Car: #18 M&M's/Interstate
Drives for: Joe Gibbs Racing
Crew chief: Steve Addington
Born: May 2, 1985 in Las Vegas, NV
Teammates: Tony Stewart (20), Denny Hamlin (11)
Marital status: Single
In the family: Busch is the younger brother of Nextel Cup driver Kurt Busch. His dad Tom used to race before he got a neck injury and had to stop. He currently watches his two sons race.


Career highlights:

• Busch grew up racing in the Bullring at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
  
  

• In 2001, at the age of 16, Busch competed in six races in the Craftsman Truck Series for Roush Racing. He was so young that he was kicked out of a race at California Speedway because the weekend also featured a CART race sponsored by Marlboro Cigarettes. Marlboro officials threw Busch out because federal law prohibits persons under 18 from participating in events sponsored by tobacco companies. Six weeks later, NASCAR imposed a minimum driver age of 18 beginning in 2002. At the time, Winston was still the sponsor of NASCAR’s title series.

• In 2002, Busch was forced to move to the ASA (American Speed Association) because of the age requirement.

• When he turned 18, Busch joined Hendrick Motorsports and ran six Busch Series races, finishing second in his first race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in May 2003.

• In 2004, he ran a full Busch Series season, winning five races and Rookie of the Year, and he finished second to Martin Truex Jr. in the points race.

• In 2005, at age 19, Busch began his first full season in the Nextel Cup, driving the #5 car for Hendrick Motorsports. In September 2005, he became the youngest-ever winner in the Cup series when he captured the Sony HD 500 at California Speedway. He won again at Phoenix and took home Rookie of the Year honors.

So far in 2006... On April 14, 2006, Busch was ticketed for a little squeal of the tires outside Richmond, Va., just five months after brother Kurt received a much-publicized reckless driving charge during a race weekend in Arizona. Scheduled to appear in court on May 23, he could face up to a year in jail. Kyle had his 3rd Nextel Cup career win at New Hampshire on 7/16/06. Kyle finished 7th at the Brickyard after he led a few laps, where his teammate, Jimmie Johnson, went on to take the checkers.

So far in 2008... Kyle Busch started the season off with a second place finish in the Chevy Silverado 250 at Daytona International Speedway, and followed it up a week later with a win in the San Bernardino County 200 at the newly named Auto Club Speedway (previously California Speedway) in Fontana, California. Two weeks later at Atlanta, he raced to another win in the American Commercial Lines 200.

Other Information:

• In just five years, Kyle Busch has gone from a Craftsman Truck driver to a top-20 driver on the Nextel Cup circuit.

• Busch, who had but 54 career starts to his credit entering 2005, made the Cup Series take notice with his impressive rookie season that saw him become the youngest winner (in September at Fontana) and finish 20th in points. He won two races, had nine top-fives and 13 top-10s to easily win rookie of the year.

• It was Busch's second rookie of the year award in as many years, having taken the Busch Series honor in 2004. In his first full NASCAR season, Busch posted five wins, 16 top-fives and 22 top-10s to finish second in points and earn a promotion from team owner Rick Hendrick to the top series.

• Busch started a total of 61 races in NASCAR's top three series. He had a win, two top-fives and three-top 10s in 14 starts for Hendrick in the Busch Series, and in just 11 races in the Truck Series posted three victories, seven top-fives and nine top-10s for owner Billy Ballew.

• His success at such a young age comes as no surprise given his track record, which dates to the late 1990s in the Legend Car series. Starting at age 13, Busch posted 65 Legend Car victories and two Las Vegas track championships before moving to Late Models in 2001.

• Busch had 10 wins that season and also made his Craftsman Truck debut at the age of 17. In six races, he finished ninth on two occasions, but his career at that level would have to wait a year.

• Having graduated from high school a year early, Busch was prohibited from competing in any of NASCAR's series after the sanctioning body announced that drivers had to be 18 or older. Busch spent 2002 in the ASA Series, finishing eighth in the season standings.

• In 2003 Busch signed with Hendrick Motorsports. He twice finished second in just seven Busch Series starts and was seventh in another race. In May 2004, he won his first race at Richmond.

• Busch is the younger brother of 2004 Nextel Cup champion Kurt Busch.