Kyle Busch will drive in 10 NASCAR Xfinity races this season, Joe Gibbs Racing announced Thursday. NOS Energy Drink will again sponsor the No. 18 car for Busch in those races.
Busch is the series’ winningest driver with 86 wins. He won 10 of 17 Xfinity races he started last year.
Joe Gibbs Racing also announced that crew chief Scott Graves, who led Daniel Suarez to the Xfinity title last year, will move to the No. 18 team this season. The team has yet to announce who will drive the No. 18 in races that Busch is not.
Here is Busch’s schedule for the Xfinity Series:
March 4 - Atlanta Motor Speedway (defending race winner)
March 11 - Las Vegas Motor Speedway (defending race winner)
March 25 - Auto Club Speedway
June 17 - Michigan International Speedway
July 7 - Kentucky Speedway (defending race winner)
July 15 - New Hampshire Motor Speedway (defending race winner)
July 22 - Indianapolis Motor Speedway (defending race winner)
Aug. 5 - Watkins Glen International
Aug. 18 - Bristol Motor Speedway
Sept. 8 - Richmond International Raceway (defending race winner)
Busch is limited in the races he can run because of a rule NASCAR issued last year that some call the “Kyle Busch Rule.’'
The rule states that Cup drivers with more than five years of full-time experience can compete in a maximum 10 Xfinity races (and seven Camping World Truck Series races). Such drivers are prohibited from competing in the final eight Xfinity and Truck races, marking the regular-season finale and the playoffs for each series.
Follow @dustinlong and on Facebook