Kyle Busch Motorsports to run Truck teams in 2010

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Nationwide Series champion and full-time Sprint Cup driver Kyle Busch on Friday announced he would field at least two Toyota trucks in the 2010 Camping World Truck Series under the Kyle Busch Motorsports banner.

Busch will drive the No. 18 Miccosukee Resort & Gaming Toyota whenever the Camping World Truck Series runs in companion with the Sprint Cup Series. For the non-companion races, the No. 18 Tundra will be driven by 24-year-old Brian Ickler. Running the full schedule for KBM will be 20-year-old Tayler Malsam in the No. 56 Toyota Tundra.

Ickler

Busch, who won seven 2009 Truck Series races for owner Billy Ballew, thanked another owner, James Finch, for facilitating the sponsorship from the Miccosukee Tribe of Florida for the No. 18 Toyota. That sponsor was on Busch's trucks fielded by Ballew for the past two seasons, when the pair won 10 races.

Busch said Miccosukee would be on his truck for the full 25-race schedule. Malsam's truck will have sponsorship from Talking Rain for an "undetermined number of races," Busch said, "with other opportunities available on that truck."

Former Truck Series champion Johnny Benson was at the announcement, at SPEED's studio, but Busch said sponsorship negotiations to put Benson in a third full-time truck couldn't be finalized in time for the conference.

General manager Rick Ren, who led Ron Hornaday to two of the past three Truck Series championships at Kevin Harvick Inc., said the team was still working on hiring crew chiefs for the two trucks.

"Everyone knows how much I love to race, and the Camping World Truck Series is one of my favorite places to race, so to be a team owner in this series is a perfect match," said Busch, who has won 16 races the Truck Series and a combined 62 wins among NASCAR's top three divisions. "We started KBM two years ago with the Late Model program and this seemed like the next natural step. I'm also very pleased with our driver lineup -- having young and talented guys like Tayler Malsam and Brian Ickler."

Ren

Busch said "having the right people in place" would prevent him from being distracted from his Sprint Cup responsibilities with Joe GIbbs Racing. As key personnel, Busch cited Ren and motorsports veteran Emmett Byrd, who Busch hired from the former Xpress Motorsports to be his operations and marketing manager.

"Rick Ren is an important part of what we're trying to build at Kyle Busch Motorsports," Busch added. "Rick has won multiple championships as a crew chief and is the perfect person to lead this race team and build it into an organization capable of winning races and contending for championships. His record speaks for itself, and in order for me to take on a team ownership role in the Camping World Truck Series, it was important to have the right people in place to make this work. Having Rick on board is a great first step in that process. It's no secret how much I want to win as a driver, and I want to win as a team owner just as badly."

Busch recently purchased the assets of Xpress Motorsports, the Camping World Truck Series team that won in June at Dover and finished the 2009 season among the top-10 in points. KBM will operate from the Xpress Motorsports shop in Mooresville, N.C., until its new shop, also in Mooresville and currently under construction, is completed.

"A person can work their whole career in any profession and not get an opportunity like this," Ren said. "I've been involved in some other start-up, ground-floor programs, but not of this magnitude. It's a great opportunity for me and everyone who will be a part of Kyle Busch Motorsports. There have been great race car drivers, but Kyle has the opportunity to be one of the all-time greats. Getting the chance to help a guy like that who has a dream of building his own race team is an honor."

Malsam

Malsam raced his first full season in Trucks in 2009 and finished 12th in the championship with 10 top-10 finishes.

"It can be a little intimidating for a young guy like me to work for a guy like Kyle Busch, who has already done so much in his career," said Malsam, whose path came via winged Sprint cars. "But we have a lot of the same characteristics in the way we drive, so I think it's a good fit. And to have Rick Ren on board -- he's been successful wherever he's been. To team with someone who has won two of the last three series championships is going to be awesome. And I'm proud to continue my relationship with Toyota. The support they give to each of their teams is impressive, and it shows by how many Tundras are usually running up front. This is going to be one of the best years of my life."

Ickler made 11 starts in the Truck Series in 2009, with two top-fives and three top-10s.

"Kyle has done so much for my career by helping me get some experience in the Truck Series last year, along with some Late Model races for KBM," Ickler said. "I'm really looking forward to racing for Kyle with all the success he's had in the sport. I hope we can continue the winning tradition. Every ride I've had since I moved to North Carolina has been because of Kyle. He's been able to get me some valuable seat time."

SPEED reporter Ray Dunlap sees similarities between what Busch is doing now and that of Kevin Harvick, who along with wife, DeLana, has built Kevin Harvick Inc. into a championship-winning organization.

"I certainly expect Kyle Busch's dedication to this sport and the kind of people who want to be associated with a driver of his caliber to make his team a formidable one from the get-go," he said. "I anticipate Kyle will put together an organization that will rival or outperform KHI and you can't ask for anything better than that in the series."

Video: Watch highlights from Kyle Busch's news conference