Mars, a candy and snack company that sponsored Kyle Busch for 15 seasons at Joe Gibbs Racing, will return to the organization with the iconic M&M’s paint scheme on Ty Gibbs’ No. 54 Toyota for September’s Bristol Night Race, Samantha Busch announced on Instagram Thursday.
The mosaic scheme, which features iconic moments from Busch’s career, is dedicated to the driver following his death on May 21 at 41.
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Bristol Motor Speedway is a fitting facility to honor Busch as the future NASCAR Hall of Famer dominated the 0.533-mile short track. He won a combined 22 times on the concrete across NASCAR’s three national series, including eight times in the NASCAR Cup Series. Busch swept the summer tripleheader weekend twice (2010, 2017) and remains the only driver to win all three national-series races in a single weekend.
“Bristol wasn’t just another race to him. He loved everything about that place,” Samantha Busch said in the Instagram video. “The intensity, the energy, the fans and the challenge of racing there. Some of the greatest moments of his career happened on that track in the yellow M&M’s car, which became such an iconic part of Kyle’s legacy.
“It was so much more than a paint scheme. Kyle became the M&M’s guy.”
Busch spent the bulk of his NASCAR career at JGR, joining the organization in 2008 with backing from Mars. He won 56 of his 63 Cup Series victories with JGR, and 47 of those were with Mars branding on his No. 18 Toyota. Busch won championships in 2015 and 2019, and his last Cup win with both the organization and sponsor came at Bristol dirt in 2022 before moving to Richard Childress Racing.
Additionally, 90 of Busch’s 102 victories in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series came for JGR, and eight of them came under Mars’ support.
Gibbs, grandson of JGR owner Joe Gibbs, took over the organization’s fourth car in 2023 after Busch’s departure to RCR. He sits second in the Cup Series standings after a win last weekend at Iowa Speedway.
“Seeing Mars and Joe Gibbs Racing come together to honor Kyle this way is incredibly emotional to me,” Samantha Busch said. “The M&M’s car holds so many memories from our life together, and seeing it back on the track knowing Kyle won’t be the one behind the wheel is going to be both heartbreaking and beautiful all at once. To see the No. 54 car carry those iconic colors again, filled with moments from Kyle’s incredible career, feels like bringing a piece of him back to the track he loved so much.
“Kyle loved Bristol and Bristol loved Kyle. Being back with our NASCAR family under the lights to celebrate his life, his career and the memories he gave all of us is something we will never forget. I know he will be right there with us that night.”
The Bass Pro Shops Night Race is scheduled for Sept. 19, the third of 10 Chase contests (7:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).