Kyle Busch: Driver, No. 51 JBL® Toyota
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Overview:
Event: Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 200, Race 5 of 23, 200 Laps –50/50/100; 105.2 Miles
Location: Martinsville (Va.) Speedway (0.526-mile oval)
Date/Broadcast: April 7, 2022, at 8 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 JBL Tundra TRD Pro Thursday night at Martinsville for his third of five NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts in 2022. Busch opened up the season with a runner-up finish at Las Vegas and in the series’ last event scored a third-place result despite dominating the XPEL 225 at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Tex. ‘Rowdy’ led 31 of 46 laps total and found himself in control of the race before two late-race cautions would force the field to group back together. On the second overtime restart, Alex Bowman and Stewart Friesen both overdrove the entry to Turn 11 slamming into Busch and opening a hole for Zane Smith to take the late lead. After being forced off track, Busch tried to battle his way back up to the front over the final lap and a half but would ultimately bring home a third-place finish.
‘Rowdy’ is hoping that entering the Truck Series race at Martinsville every three years continues to be the charm as he has won the last two times he’s raced at the 0.526-mile oval over the last six seasons. Thursday night’s start at Martinsville will mark the first time that the Las Vegas native has competed in a Truck Series race at ‘The Paperclip’ since winning the spring event in 2019 when he led 174 of 250 laps en route to his second Truck Series triumph at Martinsville. The last time he had entered the Truck Series race prior to that was in 2016, when he led 123 of 255 laps on his way to victory lane. In addition to the two grandfather clocks he collected in Truck Series actions, Busch has won twice in Cup Series action: the spring of 2016 and the fall of 2017.
Busch, the winningest driver in series history, enters Martinsville having won 37.7% (61/162) of the Truck Series races he has entered and finished first or second in 56.8% (92/162). Since the start of the 2017 season the talented wheelman has produced an average finish of 3.2 across his 22 starts in NASCAR’s third division, including 12 wins and seven runner-up finishes.
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 (6.58) and is second in laps led (7,590).
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 has called the shots for two Truck Series events at Martinsville, with Corey Heim’s 11th-place result last October being the best finish. Lindley’s father, Butch, finished second to Harry Gant in the Cup Series race at Martinsville on April 25, 1982.
The No. 51 team currently sits fourth in the Owner’s Championship standings. After four events they are just 27 points behind the No. 18 KBM team but are currently in the owner’s portion of the playoffs via Corey Heim’s win at Atlanta.
Rowdy Energy, the enhanced hydration formula energy drink created by Busch, and vendor partner Amazon will adorn the bedtop of the No. 51 Tundra for Thursday’s race at Martinsville. 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.
All three KBM Tundra TRD Pros will carry a special decal on the B post this week promoting Autism Awareness that includes the twitter handle of NASCAR Sammy (@NASCARSammy), an avid NASCAR fan and autism advocate. Fans can visit his website, nascarsammy.com to purchase a decal and help support his mission.
Kyle Busch, Driver Q&A:
What does it take to be successful in a truck at Martinsville?
“You have to have a truck that will turn the center without getting too loose in and too loose off. You also have to play the strategy right to be up front at the end of the race and have enough tire left to hold people off. The last two truck races that I’ve won at Martinsville have been 250-lap races, so it’ll be a little bit different with Thursday night being only 200 laps and then also with the new practice system we’ll only have 15 minutes of practice to get our JBL Tundra dialed in. So, we’ll need to make sure we unload with a truck that is close because there isn’t much you can do to improve the handling with limited practice and limited pit stops in the race.”
Kyle Busch Career Highlights:
- Busch has a total of 162 Camping World Trucks starts and is ranked first all-time in wins (61), driver rating (123.6) and average finish (6.65).
- The 36-year-old driver has won 37.7% (61/162) of the NCWTS races he has entered and finished first or second in 56.8% (92/162).
- 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 JBL Tundra TRD Pro:
KBM-62: The No. 51 JBL team will race KBM-62 for Thursday’s race at Martinsville. Corey Heim finished 11th with this same Tundra last fall at Martinsville. The Toyota’s best result across nine careers starts was a runner-up finish with Busch last April at Richmond (Va.) Raceway.
Click here to see KBM-62 Performance Profile
KBM Notes of Interest:
- KBM drivers have collected eight wins, five poles, 987 laps led, 24 top-five and 38 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 9.4 across 6o starts at Martinsville. Todd Gilliland picked up the organization’s most recent victory at the 0.526-mile oval in October of 2019. Kyle Busch (2016 & 2019), Darrell Wallace Jr. (2013 & 2014), and Denny Hamlin (2011 & 2012) have all collected two victories at the Virginia track while Noah Gragson (2017) has one win.
- 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 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.
