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DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA – FEBRUARY 16: Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M’s Toyota, looks on during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series 64th Annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 16, 2022 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
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DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA – FEBRUARY 16: Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M’s Toyota, looks on during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series 64th Annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 16, 2022 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
Kyle Busch just had one of the most popular driver moves since Dale Earnhardt Jr. left Dale Earnhardt Inc. for Hendrick Motorsports. But this is old news now. What’s more interesting is an older contract leak that just got unearthed.
And Toyota made a fool of themselves.
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In 2019, Busch signed a contract extension with Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota Racing Development that went through 2022. And we all know where he will be after 2022. But back when he signed his extension, a Toyota representative made him leak his extension to Motorsport.com writer, Charles Bradley.
During the pre-race banter on the makeshift stage, Kyle talked about how happy he is ahead of that Daytona 500. And the Toyota Representative brought something up for him to let the people know why he was that happy as he said, “We had a little reception for the Gibbs organization up on the rooftop of the Hard Rock last night, we had a little party up there to celebrate something, do you want to tell everybody about what’s going on with your relationship with Gibbs?”
Of course, Busch knew he can’t talk about this, yet he reluctantly revealed, “Well, so, er… It’ll probably be coming out next week, so if we can keep it all hush-hush – I re-signed my deal with Gibbs and the Toyota family for the foreseeable future [big round of applause] it’s going to be good, and this year is all about hitting 200 wins across all three series and going for that championship in Homestead.”
Uh oh, these two just revealed something they are clearly not supposed to talk about. And the person who came there from Toyota knew very well just how badly they messed up.
The Toyota boss could not believe what Kyle Busch just told them
Soon as Busch revealed the big news, Bradley glanced at the Toyota staff, only to see him with his head down to his shoes, shaking his head in disbelief. Of course, knowing well enough what they just did. Moreover, the Toyota representative is one who invited Charles Bradley to the pre-race chat, to begin with. And now the Journalist gets some fresh news right from the mouths of the source.
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LONG POND, PA – JUNE 05: Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M’s Pretzel Toyota, sits in his car during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Gillette Fusion ProGlide 500 at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
Naturally, as a Journalist, Bradley is hit with a dilemma on whether or not to publish this news. But he chose to stay hush about it unless someone else writes news on it. And now we enjoy this major Toyota mess up right when his contract ended.
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WATCH THIS STORY: NASCAR Fans Are Reminded of Brad Keselowski’s Infamous “Illegal” Act After MLB Star is Suspended for the Same
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In the end, the Journalist’s ethics and decency saved the team, but still, this is a big mess up from their end.
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