Kyle Busch Snags a Nearly $2 Billion Sponsor as RCR Prepares for Damage Control

When Joe Gibbs Racing broke up with Kyle Busch in 2022, he was still the most marketable, 2x championship winner, and lots of gas still left in the tank. See, neither Busch nor JGR ever wanted to end their 15-year-long partnership. But it’s never that easy in NASCAR. In 2022, when Mars (M&M’s parent company)—JGR’s principal sponsor—backed out from renewing their contract worth around $20 million a year, JGR failed to afford Busch’s hefty salary. Well, JGR still tabled a competitive compensation package that would have kept Busch among the top-paid drivers, but the lack of a sponsor of Mars’ caliber made it a tough sell. Unsurprisingly, Busch walked away. And in what felt like a twist of fate, the same $2 billion company ended up sponsoring Busch’s employer once again, this time under the RCR banner in 2023.

“They[Joe Gibbs Racing] offered me a contract to race there and they weren’t going to have sponsorship on the car, but I didn’t feel like that was fair for the 15 years that I was there,” Bush revealed last year the reason behind his switch from JGR to RCR. He may still be chasing that first Cup title with RCR, but ahead of his Darlington Raceway run on August 31, Busch just scored big with a fresh multi-year sponsorship deal from the same M&M.

The bright yellow scheme wasn’t the only thing that made Morgan & Morgan stand out when it debuted on Kyle Busch’s No. 8 Chevrolet in 2023. Interestingly, the law firm was on the hood of the car last year at the Southern 500, where Busch battled against Chase Briscoe for the berth in the playoffs. That race didn’t turn out to be fruitful for the team, but with a fresh approach and energy, they will have another go at the race win this year.

Once the multi-year deal became official, Richard Childress said, “This is a first-of-its-kind partnership within the NASCAR Cup Series, and we’re proud to be trailblazers in the personal injury law firm sponsorship category. RCR and their drivers share the same values and passion that we do as a firm in giving back to the community, and we’re excited to continue to work together.” In a creative collaboration with Austin Dillon and Kyle Busch, Morgan & Morgan, the biggest injury law firm in America, has inked a multi-year, multi-race contract with Richard Childress Racing. This is the first time the NASCAR Cup Series has partnered with a race team trial injury legal company.

Dan Morgan, Managing Partner at Morgan & Morgan, said, “Richard Childress Racing has been an incredible partner to us for the past two years, and we’re thrilled to be able to extend our partnership. RCR and its drivers share the same values and passion that we do as a firm in giving back to the community, and we’re excited to continue to work together. We know that Kyle has some of the best fans in NASCAR, and we’re excited to see him continuing to represent Morgan & Morgan on the track beginning with Darlington Raceway in August.”

This collaboration occurs at a critical juncture for RCR and Busch. The team is going through a lot of changes following a difficult 2024 season in which Busch finished 20th in the standings and failed to record a victory for the first time in his career. Add five DNFs to that, and it goes to show that Rowdy has been struggling to find consistent speed and competitive edge driving the #8 Chevy, and things are pretty much the same this year.

After a streak of top 10 runs to start the season, Busch hasn’t been in the running for the wins. In the last three races, he hasn’t been able to crack a top 10 finish, and at Texas Motor Speedway, he rammed his race car hard into the wall after a promising display. This has been the trend with Rowdy in the RCR Chevy, flashes of brilliance, but when it comes to winning races or running up front, the team hasn’t delivered. Busch is right on the edge, placed 16th in the points standings, with the likes of Carson Hocevar and Ryan Preece eager to pounce on one mistake.

Top Comment by ChaddyTriFive

Kyle NEVER once had M&M Candy as a sponsor at RCR! He had M&M Candy while at Gibbs! He has...more

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Debate

Grass isn’t always greener on the other side, and Busch has learned it the hard way. With his Cup racing hitting a plateau, the veteran driver took a stroll down memory lane, remembering working with Toyota guys and his team, KBM.

Kyle Busch reflects on Rowdy Manufacturing and KBM

NASCAR driver Kyle Busch explored the reasons and events surrounding the sale of Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) to Spire Motorsports in an eye-opening interview on the “Door Bumper Clear” podcast. KBM was founded in 2010 and has since grown to be a strong force in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, winning 100 races and developing drivers like Christopher Bell, William Byron, and Erik Jones.

Busch stated, “I still kind of miss those days. You know, I do miss the camaraderie and those people. Those guys that were always there, every single day, working to make that company as strong as it was, and competitive and dominant in the Truck Series. Miss working with the Toyota guys as well, on that front, but just kind of came to a point where it was starting to look a little bit grimmer on sustainability.”

In 2023, the whole KBM business—including the equipment, the Mooresville, North Carolina plant, and Busch’s chassis-building company, Rowdy Manufacturing—was sold to Spire Motorsports. Although precise financial information was not made public, rumors indicate the deal was worth about $25 million, with the facility selling for more than $14 million.

“I was like, ‘You know what? This might be the time to just kind of say, Hey, if there’s anybody out there, you know, come take it.’ And then, all of a sudden, a knock on the door from the Spire guys. They were like, ‘Yeah, we need your shop. We want to put a Cup team in there. We want to put three Cup teams in there. We want to run the Truck Series out of there.” He added.

The good thing is that Rowdy get to experience what it is like to win a NASCAR race as he gets to run five races every season with Spire Motorsports in the Truck Series. So, it’s not that Busch has lost his golden touch; it’s just that RCR hasn’t been able to utilize his skills and mastery, and has somewhat lacked in giving him the resources to compete against his rivals.