Kyle Busch’s connection to Bristol Motor Speedway will be impossible to miss when NASCAR returns to Thunder Valley in September.
Bristol announced Wednesday that it will honor the late NASCAR champion during the Bass Pro Shops Night Race on Sept. 19 with a Lap 18 tribute, a nod to the No. 18 that became synonymous with Busch during the most successful stretch of his Cup Series career.
Advertisement
The tribute will extend well beyond a moment on the racetrack. Fans will receive commemorative yellow towels and be invited to wave them throughout Lap 18, creating what could become one of the most striking tributes to Busch since his death in May.
And when the field races beneath the lights, one particularly familiar sight will be back on the Bristol high banks.
Kyle Busch’s M&M’s colors will return at Bristol
Joe Gibbs Racing will bring Busch’s familiar M&M’s colors back to the track as part of the tribute.
Ty Gibbs’ No. 54 Toyota will carry a special mosaic paint scheme featuring memorable moments from Busch’s career. According to Bristol, the design complements the return of Busch’s “iconic yellow M&M’S car” for the Night Race.
Advertisement
The tribute is being organized with support from M&M’S, Joe Gibbs Racing, Samantha Busch and the Busch family.
“We’re incredibly grateful to Mars, Joe Gibbs Racing, Samantha and the Busch family for coming together to give Bristol fans such a meaningful way to celebrate Kyle and the legacy he built at a place he loved so much during the Bass Pro Shops Night Race on Sept. 19,” Bristol Motor Speedway President and General Manager Jerry Caldwell said.
“Kyle gave Bristol fans so many lasting memories, and seeing those M&M’S colors back under the lights one more time will be incredibly powerful.”
The yellow towels will feature Busch’s signature alongside the Samantha and Kyle Busch Bundle of Joy Fund logo and M&M’S branding. The initiative will also raise awareness and donations for the Bundle of Joy Fund, which helps families facing financial barriers to IVF and fertility treatments.
Advertisement
Samantha Busch said the tribute carries particular meaning because of how much Bristol and M&M’S meant to her husband.
“Bristol was always such a special place for Kyle, and M&M’S was such a huge part of his life and career, so seeing everyone come together again to honor him means more to our family than I can put into words,” she said.
“I know he’d love the energy of the fans at Bristol, especially under the lights, and I know seeing everyone waving those yellow towels together on Lap 18 would have meant so much to him.”
Few drivers ever conquered Bristol like Kyle Busch
There may be no more fitting track for a tribute of this scale.
Advertisement
Busch collected 23 NASCAR national-series victories at Bristol, more than at any other track during his career. That total included eight Cup Series victories, nine O’Reilly Auto Parts Series wins and six Craftsman Truck Series victories.
His history at the track also includes one of NASCAR’s rarest accomplishments.
In 2010, Busch swept all three NASCAR national-series races at Bristol in the same weekend, winning in Trucks, the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and Cup Series. He did it again in 2017, becoming the first driver to accomplish the Bristol weekend sweep twice.
Those performances helped turn Bristol into one of the defining tracks of Busch’s career.
Advertisement
Now the same grandstands that watched him dominate the high banks will be filled with yellow towels on Lap 18.
The sight of those towels waving as Busch’s M&M’S colors circle Bristol under the lights should provide a fitting reminder of just how closely the driver, the car and the racetrack became connected over the years.
