“We’ve Kind of I Guess Re-Distanced” – Kyle Busch Reveals Heartbreaking Impact of His Breakup With Joe Gibbs on His Relationship With Brother

Different teams, different personas, but a similar macho approach to racing, Kurt and Kyle Busch have cemented their place as NASCAR’s most successful pair of brothers. The Busch brothers have enjoyed an illustrious career with a combined 97 Cup Series career wins. While elder brother Kurt Busch has taken a hiatus from racing, Kyle Busch continues to chase another Cup Series championship win with the backing of Richard Childress Racing. 

Parting ways with Joe Gibbs Racing after the end of the 2022 season, Rowdy recently revealed how the bitter JGR divorce impacted his relationship with Kurt Busch.

How did JGR impact the relationship between the Busch brothers?

Starting his full-time Cup Series venture in 2005, Kyle Busch‘s three-year stint at Hendrick Motorsports ended post the 2007 season. Fired from HMS for his untamed on-track person, Rowdy was welcomed into the Joe Gibbs Racing camp. Winning two championship titles during his 15-season run at JGR, Kyle Busch was let go from the team to make room for younger drivers for the 2023 season. Coming to Rowdy’s rescue, Richard Childress Racing offered Kyle Busch a full-time ride behind their #8 Chevy. 

Making the switch from his former JGR team’s Toyota to his current team’s Chevrolet, Kyle Busch has been enjoying a relatively successful 2023 season so far. To all good things, there has to be a downside, and it’s no less different in Kyle Busch’s case. While switching over to the Chevrolet camp has provided the much-needed push to Rowdy’s Cup championship dream, it has also led to Rowdy drifting apart from his brother, Kurt Busch. Although Kurt Busch isn’t actively racing, he was and still is a part of Toyota camp’s 23XI Racing. In a pre-race presser at the Atlanta Motor Speedway, Rowdy was asked by media personnel, “It’s been a year now that KURT (BUSCH) has been out of the car. What are your thoughts on that and what it’s been like the last year with KURT and him recovering?”

“Yeah, I got to work with him (Kurt Busch) on the sidelines last year being with the Toyota camp for the last half of the year, but really haven’t seen a whole bunch of him and haven’t talked a whole bunch with him – just not working with that group anymore,” said Kyle Busch.

Revealing JGR’s impact on his relationship with his elder brother, Rowdy added, “Being with Team Chevy, we’ve kind of I guess re-distanced a little bit. But you know, it was not due to what he wanted as a timeline of stepping aside and being out of the car.”

“But the way it all went down, the way he’s handled it, the way he’s still been a part of 23XI and working with Tyler (Reddick) and Bubba (Wallace) over there – I think he’s an instrumental part to some of the success they’ve had early on. We’ll see what his choices are going forward on if he continues that,” Rowdy added on his brother’s health and involvement with 23XI Racing as a consultant.

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Feeling distanced from his brother, Kyle and Kurt Busch haven’t always seen eye to eye.

Kyle and Kurt Busch were not on talking terms

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Who can forget the crash at the 2007 All-Star race that saw an overly enthusiastic Kyle Busch attempt to pass Kurt Busch’s #2 Dodge on the inside line? Getting a little too low, Rowdy’s #5 Chevy spun out, wiping out his and elder brother Kurt Busch’s hopes of the $1 million win.

Two years ago in an interview with Graham Bensinger, the Busch brothers revealed how they didn’t speak for a whole year following their crash at Lowe’s Motor Speedway’s All-Star race. The brothers even revealed how it was their grandmother who ultimately stepped in to reconcile the relationship between the two.

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Taking a hiatus from racing following his crash at Pocono last season, 2004 Cup Series champion Kurt Busch currently serves as a consultant for Denny Hamlin’s co-owned 23XI Racing. Yet to be cleared by doctors as the concussion effects are still present, when and if Kurt Busch will rejoin the Cup Series remains unknown.