When you have a candy company as your primary sponsor, favors do not come in cash only. So, Kyle Busch thoroughly enjoyed the ‘kind’ side of his 15-year-long partnership with M&M’s, beyond the professional realm. Over the years, the brand has created some memorable flavors, including peanut butter candy, milk chocolates, pretzels, and even crunchy cookies. Busch also had his own unique favorite flavor- naked M&M’s. But here is the twist: you don’t find them in shops. However, Kyle did get his ones. Guess how.

“Me personally what was my favorite? The naked M&Ms. So nobody gets those naked ones; you gotta know a guy. So it’s literally just the chocolate. You can get peanuts with the chocolate covered with no hard candy shell. You gotta know somebody; you have to call them. If you want the nakeds, you get the nakeds before they put the colored shell on the outside. It is very delightful,” Busch had revealed. However, after years of this sweetness that also saw Kyle at JGR and enjoying two Cup Series championships and 55 Cup Series races, things turned a bit sour when M&M’s announced to leave NSACAR after the 2022 season. What went wrong?

Well, it wasn’t a bitter fallout by any means. The president of M&M’s parent company Mars Wrigley, Anton Vincent had pointed out, “There’s a bit of a shift in our sports marketing strategy. Our consumer base is very distributive.” But the point is that it left Rowdy high and dry as he could not find a prominent partner to support his team at JGR. Sponsorship has always been a driving force for NASCAR drivers to find the right opportunities and strive for success. Over the years, we have seen some iconic sponsor/driver pairings such as Dupont-Jeff Gordon, Budweiser-Dale Jr., and Jimmie Johnson-Lowes.

“In other sports, a team doesn’t lose a sponsor and then have to give up its top talent,” Busch had stated the hard reality. Eventually, this forced him to jump ship to Richard Childress Racing in 2023. But is the $117 billion candy company looking to re-enter NASCAR? Well, yes, if the prediction of the rumor mills is to be believed. But it’s not with Rowdy.

This rumor started to swirl when FRM’s senior-most driver, Todd Gilliland, was seen posing with a yellow M&M’s helmet in a social media post. Although there’s no confirmation from the driver or the team regarding the new sponsorship deal, fans online were quick to jump the gun in forming links. On the other hand, drivers do not feature a sponsor on helmets without a purpose, so this appearance of M&M’s on Gilliand’s helmet has certainly been the talk of the town.

Interestingly, well before M&M’s partnered with Kyle Busch, they were in partnership with Robert Yates Racing. Todd’s father, David Gilliand, was supported by M&M’s during 2007 on the No. 38 car. The candy company’s first NASCAR Cup Series wins came with Elliott Sadler in 2004, who also raced for Robert Yates Racing. So, there is the family connection alongside their strong foundation with Ford Camp, which might bring them back to the sport.

“It makes sense for us to evaluate all of our investments, sports marketing or not, making sure we put the right investments in the right place. There is no malice and no lack of performance from NASCAR, and certainly not from Coach Gibbs and Kyle.” This was the statement Mars Inc. shared before departing from NASCAR, leaving a huge void within the industry. Interestingly, despite the long partnership, there was one occasion when things turned truly bitter between M&M’s and Kyle.

Top Comment by Arbury nall

Yes I think they did Busch got screwed ,he can still drive ,he’s not my favorite but then is a...more

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The saga began on November 4, 2011, when Busch, driving for his own team, intentionally wrecked Ron Hornaday Jr. on Lap 14 of the Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway, ending the four-time champion’s hope of another title. Later, Busch was fined $50,000 by NASCAR, placed on probation for the remainder of the season, and told any further misconduct could result in being suspended indefinitely. That led JGR and Mars Incorporated, the parent company of M&M’s officials, to discuss whether to further punish the 26-year-old driver.

Eventually, Kyle had to compete in the final two Sprint Cup races without M&M’s on his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota because Mars Incorporated was displeased with his behavior and threatened to pull out. “Kyle’s recent actions are unacceptable and do not reflect the values of Mars,” Debra A. Sandler, chief consumer officer of Mars Chocolate North America had said. “While we do not condone Kyle’s recent actions, we do believe that he has shown remorse and has expressed a desire to change. We believe our decision will have a positive impact on Kyle and will help him return next season ready to win.” Even JGR had supported the decision.

Now it is hard to guess if we could see M&M’s come back in the capacity of a primary sponsor at FRM. Ruedebusch Development & Construction and gener8tor have been announced as the primary sponsors for the No. 34 Ford Mustang. Then there is Love’s Travel Stop, which is also continuing its long-standing partnership with the team and will fund Todd Gilliland for multiple races in 2025.

The best-case scenario is we might see M&M’s return as a sponsor for a few events, and that sponsorship deal could be spread across the FRM drivers line-up. However, given that there’s no official announcement regarding the same, all of this could amount to nothing. After all, it’s just a rumor until it is confirmed. Speaking of sponsorship, we did see the return of Red Bull back to NASCAR for the first time since 2011. They will be the primary sponsor for Trackhouse Racing drivers Shane van Gisbergen and debutant Connor Zilisch.

Red Bull announces their comeback to NASCAR

Trackhouse Racing already has two Red Bull athletes on their squad. SVG has been with the energy drink brand since 2016, and Zilisch signed with them after the Xfinity Series win at Watkins Glen last season. SVG’s No. 88 car will feature the Red Bull schemes for five Cup Series races. They will also serve as the primary sponsor for Zilisch’s Cup debut at COTA.

Like M&M’s, Red Bull wasn’t able to reach their demographic target audience aged between 18 and 34. Moreover, without the support of any notable sponsors, they had to shut down their two-car operation back in 2011. A sponsorship role with a young and ambitious team like Trackhouse Racing is indeed a good option for them to roll out their new strategy. There’s also the opportunity to tap into younger audiences with NASCAR’s new media rights deal.

Team owner Justin Marks was excited about partnering with Red Bull while also hinting towards massive changes this partnership could bring to NASCAR. “This is bigger than Trackhouse; this is bigger than Red Bull alone; this is just the big moment for the sport of NASCAR. I mean, it is influential, and it’s a big moment for all of us, for the fans, the team, and the partners that Red Bull’s made a commitment to dive back in; everybody knows they don’t do anything small.”

One thing is certain: there’s a different energy and vibe surrounding the 2025 NASCAR season. With positive updates and the return of a prominent sponsor, we might see NASCAR turn a corner for good in 2025.