The scene at the 2024 Circuit of The Americas remains etched in NASCAR’s memory. An irate Kyle Busch confronting Christopher Bell on pit road after contact sent the veteran spinning. “It’s f—— coming,” Busch warned his former protege. Fast forward to COTA 2025, and the narrative has transformed dramatically. After a fierce but clean battle for the lead where Bell ultimately passed Busch with six laps remaining, the two-time Cup champion offered unexpected praise: “I’ll give Christopher credit where credit is due. He ran me really hard, and I was a complete b—head, but he did a great job working me over and just doing it the right way.”
This evolution encapsulates the complex journey of Kyle Busch, who has transitioned from NASCAR’s “Rowdy” persona to an elder statesman who has shaped an entire generation of talent through his Kyle Busch Motorsports program. Bell, who drove for KBM in the Truck Series, represents just one branch of Busch’s extensive developmental tree that includes William Byron and numerous other Cup Series stars who once drove under his banner. In a revealing conversation with Kevin Harvick, Busch candidly addressed this dual role.
Busch yearns to be among the best
Kyle Busch has lived this reality. He was the new kid around the block in the 2000s and took the racing world by storm. In 2008, 23-year-old Kyle Busch drove his first season for Joe Gibbs Racing and blew past the competition, winning eight of the first 22 races of the season. While he failed to win a single race after that point, it still made a solid year for Rowdy, who was racing against legends of the sport, including Bill Elliott! Why is this noteworthy? Because Elliott’s son currently races against Kyle Busch, it is a full-circle moment for Rowdy.
Chase Elliott was not one of the drivers under the tutelage of Rowdy and, in fact, they’ve gotten into heated confrontations in the past too. However, when Elliott broke his foot following a snowboarding accident in 2023, Busch was one of the first to drop him a message, because Rowdy had been there too, in 2015. And it’s not just Elliott, Rowdy has been where all the younger and more successful drivers today have been. The towering highs of multiple race-winning seasons like Larson in 2021. As well as the sobering lows of not winning a championship after winning that many races. Now imagine seeing one driver you mentored achieve those towering highs. Well, that’s what Christopher Bell has done so far, and it leaves Busch proud, yet motivated.
Speaking to Kevin Harvick on the Happy Hour, Busch said, “For me, the Williams and the Christophers being as good as they are, as strong as they are, and Championship Four contenders each and every year, it makes you feel a little bit of sense of pride,” Busch admitted. However, he immediately revealed the competitive fire that still burns within: “But honestly, it makes you feel a little bit of that jealousy factor. Like, man, I want to be there, I want to be racing with those guys, challenging with those guys.”
The March 2025 COTA race perfectly illustrated this dynamic. Busch led a race-high 42 laps and appeared headed for his first victory since 2023, which would have snapped a 59-race winless streak. The racing between them was intense but respectful when Bell mounted his challenge in the closing laps. Clearly mindful of their history, Bell approached the battle with caution: “Whenever Kyle was leading, I was just trying to be so cautious,” Bell explained. “Obviously we know what happened last year. I didn’t want that to happen. I wanted to pass him clean.”
The respect was mutual. Despite losing the lead and eventually fading to fifth after contact bent his right rear, Busch remained upbeat. “He ran me really hard,” Busch acknowledged of Bell’s race-winning pass. “He did a great job working me over and just doing it the right way.” This marked a stark contrast to their heated confrontation from 2023, showing growth on both sides – Bell in his approach to racing his former boss, and Busch in his response to being overtaken by his former student.
The 39-year-old Busch, now racing against drivers in their prime who once looked up to him, finds motivation in this challenge. “Doing it at an older age, I feel like that would give a greater sense of pride because of knowing how good these kids are,” he told Harvick. He even acknowledged the cyclical nature of the sport, noting that “there’s going to be another next crowd, and that might be Keelan and Brexton” – referring to Harvick’s son and his own, representing NASCAR’s potential future generation.
Keelan Harvick and Brexton Busch might just be the future of the sport! Brexton already has multiple junior sprint titles at Millbridge and a Golden Driller at the Tulsa Shootout. Keelan Harvick, who is slightly older than Busch, has already won the 2024 INEX Young Lions Asphalt National Championship and will transition to late model stock car caring this year. With champions of the sport within their family, do not be surprised by their meteoric rise.
Busch – The Architect of NASCAR’s Next Generation
Kyle Busch’s keen eye for talent led him to both Christopher Bell and William Byron early in their careers. Bell joined Kyle Busch Motorsports in 2014, quickly demonstrating his potential before capturing the 2017 NASCAR Truck Series Championship under Busch’s guidance. Byron’s connection with KBM began in 2016, when his rookie season produced an unprecedented seven victories, setting a series record.
During the 2020 Cup Series Season, Christopher Bell made his full-time debut, and this marked four full-time drivers on the grid who were tutored by Busch at KBM. Bubba Wallace, and Erik Jones to add to Byron and Bell. So when asked about helping them after their move to the top, Busch said in 2020, “There are some times I tell them flat out, ‘Look, I’m gonna hold back some information from you. I’m gonna give you 80% of the information. I’m going to get you heading down the right path. You gotta figure out the final 20% on your own.’”
Finding the final 20% is what separates the good from the best, and Kyle Busch knows that. All four of those drivers are multiple-time race winners now, so that tutelage clearly worked, and Busch’s next focus is his son, Brexton. In 2020, Busch spoke about a five-year-old Brexton, saying, “He listens to what I say, it’s just that I’m not sure he believes in himself that he can do what I’m saying yet, which I totally understand and get.” Now, 5 years later, Brexton is teasing Busch about having more wins than him! “He still does remind me quite often that he wins a lot more than I do,” Busch told Harvick in their recent interview.
Well, with Rowdy on a 62-race winless streak at the moment, it’s no surprise that the 9-year-old Brexton, fresh off a successful start to the year, is pulling his dad’s leg. However, Busch added, “I say, ‘Cherish it man’, cherish all those moments that you get to win, because it’s only going to get harder.” That’s the truth about NASCAR, and Busch is experiencing it firsthand. While his son has all the potential to be a superstar, he will definitely have to pay attention to Busch’s pearls of wisdom, as there aren’t many as experienced and successful as him in the sport.
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