By Aaron Bearden, Motorsports Editor
Kyle Busch is one of many drivers that have entered the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at a young age over the past two decades, having began his first season in 2005 at just 19 years old.
But now at age 32 – in the prime of his career, with 43 Cup Series wins and the 2015 series championship – Busch didn’t shy away from criticizing the recent push of NASCAR’s youth movement.
“It is bothersome,” Busch said during Tuesday’s NASCAR Media Day at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
“We’ve paid our dues, and our sponsors have and everything else, and all you’re doing is advertising all these younger guys for fans to figure out and pick up on and choose as their favorite driver,” he continued.
“I think it’s stupid. But I don’t know, I’m not the marketing genius that’s behind this deal.”
Busch is among the most successful active drivers in NASCAR, and one of only six active champions on the Cup Series roster with seven-time winner Jimmie Johnson and one-time victors Kurt Busch, Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr.
Throughout NASCAR’s modern elimination playoff era, implemented in 2014 and tweaked in 2017, it’s been those champions and other veterans including Joey Logano, Carl Edwards and Denny Hamlin that have led the way for the series when the time comes to decide the sport’s top teams each year.
But despite that fact, the sport’s youngest, incoming stars have seen a significant push in recent years.
The move isn’t surprising. Legions of race fans have been left looking for their new favorite drivers after the retirement of superstars Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr. in successive years, as well as the shocking exit of Edwards a year ago and the impending leave of Danica Patrick after the 2018 Daytona 500.
That exodus of star power has allowed for an influx of fresh talent, with a list of young prospects including Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Erik Jones, Daniel Suarez and brothers Austin and Ty Dillon all entering the sport in 2014 or later. Joining them in the upcoming 2018 season will be William Byron, as well as Alex Bowman and Darrell Wallace Jr. – who have prior experience in the Cup Series but will see their first full seasons in contending equipment this year.
The new wave of drivers have been marketed strongly to fans, a fact that Busch believes may be due to their willingness to do more to promote the sport.
“I guess one thing that can be said is probably the younger guys are bullied into doing more things than the older guys are because we say no a lot more because we’ve been there, done that and have families, things like that, and want to spend as much time as we can at home,” Busch said.
But while he might understand the reasons behind the move, Busch wouldn’t go so far as to call it justifiable.
“You know, maybe that’s some of it,” he said. “But you know, it’s ‑‑ some of these marketing campaigns and things like that, pushing these younger drivers, is I wouldn’t say all that fair.”
When Busch arrived in the Cup Series garage in 2005, he did so in a much different environment.
The stars of that era – Gordon, Earnhardt, Stewart and older brother Kurt Busch among them – were still very much in their youth, with more than a decade of driving ahead of them. New talents Johnson and Kasey Kahne had already stolen most of the fans looking for a young driver, and only a few stars of yesteryear remained.
The Las Vegas, Nevada native has built up a fanbase over the years with consistent success and a unique, heel-like person among fans as he continues to rattle off victories in all three of NASCAR’s national series.
But while he may not believe he received the same initial push as the current crop of new drivers, Busch looks forward to the opportunity of helping his young Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Jones (21) and Suarez (26) as they continue to adjust to Cup Series competition in their second season.
“It’s a unique opportunity for me being one of the elder statesmen, if you will, of the sport, let alone Joe Gibbs Racing,” Busch said. “Being able to kind of lead our younger guys, if you will, Erik and Daniel. Those guys have come through Kyle Busch Motorsports, so it’s been fun to watch them progress through the years with the Truck Series, the XFINITY Series, and now being into the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.
“I’m looking forward to working with them and continuing to see their progress, but also hopefully being able to continue to be one of the leadership guys at our team and being able to race on for championships for years to come.”