Kyle Busch claims JGR ‘didn’t try hard’ enough to sell him and asked him to drive sponsor-less cars

Kyle Busch left JGR as the winningest NASCAR driver ever.

Kyle Busch claims JGR ‘didn’t try hard’ enough to sell him and asked him to drive sponsor-less cars

Kyle Busch (Via IMAGO)

In the 2023 NASCAR Cup season he marked the return of two-time Champion Kyle Busch to Chevy. He ended his 15-year stay at Toyota team Joe Gibbs Racing, earning him over 200 wins in all three national series to join Richard Childress Racing. He replaced Tyler Reddick, who later joined 23XI Racing.

The major reason Kyle Busch exited from JGR was the lack of sponsorship. The team lost Busch’s longtime sponsor, M&M, and failed to replace them with a new partner. Busch announced his move out of JGR after a long wait toward the end of the 2022 season. The champion driver has given more insight into his exit one year after the move.

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Busch admitted that JGR should have worked harder to get him new partners for the 2023 season and beyond. He claimed he was given a contract to drive cars without sponsorship. But he refused the offer as he didn’t want Joe Gibbs, with whom he had worked for 15, to spend his money to allow him to race.

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Did JGR try hard enough to sell me? My answer to that is no…[Instead] they offered me a contract to race there and they weren’t going to have sponsorship on the car, but I didn’t feel like that was fair for the 15 years that I was there; I didn’t want Joe putting his own money into the program.
Kyle Busch told The Athletic.

Kyle Busch has become a fan favorite since the RCR move           

Without a doubt, Busch was one of the most hated drivers in the garage during his time at JGR. He overcame the general distaste towards many Toyota drivers by moving out of the team, and Busch’s social media game, where he was able to show him as a normal family man, helped the race fans to love him more.

Kyle Busch celebrating his first win with RCR
Kyle Busch celebrates his first win with RCR (Credits: The Day.com)

Busch addressed this change in fans’ attitude towards him, saying the move out of Toyota to Chevy had a significant effect on the family. He also pointed out that the iconic nature of RCR and the No:8 car has made fans give him the fair shot he never got. 

I feel as though the move from JGR Toyota to RCR Chevrolet was a big deal in the fan base and the eyes of casual and avid fans, if you will. Just kind of like, ‘OK, well, we love this. This is a great mix.’ … People are just excited for me to be a part of the legacy of RCR. And they love the legacy of RCR and Richard and everything that they’re about, so they’ve given me my fair shot, and I think it’s going well.

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