As two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch celebrates his 40th birthday on Friday, he looks back on a career that was nearly derailed before it even began. In 2001, a 16-year-old Busch arrived at California Speedway eager to compete in a NASCAR Truck Series race sponsored by Marlboro. Despite dominating practice, Busch was deemed ineligible to race due to NASCAR’s interpretation of the 1998 Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement, which prohibited individuals under 18 from participating in events sponsored by tobacco companies.
With NASCAR being sponsored by Winston at the time, the series eventually implemented its own minimum age requirement of 18 in 2002, forcing Busch to seek opportunities in the American Speed Association National Tour and ARCA after graduating early from his Las Vegas high school.
Fast-forward to the present, and Busch heads to Texas Motor Speedway with an impressive 232 national series victories and two Cup Series titles to his name. His older brother, Kurt Busch, a recent NASCAR Hall of Fame nominee, has one Cup title and 43 career national series wins. Kurt had long predicted Kyle’s greatness, famously stating, “if you think I’m good, wait until you see my little brother.”
Reflecting on the irony of his early setback at California Speedway, where he went on to win five Cup races before the track was closed by NASCAR, Busch quipped, “Shut that place down. Full circle moment.” He now finds himself sponsored by zone nicotine pouches, which have an additional relationship with online retailer Nicokick.
Busch celebrated his milestone birthday early with his wife, Samantha, during NASCAR’s only break in the 38-race schedule over the Easter weekend. Samantha shared a heartfelt social media post honoring her husband, featuring a picture of the couple at a beachfront dinner and another image of Kyle with a small chocolate cake adorned with a burning candle.
Despite the quiet celebration, Busch admitted that it’s not easy for him to disconnect from work entirely. “Just a nice little quiet time, tried to disconnect, that’s not easy for me to do,” he said. “So I’m still kind of doing some work from afar, emails and things like that.”
As for turning 40, Busch wasn’t particularly thrilled. “I remember turning 30 and thinking that was going to be it,” he said. “It is what it is. Samantha has made the best of that for me where we celebrated my birthday on that trip. I don’t feel much older than I did five, six years ago. So that’s the good part of it. And I’m in pretty decent shape, so thankful for all of that.”
Busch, now in his 23rd Cup Series season, joined Richard Childress Racing in 2023 and won three races. However, he endured a winless season in Cup last year for the first time in his career and missed the playoffs. His current losing streak stands at 67 races as he heads to Texas.
Despite the challenges, Busch remains committed to racing and has set his sights on competing until his son, Brexton, turns 18, with the goal of one day racing against each other in NASCAR.
