Kyle Busch perhaps wouldn’t be in this predicament in 2024 had he not left Joe Gibbs Racing in the first place. Driving the flagship No. 18 JGR car, Rowdy reached new echelons of NASCAR racing. After winning two Cup Series and 56 races, he certainly wanted to stay at JGR and have a shot at adding more titles to his name.

But, after his longtime partner M&M’s took the exit door from NASCAR, both the driver and the team were out of options. Unlike other sticks and ball sports, teams heavily rely on corporate funding to keep themselves afloat. With M&M’s serving as an anchor sponsor for Kyle Busch for over 15 years, their departure certainly took a toll on his career.

The former JGR driver opened up about what factored into M&M’s exit from the sport. He also shared some inside information about the candy brand, which is not known by a majority of people.

Kyle Busch gets candid about M&M’s departure from NASCAR

For 15 years, Mars Inc., the parent brand of M&M’s, reportedly shelled out $20 million every year to aid the functioning of the No. 18 car. This allowed JGR to keep Busch under the contract with a salary package, whereas the brand got all the exposure they needed on track.

However, the company flipped the switch after the 2022 season, announcing its exit from the sport. A move that would prove to be detrimental to the driver’s career as he decided to move to Richard Childress Racing. But the 39-year-old didn’t sugarcoat when asked about how that relationship ended on an abrupt note despite the success they had together.

“Well, M&Ms was in NASCAR for 24 or 25 years. I was with them for 15, and they just kinda like wiped their hands and said they’re good and we’ve done what we needed to do here and they walked out. I mean, that’s the sports world, right? I mean, you’re going to have sponsors that come, sponsors that go all the time,” Busch said via the Pat McAfee Show.

While this partnership did have a sour ending, Busch was able to enjoy all the perks of representing M&M’s on his race car. The biggest of them was that he received a secret package of M&M’s that were only delivered on special request.

Rowdy was fond of the naked M&M’s

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M&M’s is an iconic candy brand and is, arguably, the most identifiable American candy. Over the years, the brand has created some memorable flavors, including peanut butter candy, milk chocolates, pretzels, and even crunchy cookies. However, Kyle Busch had his own unique favorite flavor named naked M&M’s and those were only custom-made upon his request.

“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 explained.

Well, Rowdy’s career trajectory has taken a hit ever since he was left stranded by the M&M’s. 2024, in particular, seems to have been a humbling experience, even for a successful driver of his stature. He is against the ropes to make the playoffs.