Kyle Busch: Driver, No. 51 Safelite® Toyota
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Overview:
Event: North Carolina Education Lottery 200, Race 10 of 23, 134 Laps –30/30/74; 201 Miles
Location: Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway (1.5-mile, quad-oval)
Date/Broadcast: May 27, 2022, at 8:30 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 Charlotte for his fourth of five NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts in 2022. Busch, the winningest driver in series history, enters Charlotte having won 37.4% (61/163) of the Truck Series races he has entered and finished first or second in 56.4% (92/163). 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 (7,591).
Over his last 22 Truck Series starts, the talented wheelman has an average finish of 2.4 while recording 12 wins and seven runner-up finishes. This year in the Truck Series, he has an average finish of 2.7 with 63 laps led across his three starts with a runner-up finish at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway being his best result to date. He finished third in each of the last two events he entered: COTA and Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.
The No. 51 Tundra TRD Pro that ‘Rowdy’ will be piloting at Charlotte will carry the same flat white Safelite scheme that adorned it at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Tex. earlier this year, which is a reciprocal of Chandler Smith’s black No. 18 Safelite Tundra TRD Pro. At COTA the two engaged in a friendly challenge where the lower finished would clean all the windshields at KBM the following week. Busch’s third-place result was two spots better than Smith, but accepted Smith’s double or nothing bet for this week’s race.
Finishing ahead of Busch at Charlotte will be a tough task for Smith. Across 14 Truck Series starts at the 1.5-mile track Busch has eight wins, 12 top-five and 13 top-10 finishes. He has led 789 laps and has an average finish of 2.5. He picked up his first career Truck Series victory driving for Billy Ballew Motorsports at Charlotte in 2005.Over his last 10 Truck Series starts at the North Carolina track, he has won six times and in the other four events he finished in the runner-up position. In addition to his eight Truck Series wins, the Las Vegas native has nine Xfinity Series wins and one Cup Series victory in the Queen City.
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. Lindley’s one race atop the pit box at Charlotte resulted in an 20th-place finish with Drew Dollar last year.
Rowdy Energy, the enhanced hydration formula energy drink created by Busch and vendor partner Harris Teeter, a regional grocery chain, will adorn the bedtop of the No. 51 Tundra for Friday’s 134-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.
Busch will make his fifth and final Truck Series start of 2022 June 4 at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway. Yahoo, a global media and tech company that connects people to their passions, will serve as the primary sponsor on his No. 51 Tundra TRD Pro.
Kyle Busch, Driver Q&A:
Are you looking forward to this week’s Truck Series race at Charlotte?
“I love racing Charlotte in the trucks because there is a lot of throttle on time and the enjoyment of diving into the corners and feeling the load that you feel. Turns 1 and 2 are different than 3 and 4, so you have to attack them differently. I think knowing those differences helps me as a driver versus maybe some of the other drivers that try do drive both ends the same – you just can’t do it. Charlotte has always been a race that I like to run on my Truck Series schedule because it’s always cool to have a lot of the employees from KBM and their families out at the track and when you are able to win and have those people there to celebrate with you in victory lane it makes it extra special.”
Kyle Busch Camping World Truck Series Career Highlights:
- Busch has a total of 163 Camping World Trucks starts and is ranked first all-time in wins (61), driver rating (123.6) and average finish (6.6).
- The 37-year-old driver has won 37.4% (61/163) of the NCWTS races he has entered and finished first or second in 56.4% (92/163).
- Busch stands alone as the leader in all-time career wins in NASCAR’s national touring series with 223 total victories. He has earned 60 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-69: The No. 51 Safelite team will race KBM-69 for Friday’s race at Charlotte. Busch has finished runner-up each time he has gotten behind the wheel of this Tundra TRD Pro; earlier this year at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway and last year at Las Vegas. In its most recent outing, Corey Heim finished 22nd with it at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway earlier this month.
KBM Notes of Interest:
- Across 33 starts at Charlotte Motor Speedway, KBM drivers have earned seven wins, three poles, 14 top-five and 23 top-10 finishes, with an average starting position of 9.7 and an average finish of 9.0.
- John Hunter Nemechek picked up the victory in last year’s Charlotte race. Prior to that, owner-driver Kyle Busch had collected all six of his organization’s wins (2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2017 and 2018).
- KBM holds the Camping World Truck Series records for most career wins (93) 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.
