First Success for KBM

Photo courtesy; SPEED.com

 Don't ever count out the Busch brothers. Though they have been outside of victory lane more than not this season, they came back to show the crowd how it's done at Richmond.
Every weekend it's usually Kyle Busch inside the cockpit of a legendary #18 Joe Gibbs car. Winning almost half of the Nationwide races along with Carl Edwards last year, 2012 has been different. Kyle Busch has taken the opportunity to operate his own Nationwide team. A dream for many NASCAR drivers, and a challenge few get to do. Kyle and his brother Kurt Busch are splitting the season driving a sharp black and neon green #54 Toyota. Many doubted Kyle's team would go anywhere, as most drivers tend to flop on the whole "own-my-own-racing-team thing." As he usually does, Kyle never fails to show everyone he can accomplish just about anything, starting with tonight's victory at Richmond.

Photo courtesy; SPEED.com

Kurt Busch piloted the #54 Monster Energy car tonight at Richmond Motor Speedway. Finding himself with a decent car unlike the other Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) entries in the past. KBM has had a rough start this season with multiple blown engines and fender benders. Tonight's car actually had something to prove and was running with the big shot names like Joe Gibbs and Richard Childress. Kurt and a nervous boss Kyle found the team leading with about 15 to go. Fellow Cup driver and Kyle's JGR teammate Denny Hamlin was lurking behind. With the #11 inching closer and closer, the tension kept rising higher and higher. Before you knew it Denny was on Kurt's bumper with 2 to go! Side by side the cars ran for the ENTIRE final lap! Coming into Turn 4 Denny nudged the left side of Busch causing the 54 car to slide up into the wall and just barely launch in front of Hamlin to grab the long anticipated first victory for Kyle Busch Motorsports.

Another great story of the night was Ryan Blaney, son of NASCAR driver Dave Blaney. Ryan made his first ever Nationwide start tonight and came home 7th. Travis Pastrana, also making his NASCAR debut, finished 22nd. 

An emotional Kyle Busch [team owner] was speechless and overjoyed in his post-race interview. "This is the most emotional I've ever been for a win," said Kyle Busch also mentioning that he doesn't care that he did not get the first win for the team. He is perfectly fine with his older brother earning it. For a guy who is known for his aggressive and arrogant way about him, that's saying something. Kurt and Kyle both celebrated in victory lane. You could see the pride in Kurt Busch's face when talking about younger brother Kyle's racing team.

"When your driving for a guy named Busch you've gotta be on it." - Kurt Busch