The year was 2020. Defending NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch had not lost a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race since 2018, and exited the 2020 race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway having won his last seven Truck Series starts. These wins were not popular, facing countless boos from fans. Kyle Larson, who at the time drove for Chip Ganassi Racing, tweeted cherry emojis jokingly implying that Busch was cherry picking his competition.
As unpopular as these wins may have been, there were fans and drivers who defended and even enjoyed Busch competing in the Truck Series.
Fellow Cup champion Kevin Harvick saw this dialogue and took an opportunity to spice things up. Following the race and the online discourse, Harvick announced a bounty.
“I like this so let’s make this fun,” Harvick posted. “I’ll put up a $50,000 bounty for any full time cup driver who races a truck and can beat Kyle Busch in his next 4 races.”
Reactions to the Bounty
Both fans and drivers had a strong reaction to the bounty. “Hard damn work being this damn good. If you wanna be the man, you gotta beat the man,” one Redditer said.
From fans hoping Busch would sweep his starts to joy that the Truck Series was getting the extra attention, viewers were generally happy about the bounty. Even Marcus Lemonis, CEO of former title sponsor Gander RV & Outdoors, got in on the action. Lemonis offered to double the bounty, raising the stakes to $100,000 for the next cup driver that beat Busch.
Rowdy, as he typically did, had a strong reaction.
“Well, there just better be an asterisk on it because if somebody crashes me, it doesn’t count,” Busch said. “Put money on a bounty on somebody and then bad things tend to happen. I don’t know. Make it whatever y’all want. It don’t matter to me.”
Later on, Busch showed more excitement and confirmed he was “all good” with it. Many other drivers showed excitement. The previously mentioned Larson along with Chase Elliott and Austin Dillon all showed an early interest.
“I’d like to beat (Busch),” Larson said. “It’s really not about the money to me. I think its a cool, fun challenge and I look forward to trying to beat him and if the money is still out there when I do get that chance, it will be a lot of fun. Kyle Busch is the best. Doesn’t matter what type of car he’s in.”
EchoPark Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway at the time, was set to be the first race of the challenge. Elliott, John Hunter Nemechek, and Brennan Poole were all entered to take him on. Schedule adjustments due to the Covid-19 pandemic saw the first race of the bounty at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
The Charlotte Race
The same three Cup drivers entered the May 26 race at Charlotte. Qualifying was not held due to Covid-19 procedures, meaning that the starting order was randomly drawn. Busch would start 16th, Elliott 26th, Poole 32nd, and Nemechek 38th.
By the end of Stage 2, both drivers were in the top-5. Elliott won the stage with Busch finishing 5th. The Las Vegas native got within three tenths of a second, but ultimately the Dawsonville driver secured the victory and $100,000 for Covid-19 relief.
“It was a lot of fun,” Elliott said of his victory. “(The truck) was really good from the get-go, for having no laps (of practice). The splitter was where it needed to be. It made it easy for me to move forward and try to get back acclimated … It doesn’t make up for Sunday (Elliott lost the Coca Cola 600 due to a late caution), but it was still a really good night. Glad to win and glad to do some good for the relief effort for this virus.”
Busch, as he did best, gave a short but blunt interview following a loss.
“We were out in left field the whole night, never really had a great feel for the truck, a great-driving truck, and just salvaged what I could,” Busch said.
Notably, the two drivers had some history. In the return race at Darlington Raceway, Busch wrecked Elliott late in the running. Elliott followed up his victory by giving the two-time champion’s signature bow.
Remembering Busch
Busch would go on to win seven more Cup races, five more NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series races, and 12 more Truck races before his tragic passing on May 21, 2026. The longtime driver of the No. 18 and then driver of the No. 8 was a legend in the Cup Series. He won 63 races, two championships, and four crown jewels. He was equally a legend in O’Reilly and Trucks, with near-unbeatable win records in both series. From this bounty to his five race sweep of the 2021 O’Reilly series to winning a Truck race at Dover less then a week before his passing, Busch was a legend until the very end.
