The last time the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series raced at Charlotte Motor Speedway was right after Kyle Busch’s passing. Returning five months after Busch’s passing, several teams are paying tribute to him.
When Busch ran in the Truck Series, competitors knew he was the driver to beat, as Busch won 69 of the 184 races that he entered. Busch’s accomplishments seem endless in modern-day NASCAR. Every moment of Busch’s career seemed like it left an imprint.
For Leland Honeyman Jr., it was a no-brainer for him to pick the Traxxas paint scheme to honor Busch that Busch ran in 2011. Honeyman said about the paint scheme, “It means the world to me, honestly. I’m so lucky to run this paint scheme.”
“I started watching NASCAR because of Kyle [Busch] for me as a kid 10 years old looking up his name on Google and then seeing the Traxxas truck. I’m like, this is my favorite truck ever. I wanted a Traxxas truck for Christmas and got me a little Traxxas RC car. I’ve used that thing for months. I probably killed it five times, but it was so cool.”
Busch was more than a driver in the Truck Series; he was an owner, as he ran Kyle Busch Motorsports for 13 years from 2010 to 2023.
In 2010, Busch started to field two trucks in the Truck Series. Busch scored eight wins in the inaugural season for KBM. Their first win happened in the fourth race of the season at Nashville Superspeedway with Dollar General on board the No. 18 truck.
At Charlotte, Rajah Caruth is driving the No. 77, sporting colors similar to KBM’s first win. Caruth said of the paint scheme, “It is very special and an honor to drive a Kyle Busch-inspired scheme, especially one that was out of the historic KBM shop. A shop where not only KBM got their first win, but I got my first win, my two wins to date in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series. So, to pay tribute to that and on a day when we are celebrating the life of Kyle Busch, it is an honor to do that and represent the history of the employees there.”
Caruth’s teammate Connor Mosack, in the No. 7 truck, is running a paint scheme similar to the final career win for KBM when Busch won at Pocono Raceway in 2023.
Mosack, who won the pole for the EcoSave 200, said, “It is such an honor to run the throwback to KBM’s 100th win. This is such a special race and means a lot to me and to my team to commemorate Kyle and the legacy he left on our sport.”
Other drivers in the field for EcoSave 200 honoring Busch included Stewart Friesen and Daniel Hemric.
