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TRUCKS: Busch Serious About New Venture
Kyle Busch said his experiences at Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing will benefit him as an owner...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted December 13, 2009   Charlotte, NC
Even though he ran only a partial season in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, Kyle Busch finished 17th in the 2009 points standings. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Kyle Busch minced no words about his move into NASCAR team ownership, something that eventually could see him end up as a Sprint Cup owner.

“This isn’t a joke,” Busch said Friday after a press conference at SPEED’s studios in Charlotte during which he announced the formation of Kyle Busch Motorsports, a team that will field two Toyota Tundras in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series next year. “That’s not what I want it to look like. This is for real.”

Indeed it is. Busch has purchased the assets of Xpress Motorsports and will operate his two-truck team out of the old Xpress shop until the new multi-million dollar Kyle Busch Motorsports facility is ready sometime early in 2010.

Busch said he plans to hire 45-47 employees initially for his two-truck team. Busch himself will split time with protégé Brian Ickler in the No. 18 Toyota Tundra, while impressive youngster Tayler Malsam will do the full season in the No. 56. And if the sponsorship can be cobbled together, 2008 NCWTS champ Johnny Benson will pilot a third KBM truck.

And, yes, Busch does have his eyes on bigger fish down the road. Asked by SPEEDtv.com if he envisioned KBM becoming a Sprint Cup team eventually, Busch said, “I feel like it could be, for sure. Right now, though, the sole focus is the Camping World Truck Series.
We need to hopefully have the economy turn around where there’s some more sponsors there that want to help.”

Rumors that KBM would have a NASCAR Nationwide Series presence immediately were unfounded, but the team could end up there, too.

“We don’t have a Nationwide team. That’s not quite in the near future,” said Busch. “We’ve got a lot of work to do and to build this team into a reputable, respected organization. And once we get to that point, we can move forward.”

VIDEO: Kyle Busch Motorsports Press Conference

Although he is just 24, Busch is already a veteran, having spent five years with Hendrick Motorsports and two more with Joe Gibbs Racing. And Busch is counting on that wealth of experience benefiting him as he transitions into team ownership. To that end, he and the team’s new competition director, Rick Ren, have a pool of crew chief applicants they are trying to select from. The big thing, Busch said, is finding two crew chiefs who can work well together.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to work at Hendrick Motorsports and at Joe Gibbs Racing with four crew chiefs over at Hendrick, three crew chiefs at Joe Gibbs Racing and the two over on Nationwide as well,” said Busch. “So I see how the crew chiefs worked together. I see their strengths, I see their weaknesses. And Rick, he’s also done the same thing.”

As for leaving truck owner Billy Ballew and taking sponsor Miccosukee Resorts with him, Busch had no apologies.

“I wouldn’t feel sorry for the guy,” Busch said of Ballew. “I drove for free for him for five years, and I made him a lot of money, in that respect, and brought Miccosukee to him and got him the sponsorship. … I hate to leave Billy … (but) I felt like I did all I could do at BBM. I brought that organization to a winning team that could win every single week and could compete with the Kevin Harvick’s.

“It’s time for me to move on and do something that’s a little more challenging and build my own deal from the ground up,” Busch said. “And here we are.”

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of ?Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED,? and has appeared on television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association. Jensen is the 1997 National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year and has won numerous national and state awards for news reporting, columns and feature writing. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com. Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to



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