Kyle Busch not only defined an era of NASCAR as a driver, but he helped shape the next generation of racers to come.
Of the now 35 full-time drivers in the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series (NCS), seven of them drove for Kyle Busch Motorsports in full-season campaigns. Additionally, three more drivers made at least one start for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS) team. These drivers have gone on to win plenty of races, championships, and even broke records in the sport Rowdy would be proud of.
Needless to say, this sport would be a very different landscape had Kyle Busch Motorsports never existed, and the careers of many drivers would have been vastly different without Busch’s team and the mentorship he brought them.
Erik Jones and Christopher Bell, both of whom are Toyota drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series, brought KBM their two drivers’ titles in 2015 and 2017 respectively. Jones drove the No. 4 truck full-time in 2015, while Bell drove it in 2016 and 2017.
Bell is Toyota Racing Development’s greatest success story. He was a top young dirt racer who got his pavement start racing Super Late Models for KBM, then made his NCTS debut in 2015. He won his first race in only his third start, then accumulated six more wins for KBM as well (as the previously mentioned 2017 NCTS Championship) and continued to rise up the ranks with Toyota.
When he moved to Joe Gibbs Racing’s Cup Series team in 2021, he inherited Kyle Busch’s crew chief Adam Stevens, the man Busch dominated the 2010’s decade with. Bell has gone on to win 13 races so far in his Cup career and just finished runner-up in the Coca-Cola 600 with Stevens on the pit box.
“There hasn’t been a person in the racing industry that’s had a bigger impact on my life than Kyle Busch has,” Bell said.
The same applies for Erik Jones. Jones is a three-time Cup Series winner (Including two Southern 500 wins), but may have never gotten a chance at NASCAR if it weren’t for Busch. It was the Las Vegas native who discovered Jones when losing to him in the 2012 Snowball Derby. The next two years, Jones ran select truck races and entered his full-time campaign in 2015, already with four wins under his belt.
“He changed my life completely in 2012 when we went to the Snowball Derby,” Jones said on the Amazon Prime pre-race for the Coca-Cola 600 following Busch’s passing. “He took me under his wing and not only helped me along the way, but did a lot behind closed doors and…really helped me in ways that I’ll never be able to thank him for. I’m gonna miss him a lot, [I’m] gonna miss seeing him every week and chatting with him every week.”
Jones was mentored by one of the greatest NASCAR drivers ever and now pilots the number of another: the No. 43 for Legacy Motor Club.
Like Jones and Bell, William Byron started his NASCAR journey with KBM, driving full-time for the team in 2016. Byron won seven races that season, but couldn’t capture the championship due to an engine failure at Phoenix Raceway. He then moved to the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series (NOAPS) for JR Motorsports in 2017, where he won four races and got championship redemption. Since 2018, Byron has driven the No. 24 for Hendrick Motorsports.
Bell is arguably TRD’s greatest success story, but Byron has been the most successful driver to get his start at KBM with 16 Cup Series wins and back-to-back Daytona 500 victories in 2024 and 2025.
“I’m so sad and stunned to hear the news about KB. He meant so much to a lot of people, not just myself. Kyle was the best mentor you could ever have,” Byron wrote. “He was incredibly unselfish, cared about his people and his family deeply. And helped shaped my career to what it is. I’m heartbroken. Thinking and praying for the Busch family during this time.”
The Las Vegas native mentored many more drivers.
In 2015, when Daniel Suarez first moved to the United States for a chance at making it in NASCAR, Busch made the time every week to call with him and offer his help and guidance. Suarez, who won the Coca-Cola 600 just days after his mentor’s passing, currently drives the No. 7 for the same Spire Motorsports the future Hall of Famer won his final race for in the NCTS event at Dover Motor Speedway on May 15.
“He didn’t have to help this kid from Mexico that can barely speak (English),” Suarez said on the Amazon Prime broadcast, “and he took the time to help me. 35 calls in 2015, just to get me up and running. I remember when I won my first race in the Xfinity Series, I beat him on the last lap. He came up to me in Victory Lane and said ‘no more calls’. That means a lot, that was the competitor that he was. He loved competition, but he loved helping others.”
Like Suarez, Bubba Wallace shared a very close relationship with Busch. The 32-year old was spotted paying respect multiple times throughout the Coca-Cola 600 weekend. Wallace won five races for KBM in 2013 and 2014, then moved to RFK Racing for the 2015 and 2016 NOAPS seasons. After not having a full-time ride in 2017, Wallace moved to the No. 43 in the NCS for 2018. He has been a Cup Series driver since, eventually reuniting with Toyota in 2021 and winning three Cup races in the No. 23 Camry for 23XI Racing.
“The thing that gets me the most is my last true conversation,” Wallace said on the Amazon Prime broadcast. “It was the week after Indy last year, and I was leaving the Driver’s Meeting. He grabbed me and he was like ‘I didn’t want to be in the spotlight and take your moment away, but I’m so proud of you.’ And I don’t look for confirmation from any of the drivers since we’re all competing against each other, but to know that the person that helped mold who you were is paying attention even though you’re running against each other is so empowering.”
Wallace was in near tears as he finished his words.
For Jones, Bell, Byron, Suarez, Wallace, and many other drivers, Kyle Busch Motorsports was the first stop on the way to the top. But for John Hunter Nemechek, driver of the Legacy Motor Club No. 42, KBM was the team who gave him a second chance.
Nemechek had a difficult rookie season in 2020 for Front Row Motorsports, and wanted a chance to prove himself as a top-tier NASCAR driver. Busch took a chance on him, and was rewarded with seven wins in two seasons.
“From the time I was young, Kyle believed in me, gave me opportunities, pushed me to be better, we had so many hard fought battles, and always someone I could lean on,” Nemechek wrote in a statement. “He’s been more than a mentor to me. He’s been a longtime friend and someone I’ve looked up to for so many years.”
Todd Gilliland and Noah Gragson also drove full-time for KBM, and are now teammates at Front Row Motorsports driving the No. 34 and No. 4 Ford Mustang Dark Horses respectively. They were also teammates in 2018, with Gilliland in the first of his two KBM seasons and Gragson in the second of his two. Gilliland has not published a statement, while the fellow Las Vegas native wrote “Gonna miss ya pal. Life is precious. Enjoy every minute ♥️” on Instagram.
On top of these Cup drivers, Chandler Smith, Harrison Burton, and Christian Eckes all drove full-time for the team during its existence, and plenty of other drivers have made starts throughout the team’s 13 years of existence.
With such talent coming through his program, there is a strong chance that a KBM-alumni wins a NCS championship. Busch had an incredible impact on the NASCAR industry, and will be deeply missed by all. His lessons and legacy will live on for decades through this group of drivers, as well as his own son Brexton.
