Kyle Busch has sold his Truck Series team, Kyle Busch Motorsports, to Spire Motorsports.
Included in the sale are not only the assets of Busch’s truck team, but also Rowdy Manufacturing, the 77,000 square-foot race shop, Busch’s chassis operation and CNC machine tool shop.
It has been suggested the move is a precursor to Busch buying a stake in Richard Childress Racing, his current Cup Series team.
KBM is one of the most successful teams in the history of the truck series. It has won 100 races and two championships (Erik Jones in 2015 and Christopher Bell in 2017) and holds the record for the most wins in a season.
“When we started the Truck Series team back in 2010, I never imagined that we would be able to win 100 races with 18 different drivers and that one day I’d be racing in the Cup Series alongside so many of the drivers that I once mentored at KBM,” Busch said on social media.
“I owe a lot of gratitude to so many people, starting with Samantha and my family for believing in this dream that I had. It took countless hours by so many amazing people to make KBM the winningest team in Truck Series history.
“I will always appreciate everyone that walked through the doors and gave their all to make this such a successful organisation.
“Not only has it been the people that were employed here, but it’s also the families that supported them while they worked long hours and travelled on the weekend sacrificing time at home and missing family events.
“And I certainly can’t say enough thanks to Toyota for the first 13 years of support and to Chevrolet for stepping up to the plate this year.
“Due to their commitment and that of our great sponsors, we’ve been able to compete at the highest levels and hang a lot of banners.
“I’m at a different point in my life now than I was back in 2010. My family has grown, my Cup Series team changed this year and our son’s racing schedule has become as demanding as my own.
“It’s important to me to be able to spend more time with my family and my No. 8 team at Richard Childress Racing,” he added.
“It’ll be hard to walk away from the amazing facility that we’ve built.
“I’ll miss walking the shop floor talking with our employees, hosting our fan days in the lobby and spending countless hours there ensuring its success.
“However, I know at this point in my life and in my career that this is the correct decision.”
Spire Motorsports also released a statement on social media.
“Spire Motorsports has tremendous respect for Kyle and Samantha Busch, their staff and everything they’ve built and accomplished at KBM over the years,” it announced.
“They created a record-setting, championship-winning race team. Those accomplishments can’t be overstated.”
KBM currently fields two trucks, the number 4 Chevrolet driven by Chase Purdy full-time and the number 51, mostly driven by Jack Wood.