Earlier this year Toyota expressed a vehement desire that Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch remain in a Toyota for the future.
Ever since it was revealed that Busch is in a contract year and that he is losing his primary sponsor when Mars Inc. (M&M’s) leaves thE sport at the end of the season there has been a great deal of speculation as to whether Busch would remain with JGR and the number 18 car.
On July 7 president of JGR Dave Alpern announced that the team is working diligently to keep Busch in the number 18 and to find a new sponsor for the car. Currently, Kyle Busch is the only active Cup Series driver with more than one championship – he has two.
Busch began driving for JGR in 2008; since that time he has amassed 56 of his 60 race wins and two championships; as well as, most of his 102 Xfinity Series wins.
Alpern spoke on the matter saying, “we’ve been pretty consistent since the end of last season, which is we want Kyle to be in the 18 car and that’s our plan. We’re still working on sponsorship, and as much interest as there is in our esport, these take a long time. And admittedly, this one’s taking a little longer than we thought. It’s not for lack of interest. It’s just trying to get everything put together. So those will probably happen in parallel. And, again, we’re hoping to get something decided here in the very near future.”
Alpern also noted that team owner Joe Gibbs’ grandson Ty will remain in the Xfinity Series and driving the number 54 car where he currently has a series leading four wins.
Speaking on the young Gibbs said, “obviously, Ty’s done really, really, really good. This last weekend, I gotta be honest, was exciting to see him race against a Cup champion. Look, there’s a lot of interest in Ty for a number of reasons. He’s a great driver. He’s a great kid. It’s been fun. So I think the timetable for us is to continue. We don’t want to push him too fast. There are no specific plans beyond this year in reference to a Cup race or whatever. We’re just kind of trying to play out the year and see if he can go win or can compete for an Xfinity championship this year. And he’s got four wins and he’s doing really well.”