Kyle Busch opened his 2024 season with a stellar win. No. We’re not talking about his Cup Series campaign, but we’re talking about his Truck Series venture in Atlanta. The driver extended his legacy of being the winningest driver in the division, racking up his 65th career win. On the same weekend, Busch met with reporters at the press conference and gave fans a unique perspective on how the new NASCAR media rights deal would affect the lower tiers.

Kyle Busch gives an unexpected verdict despite sharing his skepticism 

Amid the talks of the unethical and unwanted wrecks that went down at Daytona last weekend, 2-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch was asked about the state of things in the third-tier series in his pre-race media availability at Atlanta. Surprisingly, he had a rather positive take on things.

He said, “You know you could talk about the current state of NASCAR. I feel like the current state of NASCAR is healthy is strong you look at the cup series”

While ‘Rowdy’ partially dodged the question there, talking about NASCAR when he was asked about the chaotic atmosphere in the Truck Series, the veteran dropped some truth bombs in the presser.

Citing the new $7.7 Billion media rights deal that NASCAR signed and the influx of wealthy sponsors to the sport, he reiterated that all the development in the Cup Series would eventually trickle down to the lower divisions – the Xfinity and Truck Series.

In retrospect, Busch asked, “Would I say that there are 500 Fortune 500 companies that are all out here participating in our sport?” He then answered himself, saying, “No, there’s not you know um so the sponsorship landscape is absolutely the toughest landscape in our sport. But I don’t know that that’s any different than what it was in the high time: in the mid-90s to the mid-2000s.”

“I mean I think you still saw cars that were in the back of the field that were under-funded or had uh a struggle some time being able to find big-name sponsors to be able to get them to the track or to get them a better footing within the series to withstand and and have some uh some strength to their their company.” 

In the same presser, Busch also showed his other side. Being the outspoken guy he is, he bashed the wreck fest at Daytona, firing shots at the field and the organization for the sluggish pace of the Cup Series race.

Busch bashes the fuel-saving strategies at Daytona, deeming it “pathetic”

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One thing that emerged from last week’s much-anticipated Daytona 500 was the awful pace of the field. Drivers were seen half-throttling just to save some fuel and increase their chance of staying afloat and winning the race. However, shortly after the event, drivers only voiced their displeasure, with veterans of the sport like Dale Earnhardt Jr and Denny Hamlin offering a viable solution for the same.

Keying in with his take is 38-year-old Kyle Busch. He said, “We were all sitting around there running half-throttle; not passing, and just riding in a line. I felt disgraceful, myself, being a race car driver – wanting to go fast, lead laps and win the Daytona 500, and that was our strategy that we had to employ at the start of the race because everybody was doing it.”

Revealing how he too was helpless in this scenario, he said, “It’s not what I want to be doing. But when you kind of get in that situation, I don’t know what you do.”

“The third lane could have developed. It was so early in the race; nobody wants to develop a third lane. We’re riding – it’s a 500 mile race, don’t blow everything up in the first stage, right? But somebody could have just pulled out into the outside lane and literally just ran to the front and done whatever they wanted to do. So I was surprised nobody did that.”

READ MORE: Kyle Busch Stuck on Crossroads as Rev Racing’s Unpaid 6-Figure Bill Could Jeopardize Spire Motorsports’ Truck Debut

With the 500-mile marathon now in the rearview mirror, Busch eyes a decisive result. Could we see more of these fuel mileage runs this year?