KANSAS CITY, KANSAS – SEPTEMBER 11: Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M’s Toyota, walks the grid prior to the NASCAR Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway on September 11, 2022 in Kansas City, Kansas. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
Kyle Busch’s name in the top list of NASCAR is something that cannot be questioned. Over his two-decade-long career, he has achieved much, both on and off the track. While his reputation as the “villain” of NASCAR is something that has waned of late, his strong-willed personality and character still stand tall.
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Though his current season as a race car driver hasn’t been very impactful, he has been in the spotlight as a team owner. In an exclusive interview with Essentially Sports, former crew chief of Kyle Busch Motorsports, Shannon Rursch, voiced his take on his boss and team.
Kyle Busch’s former crew chief brings new light on his boss with the latest revelations
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Kyle Busch’s career in the top series of NASCAR has spanned a time during which he has driven for the big three – Joe Gibbs, Rick Hendrick, and Richard Childress. What he has also achieved during this time along with 2 Cup Series championships, is the image of a “rowdy” in the sport. Right from the onset of his career, he has picked brawls with many, including his current team’s owner, Richard Childress.
While the driver has embraced that identity for a long time and been at peace with it, his ex-crew chief from Kyle Busch Motorsports took it upon himself to reveal newer shades of the driver in an exclusive interview with Essentially Sports. Answering a question about the ownership part of Kyle Busch’s personality, he said, “I don’t have anything bad to say. I mean he is a very very intelligent race car driver. He knows every single thing that goes on. He knows all the ins and outs. He knows what feel he is looking for. As a business owner, again, a very intelligent individual.”
Lauding his boss for all the wisdom that he’d imparted, Rursch sounded pleased with his time at KBM. He continued, “He was an integral part of that organization. Certainly a part of the day-to-day operations, but I mean very very competitive and very very intelligent. So I can’t say enough about that. Certainly is a very very good business owner.”
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However, despite his strongly positive words for Busch’s intelligence, he refused to comment much on the recent sale of Kyle Busch Motorsports to Spire Motorsports.
Shannon Rursch shies away from commenting on the sale of KBM
Laying the founding stone for Kyle Busch Motorsports in 2010, the two-time Cup Series champion built it into one of the most successful franchises in the Truck Series. With 100 career wins and 7 owner championships, it stands as a juggernaut in NASCAR. While the sale of the team brought around many speculations involving the potential retirement of Kyle Busch from racing, it has been refuted from all sides. The sale to Spire Motorsports involved the team’s race shop, all its labor, and Rowdy Manufacturing.
Questioned about his take on the sudden sale, Rursch refused to reveal any particulars about it. He said, “It’s a great company to work for. Kyle’s a super intense competitor. But to speak on anything regarding the sale of KBM or the direction it is heading, I don’t have any insight into that. (…) He felt that it was the right time to sell and Kyle’s a very very intelligent individual. So I don’t know that it took anybody by surprise, I don’t know that anybody was expecting it. If that makes sense.”
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Though the crew chief did not provide any details about the sale in the exclusive interview with Essentially Sports, Kyle Busch himself recently revealed some information. Talking to SiriusXM before the Craftsman Truck Series finale race, he talked about how he’d baited Spire Motorsports into buying KBM and said, “I was like, dumbfounded. I had no idea that they would take the bait. But it happened.”
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The words from Shannon Rursch about the dimension of Kyle Busch as a team owner add further weight to watching him depart with the entity that he so carefully built up. Hopefully, the driver’s newer ventures allow him to display the same intelligence and caliber to create more organizations along the lines of Kyle Busch Motorsports.
EXCLUSIVE: Former KBM Crew Chief Makes Revelations About Kyle Busch but Keeps Hush About KBM Sale
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