Kyle Busch Applauds His Young Prodigy’s Clean Racing Amid Rising Aggression in Xfinity Controversy Storm

“They just go out and run over each other all the time.” Kevin Harvick said these words about the young batch of NASCAR Xfinity Series drivers. And he is not alone – veterans like Denny Hamlin, Jeff Burton, and Christopher Bell chimed in. The chaos that unfolded in Martinsville seems to have carried over to Darlington, as another late race move caused an outburst from one driver. With rising concerns about the youth of the sport, Kyle Busch shielded his son, Brexton Busch.

Ranging from 150 race starts in 2024 to his first Golden Driller trophy at the 2025 Tulsa Shootout, Brexton Busch’s achievements are mounting. And his two-time Cup Series champion father is there to guide him – and even learn from him. After all, Busch didn’t get the nickname ‘Rowdy’ for no reason, and while he has simmered down with his aggressive antics lately, he believes Brexton will follow a much cleaner path than him.

Kyle Busch yields to his son’s good sense

NASCAR officials had a serious drivers’ meeting this Saturday. The main reason for it was Sammy Smith’s act of vengeance against Taylor Gray on the final lap of the Martinsville race. Trying to hammer some sense into the angry young men proved of no avail. Another controversy broke out at the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200. With 17 laps to go, Leland Honeyman Jr. didn’t lift while heading into a turn and bumped Harrison Burton. Burton got away clean, but Honeyman ended up spinning into the wall and colliding with Anthony Alfredo and Josh Williams. The move was reckless, and Alfredo called him an “idiot” too after the race.

Amidst this rising ambiance of smoking wrecks, NASCAR veterans are concerned about where the youth is headed. Kyle Busch is one of them – however, he believes that his own family steers clear of trouble. In a recent interview with journalist Claire B Lang, Kyle Busch condemned the approach of the younger drivers. Smith rammed his car into Taylor Gray’s car in Martinsville while he intended to do a bump-and-run like Austin Dillon did last year in Richmond. Busch said that intention itself is a problem: “When these kids start racing, it’s wide open. Throttle wide open, do what you gotta do to win, drive in the corner, short-cut the corner, slam that other kid, knock him out of the way, beat him. And you know, that’s just how they grow up learning from 5, 6, 7 years old.”

Currently, nine-year-old Brexton Busch is competing in the Winged Micros Class for the 9-12-year-old bracket. Kyle Busch emphasized how important it is to teach them this young. He recently raced his son at Millbridge Speedway in March, finishing close to each other. “That’s when you have to lift off the throttle, use the brake, and try not to run over those guys that you’re around… have some car control and some respect of your space and others’ space.”

The conversation about how young drivers come up thru the ranks these days leading to the kind of racing we saw in last week’s @NASCAR_Xfinity Series race wove thru driver convos @TooToughToTame Saturday…how do guys like @KyleBusch prepare their sons to race clean? pic.twitter.com/gX1hjjjv5P

— Claire B Lang (@ClaireBLang) April 6, 2025

Sometimes, however, the old Rowdy comes back while watching Brexton race. Kyle Busch’s on-track conflicts are famous, as he had a massive reputation for causing trouble in his prime. Incidents ranged from a run-in with Kevin Harvick in 2011 to last year’s All-Star Race scuffle with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. But his son knows better, as Busch said: “Honestly, there’s times where I look at Brexton, and he’s racing. And I’m like, ‘Man, you could’ve turned it in there, you know’. He’s like, ‘Dad if I spin the guy out, I gotta go to the back.’ So he’s already pulling himself back more than I’d actually like him to.”

Kyle Busch hails his son for a better sense of judgment. That comes from an inherent knowledge that racing glory does not come easy.

Motivating each other to win

Racing has been ingrained in the Busch family for a long time. Tom Busch was a mechanic at a Ford dealership – and a dedicated short-track racer himself. So it’s no wonder that he transferred his passion to his sons, Kurt and Kyle. With Kurt Busch‘s 34 Cup Series race wins and he 2004 championship and Kyle Busch’s 63 with the 2015 and 2019 championships, the family reached the pinnacle of NASCAR racing. Now, this tradition is ongoing, with Brexton on the cards. In 2024 alone, the 9-year-old speedster clinched 45 race victories. With a Golden Driller trophy setting the stage for 2025, we can only expect the little racer to go higher.

According to Kyle Busch, Brexton has a level of maturity that contributes to his excellence. “I think what helps him understand how hard it is are the times where he travels and he races and he doesn’t win all the time. So, he gets to kind of see like, ‘Okay, it’s not just jump in a race car automatically I win,’ right? He gets to see a better picture of that. It’s hard. You do have to work at it. It’s something that doesn’t come easy for everybody. So, that helps maybe a little bit, but he still does remind me quite often that he wins a lot more than I do.”

Brexton’s light jabs at Kyle Busch not winning might have stung for a while until Busch finished ahead of him during their duel at Millbridge Speedway recently. However, Busch has also said that he aspired to end his 60+ race win streak to give his son a feeling of being in victory lane. “You know, now that he’s a little bit older, he wants to be a part of that [victory], and I’m not winning as much. So, it is tough. It’s more tough on, probably for me, feeling bad for him that he doesn’t get to enjoy that as much, and I feel bad for me that I don’t get to enjoy in being able to go to Victory Lane as much as I once did.”

Brexton is paving his way toward a glorious career, and while he does that, Busch will hope to give him a taste of victory lane in the Cup Series. Do you think Busch can end his miserable winless streak at Darlington? Let us know in the comments!

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