Kyle Busch calls NASCAR promotion of young guns ‘stupid’

Guess we shouldn’t expect the driver of the No. 18 Toyota to be first in line to congratulate teammate Erik Jones when he wins his first race.

For reasons that have been discussed many times over the past few seasons, a full-blown youth movement is gripping the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. That’s only going to continue in 2018, but don’t expect Kyle Busch to be out waving the pom-poms for the young guns.

Part of that is competitive, of course. As one of the top drivers in the sport, and one who’s not that old himself at 32, Busch isn’t about to cede any victories to the 25-and-under crowd.

Yet he went beyond that when the recent NASCAR media tour made its way to the Charlotte Convention Center, and to the probable delight of Rowdy Nation, Busch told ESPN’s Bob Pockrass and the other assembled press exactly what he thought of NASCAR’s efforts to promote the newcomers.

"“All you’re doing is advertising all these younger guys for fans to figure out and pick up on and choose as their favorite driver. I think it’s stupid. I don’t know, I’m not the marketing genius that’s behind this deal.”"

In perhaps the ultimate irony, one of those “younger guys,” and one of the best, is now Busch’s teammate. Erik Jones has joined the Joe Gibbs Racing camp for this season, and based on what we saw from him in 2017, any NASCAR push behind him is legit.

Elder Cup Series statesman Kevin Harvick, who should a title contender in 2018 just like Busch, provided a stark contrast and even jokingly (maybe) called Rowdy out on his attitude.

"“That’s like the child that’s whining, somebody who’s whining for some attention. I can’t complain about that because of the fact that our sponsors have been so involved with the things that we do. NASCAR has been very open to the things that they’re doing and involving us in it.“I can’t back that up, to be honest with you. You have to have a push for the younger-generation guys as well in order to help introduce them to the fans. In the end, that only works if they have success on the racetrack.”"

Harvick’s take sounds a lot more nuanced, but it’s easy to say that before Daytona even gets here. We’ll see if he’s quite as zen about the young guns the first time one of them spins him out racing for the lead.

Next: The side of Kyle Busch you don't always see

Until then, expect to hear a lot more about Jones, William Byron, Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney and others. And just like his fans like it, expect Busch to tell us all exactly how he feels about us hearing it.