Kyle Busch to Join Richard Childress Racing in 2023, leaves Joe Gibbs after 15 years

For a while, many fans assumed that Kyle Busch would spend the rest of his full-time racing career with Joe Gibbs Racing. Going into the 2022 season, Mars M&Ms announced that they would depart from NASCAR after being in the sport that dates back to the 90s. Mars M&Ms was the sponsor for Kyle Busch since he joined the No. 18 at Joe Gibbs Racing in 2008. At first, it felt like it would end with Kyle having a new sponsor or sponsors, but as the season went on, growing speculations began to grow that there would be a possibility that Kyle Busch would not return to the number that had been made famous from Joe Gibbs Racing. On September 13, 2022, Kyle Busch finally broke the silence and announced that he would be “taking his talents to Welcome, North Carolina” and join Richard Childress Racing for the 2023 season.

Busch will take over the No. 8 Chevrolet, which is currently being occupied by Tyler Reddick, who has a contract to move over to 23XI Racing beginning in 2024. The plan is that Childress will field a third car for Reddick with Busch taking the No. 8, but no details were made about where the charter would be coming from. Sponsors were not announced either for Kyle Busch, but those details are to be revealed at a later date.

A big influence that lead to Kyle Busch joining RCR was Richard Childress’ grandson and current driver of the No. 3 Chevrolet, Austin Dillon. Dillon led the influence to bring the two-time Cup Champion to the team and was able to delete any tension Busch might have had with the team in the past. It is important to note that Busch and Richard Childress were involved in a scuffle following a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race in 2011 at Kansas Speedway due to rising tensions after on-track incidents with then-RCR drivers Kevin Harvick and Joey Coulter.

“I was kinda surprised honestly,” Busch said about talking to Dillon. “When Austin reached out, I was like ‘OK. Well, we probably need to sit down and discuss something first,’ and it was fine. It was easy. Just to feel wanted and feel that they know who I am, what I am. I mean the accolades speak for themselves in that I can go over there and continue that build to the top. I feel like they are on a good path.”

As the negotiations carried on, Childress made a comparison of Busch to a legend that once drove for RCR for many years. That being Dale Earnhardt Sr.

“When we talked about winning races and winning championships, I looked in his eye and I’d seen that look in Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s eye, that he’s hungry. We’re gonna win,” Childress said about Busch.

Busch, 37, has expressed more than ever about his family this season and about the hurdles and struggles of having an unknown future. However, a lot of that stress was lifted after making the decision. Not to mention that Childress gave a “future contract option” to Brexton Busch, the son of Kyle Busch and his wife Samantha, who is currently 7 and has begun racing.

Busch also didn’t go into much detail that involve his truck series team, KBM, but said that he is working with General Motors and Chevrolet and intends to continue the truck team with Chevy for 2023 and beyond. He’s also said he hopes to race in the Truck Series with Brexton someday before retiring.

There was a lot of hype in the RCR shop before Busch even made the deal about the possibility of having Busch with the team.

“When all the rumors started and you’d walk through the race shop,” Childress said, “the excitement in people’s voices when they’d ask ‘Is Kyle Busch really coming here to drive for us?’ Today, it’s official and for that group at RCR, I hope they’re up there watching this and I bet they are excited to know that you [Kyle Busch] will be the driver of the No. 8 car.”

Eight races remain in the 2022 season, which also means eight races left until a chapter closes in Kyle Busch’s career. Many questions still are left to be answered, however. Such as what will Toyota do with losing KBM? Will Ty Gibbs go to Cup with his grandfather’s team in 2023? Among many others that will soon be answered. Regardless, Childress feels confident about the future of his team with the addition of Kyle Busch.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that we will make a great team together for the long haul,” Childress said.