Kyle Busch: Driver, No. 51 Safelite® Toyota
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Overview:
Event: XPEL 225, Race 4 of 23, 42 Laps –12/14/16; 143.22 Miles
Location: Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas (3.426-mile, 20-turn road course)
Date/Broadcast: March 26, 2022, at 1 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR 90
The Report on ‘Rowdy’:
Owner-driver Kyle Busch gets behind the wheel of the No. 51 Safelite Tundra TRD Pro Saturday at COTA for his second of five NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts in 2022. Despite having 161 Truck Series starts under his belt, Saturday’s 42-lap event will mark his first-ever start on a road course in the Truck Series. Busch, the winningest driver in series history, enters COTA having won 37.8% (61/161) of the Truck Series races he has entered and finished first or second in 57.1% (92/161). The talented wheelman has finished first or second in 20 of his last 22 starts, including a second-place finish in his first Truck Series start of the 2022 season at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway.
The No. 51 Tundra TRD Pro that ‘Rowdy’ will be piloting at Circuit of the Americas will have a different look this week. Busch will get behind the wheel of a flat white Safelite Tundra TRD Pro with Safelite, the nation’s largest provider of vehicle glass repair, replacement and recalibration services, as the primary sponsor. Busch’s white truck is a reciprocal of the No. black Safelite Tundra TRD Pro that Chandler Smith drives on a regular basis. The two drivers have engaged in a challenge on social media, pledging that the lower finisher in Saturday’s event will clean all the windshields at KBM next week.
In addition to his Truck Series leading 61 wins, ‘Rowdy’ also ranks first all-time among Truck Series drivers in driver rating (123.6), average finish (6.6) and is second in laps led (7,559).
While it will be Busch’s first time racing on a road course in the Truck Series, the 36-year-old driver has already found victory lane at COTA. He captured the pole for the inaugural NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the 3.426-mile, 20-turn road course last year and went on to lead 35 of 46 laps en route to his 98th career series victory. The Las Vegas native has collected four wins on road courses in the NASCAR Cup Series and his victory at COTA last year was his fourth in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
Mardy Lindley returns to KBM for his second season atop the pit box of the No. 51 team. In addition to this year’s win with Corey Heim at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the No. 51 team produced three victories in Lindley’s first season as a crew chief at KBM, two with Busch and one with Martin Truex Jr. Before arriving at KBM, Lindley guided his drivers to 32 wins and four ARCA Menards Series East championships since 2013, including back-to-back titles with Sam Mayer the last two seasons. Additionally, he earned the ARCA Menards Series Sioux Chief Showdown championship with Mayer in 2020. Behind the wheel, the second-generation driver won 11 races on the Pro Cup Series from 2000 to 2006 and was crowned the series champion in 2001. Lindley’s one race atop the pit box at COTA resulted in an 18th-place finish with Parker Chase last year.
Rowdy Energy, the enhanced hydration formula energy drink created by Busch, and vendor partner QuickTrip, one of the top convenience store retailers, will adorn the bedtop of the No. 51 Tundra for Saturday’s 42-lap race. Rowdy Energy Drink is currently available in 10 flavors, including seven sugar free options that are KETO certified. Use Rowdy Energy’s store locator at https://rowdyenergy.com/pages/store-locator to find where you can pick up a can today, or order online at www.rowdyenergy.com.
Kyle Busch, Driver Q&A:
Are you looking forward to your first-ever road course start in the Truck Series?
“I guess it’s kind of crazy to think that I’ve made so many starts in the Truck Series and this will be my first on a road course. Back when I was running more races in the Truck Series, in the late 2000’s and early 2010’s, there wasn’t many road courses on the schedule and the ones that were on the schedule were typically stand alones. When the schedule came out last year, I had COTA and Watkins Glen on my wish list at first glance, but Cup Series drivers weren’t eligible for either of those two, so I’m glad that it worked out this year where not only will I be racing this weekend at COTA, but Sonoma in June is also on my truck schedule. Hopefully, we can check off another box and get a win on a road course in all three series. Safelite has been a long-time sponsor of ours at KBM, so it’s cool to have them sponsoring my truck this weekend and they’ll be on again at Charlotte. The flat white Tundra TRD Pro looks really good. Hopefully, we can put it in victory lane Saturday and celebrate with all the Safelite folks — they are a great sponsor who always brings a lot of associates out at the track and that is cool to see.”
You are running both the Cup Series and Truck Series races this weekend. Are doubleheaders fun for you?
“I feel like preparing for a doubleheader is pretty easy. I’ve always been used to running in two or three races in a weekend, running the Truck, Xfinity, Cup, whatever it may be. I like that, so I think it gives us an opportunity to get out there and get our feet wet in the Truck Series, and get a feel for the tire and the new car and really think about what you can learn. I’m a bit of a perfectionist, so it will be nice to have some extra track time to work on my car and get some experience and also have just a little bit more knowledge of what it’s like beyond what we do in our SIM and other ways we prepare for races and the limited practice time we will have.”
Kyle Busch Camping World Truck Series Career Highlights:
- Busch has a total of 161 Camping World Trucks starts and is ranked first all-time in wins (61), driver rating (123.6) and average finish (6.6).
- The 36-year-old driver has won 37.8% (61/161) of the NCWTS races he has entered and finished first or second in 57.1% (92/161).
- Busch stands alone as the leader in all-time career wins in NASCAR’s national touring series with 222 total victories. He has earned 59 NASCAR Cup Series wins, 102 NASCAR Xfinity Series wins, and 61 NCWTS wins.
- In August of 2010, Busch made history when he won the NCWTS, NXS and NCS races at Bristol Motor Speedway, becoming the only driver to sweep all three of NASCAR’s top three series at one track on the same weekend. He then repeated the feat in August of 2017.
Kyle Busch’s No. 51 Safelite Tundra:
KBM-71: The No. 51 Safelite team will race KBM-71 for Saturday’s race at COTA. In its lone start, Corey Heim finished 18th with this Toyota at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International Raceway last August.
Click here to see KBM-71 Performance Profile
KBM Notes of Interest:
- KBM drivers produced an average finish of 21.0 in last year’s Truck Series event at Circuit of the Americas with John Hunter Nemechek scoring a team-best 12th-place finish.
- Erik Jones’ victory in 2015 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Bowmanville, Ont. is KBM’s lone win on a road course.
- KBM holds the Camping World Truck Series records for most career wins (92) and most wins in a single season (14 in 2014). With his victory at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway, Corey Heim became the 18th different driver to win a Truck Series event for KBM. In addition to collecting a series-record seven Owner’s Championships, the organization has produced two championship-winning drivers: Erik Jones (2015) and Christopher Bell (2017).
- With 38 victories, the No. 51 is the winningest number in KBM’s Truck Series fleet.
