CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA – JANUARY 18: NASCAR driver Kyle Busch poses for a photo during NASCAR … [+]
Mark Kyle Busch down as the latest driver to “unretire” from competition. The two time NASCAR Cup champion who “retired” from the NASCAR Xfinity series after the 2021 season, announced Friday that he will makes his return to that series this season.
Busch will enter five Xfinity races with Kaulig Racing starting with the second Xfinity race of the season in his hometown of Las Vegas.
Busch holds the record for wins in the Xfinity series reaching 102 overall victories in 2021. The 2009 Xfinity series champion had stated that he would retire from the series after reaching the 100 win plateau which he did in June of that year. The final two wins came in that same season as he had committed to running a total of five Xfinity series races. That season he would go on to win all five of the Xfinity races he entered.
“I’m looking forward to having some fun in the Xfinity Series again,” said Busch in a press release. “What Matt Kaulig and Chris Rice have built in just a few short years at Kaulig Racing is impressive, and with the team’s alliance with Richard Childress Racing (RCR), this made for an easy decision to be back competing in a series that I’ve had success in over the years.”
NASCAR began restricting drivers who have more than more than three years of Cup experience to a limited number of races in both the Xfinity and Truck series starting in 2017 when drivers were allowed 10 races; the following year it was reduced to seven, and finally five in 2020. These drivers are also banned from competing in the regular season finale and the playoffs in each series, along with special events in each series (Dash
After Vegas Busch will also compete in Kaulig Racing’s No. 10 Chevrolet at Phoenix Raceway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Watkins Glen International, and Darlington Raceway. The team said partner announcements will come later.
“Kyle Busch is a true competitor and will forever be known as one of the best – and winningest – NASCAR drivers of all time,” said Chris Rice, president of Kaulig Racing. “We’re excited to have a former Cup and Xfinity Series champion bring his experience and knowledge to our team. There is no doubt in our minds that Kyle will help our Xfinity Program grow and contend for wins this year.”
Busch will also race in five events in the Truck series with his own Kyle Busch Motorsports team. Busch is also the winningest Truck Series driver with 62 career victories and has won at least one series race in each of the last 10 seasons.
In that series, Busch will also race at Vegas, as well as Circuit of The Americas (March 25), Martinsville Speedway (April 14), Kansas Speedway (May 6) and Pocono Raceway (July 22).
Busch has secured sponsorship for those races with Zariz Transport, an intermodal drayage company specializing in transporting containers from the ports.
“Through working with Kyle and Samantha as the title sponsors of their Bundle of Joy gala, we recognized that there was a business synergy between Zariz and KBM and that the opportunity to align ourselves with one of the most successful drivers in the history of NASCAR is going to be very beneficial to us as we continue to grow our company,” said Yaakov Guzelgul, founder and CEO of Zariz. “We look forward to seeing our logo on the No. 51 in the coming years and hosting our employees and customers at the track to cheer on Kyle as he looks to add more wins to an already impressive resume.”
Busch left his longtime team Joe Gibbs Racing at the end of last season and joined Richard Childress Racing. In his first race for the team, last Sunday’s Clash at the L.A. Coliseum, Busch finished third.
Late last year seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson announced his return to a parttime schedule this season as part owner of Legacy Motor Club formally known as Petty-GMS Racing. His first race will be the season opening Daytona 500.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/gregengle/2023/02/10/kyle-busch-returns-to-nascars-xfinity-series-for-five-races-this-season/