Busch driving force behind Toyota’s rise
There’s room in front of Toyota Racing Development’s headquarters in Costa Mesa, Calif., for a statue of Kyle Busch one day, but that might be a bit premature.
But there’s no doubt the 32year-old’s contribution to the manufacturer’s ascension to NASCAR power has been monumental. And he’s not done. In winning for the first time in 2017 Sunday at Pocono Raceway, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver continues to burnish his legacy with the company, capturing its 100th all-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win and 400th all time in NASCAR for Toyota since it made its debut in the truck series in 2004.
Busch has won 155 races with Toyota in NASCAR national touring series. Toyota made its debut in NASCAR’s top series in 2007 and won its first manufacturer’s title last year, as Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. of JGR affiliate Furniture Row Racing won four times each, Gibbs’ Denny Hamlin and Carl Edwards three times and Matt Kenseth twice.
Busch claimed Toyota’s first Cup driver title in 2015 after winning five times and overcoming a broken foot and leg suffered in the season-opening Xfinity Series race at Daytona International Speedway. That’s company man stuff for a driver whose professional and personal growth have played out publicly since he was a prospect driving Ford trucks for Roush Fenway Racing and Chevrolets in the Xfinity and Cup series for Hendrick Motorsports.
Busch has earned 35 of Toyota’s Cup victories. In the process, he “put Toyota on the map” in its first season with JGR in 2008, TRD President David Wilson told USA TODAY Sports in an email, by earning the manufacturer’s first Cup win and setting his personal best with eight victories that season.
JGR had switched from Chevrolet to become Toyota’s flagship, bringing on Busch from Hendrick to replace JJ Yeley in the No. 18. JGR has since cultivated a customer affiliation with Furniture Row, which also has become a dogged competitor.
The relationship has had trying moments as well. Tony Stewart left the organization the year after the switch to begin his own team, and Busch’s tenure has included assorted outbursts.
In 2008, NASCAR hammered the team with heavy points and cash penalties as well as personnel suspensions when the sanctioning body found the team attempted to manipulate the results of a horsepower test for two Xfinity cars.
“The most important thing is over a period of time, you go through some tough times, you go through good times. The thing about Toyota, they’re right there at your back,” team owner Joe Gibbs said. “We’ve worked through some tough issues in the past, but I think we’ve come out stronger. … They want to win in every way.”
Hamlin has 27 Cup wins for Toyota, followed by Kenseth (14), Truex (eight), Edwards (five), Clint Bowyer (three), Joey Logano, David Reutimann and Brian Vickers (two each), and Kasey Kahne and Stewart (one each).
Toyota has 135 all-time Xfinity wins (78 by Busch) and 165 truck wins (42 by Busch).
Busch also has impacted Toyota as a truck series owner, Wilson said, serving as a key in developing several drivers:
Erik Jones, who in 2018 will move from Furniture Row’s Cup team to JGR, replacing Kenseth.
Hendrick Xfinity Series driver and coveted Cup prospect William Byron.
Christopher Bell, who leads the truck series in wins and points this season for Kyle Busch Motorsports.
“I’ll be the first to admit that we’ve had a few bumps along the way,” Wilson wrote in the email. “Kyle can be a ‘tough customer,’ and he has no problem calling you out if he doesn’t feel like you’re getting it done, whether with engines, chassis, pit crew or anything else he needs to win. I know in TRD’s case, this has ultimately made us better (and tougher!).”
“He has no problem calling you out if he doesn’t feel like you’re getting it done. ... This has ultimately made us better.” Toyota Racing Development President David Wilson, on Kyle Busch