NASCAR: Kyle Busch shuts down one of his race teams

Kyle Busch Motorsports will still compete in the NASCAR Truck Series, but Kyle Busch has shuttered the team’s super late model program.

Kyle Busch has placed his ownership focus on his NASCAR Truck Series team for the upcoming season, as he has made the decision to shut down the Kyle Busch Motorsports super late model team, at least for now, he confirmed on Monday.

Kyle Busch Motorsports are still slated to compete in the upcoming Truck Series season, with John Hunter Nemechek behind the wheel of the #4 Toyota and Chandler Smith behind the wheel of the #18 Toyota in a full-time capacity.

Busch, the winningest driver in Truck Series history, plans to compete in five races behind the wheel of the #51 Toyota, just as he usually does, with another driver(s) behind the wheel for the other 17 races on the 22-race schedule.

He is set to continue on with his full-time role with Joe Gibbs Racing’s Cup Series team behind the wheel of the #18 Toyota as well, and with new crew chief Ben Beshore.

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This was one of the factors involved in his decision to shut down his super late model team. He also noted the commitments he has with Rowdy Energy, the energy drinks business he founded two years ago and still co-owns, as one of the other reasons why he made the tough decision.

Here is part of what the 35-year-old Las Vegas, Nevada native had to say about shutting down his super late model team for the time being in an interview with MRN Radio.

"“It’s insane, literally. I think it was last week that there was so much stuff going on and flying around. Everyone thinks the offseason is your off time and it’s just been hectic. I’ve been trying to do Kyle Busch Motorsports stuff and Rowdy Energy stuff and been getting reading with an all-new Joe Gibbs Racing team. It’s been crazy.“I told Samantha, ‘I can’t have anything else thrown my way right now. I am to the max. I have to start throwing some stuff out.’ Lo and behold, unfortunately I shut my super late model team down. That was just one of the things that I couldn’t seem to find the right circumstances and right people to run that thing for me. It just didn’t make sense right now anymore. We’ll see if it makes sense in the future. Those are the kind of things you have to sacrifice and put aside.”"

Sammy Smith competed for the team in select events last year, but he is set to join Donnie Wilson Motorsports for the 2021 season.

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Busch is looking to bounce back after a 2020 Cup Series season which saw him eliminated in the round of 12 of the playoffs. The two-time champion finished in a seventh place tie in the championship standings with just one win at Texas Motor Speedway, and he missed out on the Championship 4 for the first time since 2014, which was the last time he did not win multiple races.

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