Kyle Busch to lose racing sponsor, but 6-year-old son keeps his

Before Christmas it was announced that M&M Mars will be pulling out of NASCAR after the 2022 season, leaving Kyle Busch of Las Vegas without a primary sponsor after 15 years.

The 6-year-old son of the two-time Cup Series champion has no such concern.

Shortly after his dad spoke on media day at the Daytona 500, it was announced that Brexton Busch had signed a sponsorship extension (in crayon?) with SERVPRO, a restoration company based in Tennessee.

“I’m really happy that SERVPRO is coming back to sponsor me again this year, and I’m going to do everything I can to continue winning for them,” precocious Brexton Busch said in a statement, though his mom (Samantha) and dad might have told him to say that.

Brexton Busch won nine go-kart races at six tracks in four states in 2021 and late last year made his debut in a mini-sprint car. When his dad was racing in NASCAR’s Busch Light Clash two weeks ago, Brexton won the main event at Hanging Rock Kartway in South Carolina.

It was the first time he had competed without his mom or dad in the pits, though grandparents Tom and Gaye of Las Vegas were on hand to support him. Tom Busch was a champion driver at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway Bullring, making Brexton Busch a third generation race winner.

“When we started, we went three laps down in an eight-lap heat race. It was painful. But he learned,” Kyle Busch said about his offspring’s new deal. “He just wanted to go to the racetrack and make circles at 5 years old … I don’t even remember (being) 5 years old.”

His old man says Brexton will be making a lot of circles in 2022 with a tentative schedule of 80 races, though he probably won’t make it to all of them.

But, “I guarantee you that he runs 50 to 60 races this year at least,” said Papa Busch, who will be bidding for a breakthrough victory in Sunday’s Daytona 500, stock car racing’s marquee event. “That’s going to be a lot for a 6-year-old.”

Around the horn

— Kyle Busch, on being 0-for-16 at the Daytona 500, a race that often produces surprise winners, and why it’s the biggest race that has eluded him:

“Because everybody else wants to win it, and it’s on all their bucket lists and, of course, it’s a race that 40 people have a chance to go out there and win. I wouldn’t say the same for a race like Vegas. You go to Vegas, and that’s a race where probably 10, 12 guys are going to have a chance to win.”

— Older brother Kurt Busch, who will drive a car co-owned by basketball legend Michael Jordan in Sunday’s race, is 1-for-20 at the Daytona 500. His breakthrough victory came in 2017 when Kyle Larson ran out of fuel on the final lap and Busch drove around him.

The victory by the Las Vegas native was one of three in the past five years decided on the final lap.

— Last season NASCAR appointed New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara its new growth and engagement adviser. A headline said he had lots of ideas on how to bring new fans into the sport.

It is assumed that getting into a fight on Pro Bowl weekend in Las Vegas and being arrested for battery was not one of them. There has been no comment from NASCAR about Kamara’s status with the organization.

0:01

— Something I learned about the Winter Olympics that has a Las Vegas angle by watching a TV show hosted by a Las Vegan: We’re the reason Shaun White got a haircut.

“So I had this long red hair forever,” the three-time gold medal-winning snowboarder said Thursday on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” “And I was thinking about cutting it. Randomly I was on a trip to Las Vegas, and I bumped into Carrot Top. I remember it being like meeting the ghost of Christmas Future.

“He’s like, ‘There’s still time for you! I’m stuck like this, save yourself!’”

Contact Ron Kantowski at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow @ronkantowski on Twitter.