Kyle Busch’s Former Crew Chief Snubs KBM as He Reveals the “Best Place” He’s Ever Worked in NASCAR

Running a NASCAR team is no walk in the park, and Kyle Busch can definitely back this statement after managing the Truck Series’ winningest team since 2010. The defunct Kyle Busch Motorsports was a launch pad for drivers, with Busch nurturing talents and grooming exceptionally well for the bigger leagues like the Cup and Xfinity Series.

In fact, Kyle Busch brought in the best crew, ensuring that the team had everything. With all that being said, recently, a former KBM employee dropped a massive revelation, stating that KBM wasn’t the best place he worked in his long-storied career.

Despite the efforts Kyle Busch put in, Brian Pattie’s favorite team is not KBM

Avid NASCAR fans know KBM as a launch pad for talents. HMS’ pride William Byron, Erik Jones, Noah Gragson, and Christopher Bell were all a part of Kyle Busch’s organization early in their careers. So it is safe to say that it was at KBM that they learned the fundamentals of the sport, racing in ovals under renowned crew chiefs and potent crews.

However, not everyone who worked on the now-dissolved team would name it as the best place in their career. In late 2022, KBM roped in former Cup Series crew chief Brian Pattie for its #51 team. Joining Kyle Busch and team, Pattie back then relayed his excitement to join the champion, saying, “As a racer, your ultimate goal is to be in a position where you can win races, and the opportunity to work with Kyle and the other drivers on the No. 51 truck is one that I just couldn’t turn down.” 

But now, Pattie has revealed that Michael Waltrip Racing was the best place he worked, not KBM. He said, “It’s probably the best place I’ve ever worked in my career. Low key, low stress, fun, you know, obviously Michael, right? Even on a bad day, he’ll make you laugh, right? Cars were fast, Toyota backing back, then obviously Clint (Bowyer) behind the wheel.” 

Furthermore, he added, “You felt good going to work every day. And when you’re left there, you know. When you come back, it’s everyone’s gonna be the same. I don’t know how they did it. But they did it, they put the right people in spots, and it was a lot of fun. But, uh…2012 was a good year.”

Pattie and his association with the team

Even though Pattie joined Busch’s team in 2022, the two had known each other for quite some time. In fact, the veteran crew chief was one of the few people who were at Kyle Busch‘s first-ever #NASCAR test in Charlotte. “I’ve known Kyle since the early 2000’s when I was his crew chief for his first handful of Busch Series races, and the same determination that I saw from him back then as a driver I’ve witnessed from afar as he’s built the most successful team in the history of the Truck Series,” said Pattie, thrilled to reunite with Kyle Busch. 

Recalling the scenes on that day back in 2000 at Charlotte, he said, “He goes out, I swear, I look out the top of the truck…in my history, just like, ‘don’t wreck it, be calm’, uneventful day.” He was soon to be dazzled, as he said, “And I’ll be damned if he went out and looked like a Cup guy. I was like, ‘This is impressive’. We were fast on the chart, I think we started 15 laps when it started raining. And he comes in, I say, ‘How’s it feeling?’, he says ‘Feels great!’ I’m like, ‘Okay!’”

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Pattie then narrated his conversation with racing veteran Rand LaJoie when he called him, enquiring about the test. He said, “By that time, obviously must have been raining at Mooresville, so Lajoie calls and says, ‘How’s the test going’, blah blah, and I’m like, ‘man I don’t know what to tell ya’. I remember giving him lap times for whatever, and it was really fast and he’s like, ‘this kid ran what lap time?’ Randy Lajoie is like, ‘What lap time?’ He’s like, ‘Really?’ And I’m like, ‘Dude, it’s amazing.’”