Kyle Busch: Driver, No. 51 JBL® Toyota
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Overview:
Event: Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200, Race 2 of 23, 134 Laps –30/30/74; 201 Miles
Location: Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway at (1.5-mile tri-oval)
Date/Broadcast: March 4, 2022, at 9 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 Friday night for his first of five NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts in 2022. Busch will also pilot the No. 51 at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Tex. (March 19), Martinsville (Va.) Speedway (April 7), Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway (May 1) and Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway (June 11). JBL, the authority in engineering superior sound, will adorn Busch’s Toyota for Friday night’s 134-lap event. The remainder of the sponsor lineup for Busch’s four remaining events will be announced at a later date.
Busch, the winningest driver in series history, enters Friday’s event having won 38.1% (61/160) of the Truck Series races he has entered and finished first or second in 55.5% (91/160). Over his last 21 Truck Series starts, the talented wheelman has finished first or second in 19 of his last 21 starts, including 13 victories dating back to his triumph at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway in August of 2018 that was part of his second career weekend sweep of the famed track.
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 (7,528).
The Las Vegas native has won three of the last four spring Camping World Truck Series events at his hometown track (2018-2020), leading a combined 35.6% (191/536) of the total laps in those races. More impressively, Busch has won each of those races with a different crew chief. Mike Hillman Jr. was atop the pit box for his first Truck Series win at Las Vegas in 2018, Rudy Fugle called the shots in 2019 and Danny Stockman led the No. 51 team to victory in 2020. Last year Busch finished second to his KBM teammate John Hunter Nemechek with first-year crew chief Mardy Lindley.
Lindley returns to KBM for his second season atop the pit box of the No. 51 team. 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.
In addition to his three truck wins at Las Vegas, Busch has two XFINITY Series triumphs (2016 and 2019), and a Cup Series win (2009) at the 1.5-mile tri-oval.
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 Friday’s race at Las Vegas. 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 five races in the Camping World Truck Series this year?
“Competing in the Camping World Truck Series in my own equipment is something I really enjoy doing, and as long as I’m allowed to race and my name is on the door, I’ll be running as many as I possibly can. I know everyone at KBM worked hard alongside the folks at Toyota and TRD on this new Tundra TRD Pro. It’s really sharp looking and I’m looking forward to hitting the track in Vegas for my first race with it. JBL will be onboard for this race in Vegas, they’ve been a long-time partner at KBM back to when (Christopher) Bell first got started back in 2015, and it’s been a little while since we’ve got them to victory lane, so hopefully we can accomplish that on Friday night, we’ve been really good in the trucks there. JBL has been a great sponsor for us, a fun one to have as well, I use their wireless headphones to work out with and their Quantum gaming headphones when I’m iRacing.”
You’ve been able to finish first or second in 19 of your last 21 Truck Series starts. How tough is that to accomplish?
“Good numbers are good numbers and bad numbers are bad numbers. It feels good. Obviously, it’s a testament to what we’re doing at KBM. How many of those slipped through our fingers and could’ve, would’ve, should’ve been wins? Obviously the goal every year is to go five for five like we were able to do in 2019. Last year we came up a little bit short and were only able to get two wins and we finished second in the other three. The good thing for Kyle Busch the owner is the three that I didn’t win last year John Hunter (Nemechek) was able to get the win and keep the trophy at KBM, but Kyle Busch the driver doesn’t like finishing second so we are going to have to step our game up a little bit this year. Chandler (Smith) looked really strong at the end of last year and we were finally able to be able to achieve the goal of having all three teams running well and winning races. Hopefully this year some of those KBM one-two finishes that John Hunter and myself were able to achieve last year will now turn into one-two-three finishes this year — with the 51 coming out on top of course.”
Kyle Busch Career Highlights:
- Busch has a total of 160 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 38.1% (61/160) of the NCWTS races he has entered and finished first or second in 56.9% (91/160).
- 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-69: The No. 51 JBL team will race KBM-69 for Friday’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It is the same Tundra TRD Pro that Busch led 16 laps with en route to a runner-up finish in last year’s March race at Las Vegas.
Click here to see KBM-69 Performance Profile
KBM Notes of Interest:
- KBM drivers have collected five wins, four poles, 688 laps led, 14 top-five and 21 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 13.1 across 42 starts at Las Vegas.
- John Hunter Nemechek collected a victory at the spring Las Vegas race in 2021, while Busch won in the spring of 2018, 2019 and 2020 and Erik Jones was victorious in the fall of 2014.
- KBM holds the Camping World Truck Series records for most career wins (90) and most wins in a single season (14 in 2014). With his victory at Bristol Motor Speedway last September, Chandler Smith became the 17th 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 37 victories, the No. 51 is the winningest number in KBM’s Truck Series fleet.
