Kyle Busch, the two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, is selling his Truck Series team to Spire Motorsports. Busch, who launched Kyle Busch Motorsports in 2010, announced the decision on social media:
As noted by The Athletic’s Jordan Bianchi, KBM has been a proving ground not only for the Xfinity Series but it has a launching pad for several current Cup Series racers, including a couple who are still in the fight for this year’s championship:
Busch and KBM are credited with helping to launch the careers of several drivers, a list that includes Christopher Bell, William Byron, Erik Jones and Bubba Wallace, all of whom went on to win multiple Cup races. That KBM served as the incubator for young drivers seeking to make a name for themselves was in conjunction with it being Toyota’s flagship Truck organization, a relationship that included Toyota providing KBM resources, equipment and personnel. But that partnership ended when Busch left Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota’s primary Cup team, after the 2022 season to join Chevrolet-backed Richard Childress Racing.
KBM has won more Truck Series races than any other team with 100, and has captured seven owner’s championships and two driver titles (Jones in 2015 and Bell in 2017). After twelve years with Toyota, the team switched to Chevrolet, a decision that came on the heels of Busch’s departure from Joe Gibbs Racing in the Cup Series. Busch had moved on to Richard Childress Racing, where he drives the #8 Chevrolet.
Bianchi reports that Spire now has a wider infrastructure to build its Cup Series team as it prepares for the 2024 campaign. It plans on adding a third full-time team next year and entered an alliance with Trackhouse Racing. Yet it also inherits the most successful Truck group of all-time, something Kyle Busch will certainly keep an eye on considering how that series helped build his formerly “Rowdy” reputation on and off the track during his career.