Kyle Busch won’t expect a repeat next year for his Camping World Truck Series team. That would be expected no matter who was driving the car for a team after a season where it won 14 of the 22 events. But Busch will continue a transition he hopes has more younger drivers in his Kyle Busch Motorsports trucks next year as he will drive just four of the 22 events while fielding three full-time trucks instead of two. Busch will put Erik Jones, who won three races last year, in a truck full time thanks to the help of KBM sponsor Toyota. He then will have another truck full time for the funded Justin Boston and another truck he will split with Matt Tifft (six races) and Daniel Suarez (12 races). Suarez, backed by companies owned by Mexican businessman Carlos Slim, will run a full Xfinity (formerly Nationwide) Series schedule next year for Joe Gibbs Racing and the KBM truck. Tifft also was able to bring some funding.
Busch said it is hard to find someone to come with the $3-3.5 million needed to fund a young driver for a full season. He won’t try to do a program for less because he doesn’t believe cutting corners is best for anyone. There is proof he is right. It is not rare to see owners come and go quickly in the series, including the latest Turner Scott Motorsports team that is not expected to compete next year and already has sold many of its trucks.
‘They’re spending too much of their own money,’ Busch said about the deals some drivers have brought to owners and then what happens to the owners. ‘It’s not going to work. Look at what happened. It’s a fickle business. It’s tough. People always want to nickel and dime you and knock your price down but in reality, when you stand firm, you’re going to be the last one standing.’
It’s that philosophy that led Busch out of the Xfinity Series. He tried to do a car for himself and brother Kurt in 2012 and while Kurt won one race, Kyle went winless. Parker Kligerman had some Toyota backing and other funding and ran a car for Busch in 2013. After two years and no wins, Busch closed that part of his operation.
‘Been there, done that,’ Busch said about the possibility of going back to Xfinity. ‘It’s just so hard to compete at that level.’
Focusing just on trucks and what he had money to run paid dividends. Busch won seven truck races last year, while JGR development driver Darrell Wallace Jr. won four and Jones had three. Wallace is expected to run at least a part-time Xfinity schedule next year.(Sporting News)(11-24-2014)
