Twenty-four hours made quite a difference for Kyle Busch’s tune regarding the $100,000 bounty placed against him in the Truck Series.
Thursday had the Joe Gibbs Racing driver outright dismissing the idea any full-time Cup driver would pursue the bounty, citing the $140,000 cost to rent a truck.
Then Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson dropped the hammer Thursday night, courtesy of a deal with GMS Racing. Elliott will have two shots at it, on March 14 at Atlanta Motor Speedway and May 30 at Kansas Speedway. Larson steps to the plate March 20 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Busch’s response?
“Bring it on.”
Busch addressed Elliott and Larson entering the bounty ring Friday during his media session at Auto Club Speedway.
“It’s all good,” Busch said. “I think it’s going to be interesting, exciting, whatever you want to term it. I guess Cup drivers in the truck series do sell tickets. You know, take that for what it’s worth. I think it’s a unique opportunity for more attention on the series, which is good. Maybe if more drivers had more teams than had rides, there would be something else there besides just myself.”
The bounty is a joint effort by Kevin Harvick and Gander RV & Outdoors CEO Marcus Lemonis in the wake of Busch winning the last seven truck series races he’s entered, dating back to 2018.
If no Cup driver beats Busch in his remaining four Truck Series starts, the $100,000 will go to the Bundle of Joy Fund, the organization founded by Kyle and Samantha Busch that helps couples who require fertility treatments to conceive.
“It’s brought a whole new chatter to (the truck series,” Busch said. “Whether that’s excitement or just chatter, I’m not sure which. I think we’ll see when we get to Atlanta what the grandstands look like and how the race goes.”
Even before the announcement by the drivers Thursday night, Busch had already given thought to the Cup competitors he could potentially square off against for the bounty and who his biggest threat was.
“I don’t remember who I told, but once Harvick kind of put the idea out there, I was like, ‘The guy who is really, really, really, gonna have a shot is Larson at Homestead,” Busch said.
The 1.5-mile track in Florida is widely viewed as Larson’s best track. He’s made three starts there in the truck series. He has two top fives, including placing fourth there in 2016 with GMS Racing.
“I’d like to beat him and think that I could have $100,000 in my pocket, but yeah; it’s really not about the money to me,” Larson said. “I think it’s a cool fun kind of challenge, and I look forward to trying to beat him, and if the money is still out there when I do get that chance, it’ll be a lot of fun. But, Kyle Busch is the best. It doesn’t matter what type of car he’s in. It’s not going to be easy. It never is, no matter what car or truck you’re in. But, it’ll be fun and I feel like Homestead is my best track and my best opportunity to do it.”
But the first stop in the bounty challenge is Chase Elliott and his home track of Atlanta.
Harrison Burton, who raced for Busch last year in the truck series, shared his experience competing against Busch at Atlanta last year, a race Busch won.
“It’s going to be hard to beat Kyle, I know that much,” Burton said Friday. “I ran trucks last year and ran second to him for a lot of laps at Atlanta especially. I remember thinking, ‘Well, I’m about a tenth better than the field and he’s about three-tenths better than me so this is pretty impressive.’ Ran second most of that day. Didn’t finish second, but Chase is going to have his work cut out for him there and (Kyle) Larson is going to have his work cut out for him at Miami. Kyle hasn’t raced Miami in a truck in a long time because of the playoff schedule so that might be -- Chase has a steeper hill to climb than Larson.”
But a second bounty was issued Friday. Chris Larsen, principal owner of Halmar Friesen Racing, said his construction company would offer $50,000 to a regular Truck series driver if they beat Busch and win the Atlanta race, provided Busch is running at the end of the race. Larsen said on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio’s “Dialed In” that if Busch won at Atlanta, the bounty would remain at Homestead, Busch’s next Truck race.
“I hope it’s great for everybody,” Larsen said Friday night on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “I hope it’s great for the fans, great for the truck drivers. We all owe Kyle a big thank you for making us all better chasing him.
Atlanta and its owner, Speedway Motorsports, also are getting involved in the show.
SMI and the track announced Friday a way for fans to contribute $5 to the charities of Elliott, Busch or Harvick through ticket purchases.
Fans who purchase a ticket to the March 14 NASCAR doubleheader – which includes the truck series race (1:30 p.m. on FS1) and a Xfinity Series race (4:00 p.m. on FS1) – can choose the driver and driver foundations that will benefit.
If additional challengers emerge, the drivers and their respective charities will also become eligible.
Fans can ensure their ticket purchase helps the driver charity of their choice by purchasing through the AMS ticket office (877-9-AMS-TIX) and stating the driver and foundation of choice or by going to https://www.atlantamotorspeedway.com/bounty/ and choosing their preferred driver. Tickets for the Saturday NASCAR Doubleheader – which includes the Georgia 200 bounty challenge race – are free for children 12 and under.
“The anticipation for this race and the buzz around this bounty is growing every day,” said SMI CEO Marcus Smith in a press release. “Where the drivers saw a chance to inject more fun and excitement into this race, we see a chance to step it up even more and help some people in need through some very worthy driver charities.”