not only against “inexperience kids” but also against many “Cup” drivers that also participated in these races and still do! They all failed to have anywhere near his level of success in either NASCAR’s 2nd or 3rd series. ( 102 in Xfinity and 62 in trucks).
You might say that Petty raced with better engineering and sponsorships in the early years against competition that did not have his “resources “; this aided his amassing all those wins. Not to mention, a lack of inspections to ensure an even playing field.
Busch’s success as a team owner and developer of drivers should also be noted; Since debuting in 2010, Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) has quickly established itself as one of the most successful teams in all of NASCAR. His passion for winning has resulted in the organization holding the Camping World Truck Series records for most career wins (98) and most wins in a single season (14 in 2014). In addition to collecting a series-record seven Owner’s Championships, the organization has produced two championship-winning drivers; Erik Jones (2015) and Christopher Bell (2017).
Just my opinion but it seems the “Petty” contingent (especially Kyle Petty) looks to denigrate anything Kyle Busch does since they know that a deep look into NASCAR history tells a slightly different story about the “King”, his legacy and all his “wins”! If he was competing against todays competition with modern engineering shared by all and much tougher NASCAR scrutiny, he’d be nowhere near 200 wins or have 27 wins in one year.
chevy needed a better NASCAR truck team and now they got one.since all the truck teams run the same engine it was not lack of power that hurt chevy but the handling so now they will have all the secrets of KBM trucks
Not just gaining the expertise of KBM built and developed truck chassis (they do their own and for select other Toyota teams), it puts a giant hole in and stunts the TRD driver development path that linked lower level racing that got some corporate support like Donnie Wilson super late models, Keith Kuntz midgets, Venturini Arca to Gibbs xfinity and cup. Drivers that excelled at KBM like C Bell moved on, others like Rafael Lessard flunked out and went home.
Kyle has not run a Chevy since his Hendrich days. He was let go because of his BS, back then. RCR, may have had a real “Sit Down” with him. There are just too many up and coming young guns, to keep being “kyle Busch”. Something needs to change. Is this the ticket for that to happen? Time will tell. I thought he would stay with Toyota and drive for 23/11. One last hoo rah with his brother Kurt. Still may happen. Good luck RCR, if he does go there. Austin is a spoiled little brat. They should get along just FINE!!!!!
Like Kyle or not, he’s a great race car driver
Richard Childress has lost his mind why would he even consider such a stupid move Kyle Bush of all people. Please Richard wake up don’t do it , you already made a BIG mistake by not retiring the number 3 🥺
I fully agree about RCR not retiring the number 3. Austin is no where near the right driver for that car. Nascar frowns on retiring numbers tho. He just could have put it “On the shelf” for ever. Never to be used again. if Kyle is going there, RCR is in for a very bumpy ride fer sure. Again, time will tell if it is the right move.
It doesn’t work like that. The numbers are owned by NASCAR and leased to the car owners.
Love the article and the comments it sparked! Please post more NASCAR articles! Love your work, Alexandra.
Sounds like RCR has a sponsor locked up with Kleenex!
Jofa – No it’s Summers Eve
Mars is not only big time sponsor to leave the sport that has not sponsored Busch even though some think they are!
Also, everyone must be watching something else as I see a lot of drivers using their car as battering rams when they get taken out!
Toyota losing a top notch truck team plus a driver that has given them more wins than any other driver!
Don’t quite get where all this comes from other than just being a Nom KB fan!
The real “whiners” are the KB “haters”! Let’s wait to see what he does at RCR to add to his Hall of Fame career.
I didn’t know that KBM Motorsports was involved with this. Unless Kyle tells them to suck it if he is no longer driving for them
he had to find someone who will support his truck team and him together
As much as I can’t stand KB’s whining crying @$$, I have to give credit where credit is due. Kyle can certainly wheel a race car and definitely doesn’t take any BS from anyone on or off the track. He is smart enough to take advantage of his talent and use it to earn what he has today. Unlike some that had it handed to them he had to make his career happen. Talent, hard work and dedication is what made him as successful as he is today. (Man, did I say that out loud!). One things for certain, Chevrolet will rack up some points in the winners circle in the up and coming year and possibly years if Childress can change KGs whining and crying ways. I’m not a KB fan but don’t mind seeing him driving the Bowtie brand and racking us up some wins!