Kyle Busch critical of NASCAR’s emphasis on younger drivers (Update)

Steve Phelps

UPDATE A day after Kyle Busch decried unfair treatment by the sanctioning body because NASCAR is heavily promoting its younger drivers over its veterans, Steve Phelps, Executive Vice-President and Chief Global Sales and Marketing Officer, said marketing efforts target drivers of all age and experience brackets.

Busch said the older drivers have paid their dues and felt promoting just the younger drivers was “stupid" because it takes away from the veterans fan base.

“I don’t know, I am not the marketing genius behind this deal," Busch said. “One thing that can be said is probably the younger guys are bullied into doing more things than the older drivers are because we say, ‘no’ a lot more because we’ve been there and done that, have families and things like that and want to spend time at home. So, maybe that is some of it. But some of these marketing campaigns and things like that pushing these younger drivers is, I wouldn’t say all that fair."

Phelps conceded that NASCAR could have done better through the years of promoting all of its drivers and it has been trying to fix that. He also said Busch’s comments were “fair" in that NASCAR didn’t show him the save love it is now showing Chase Elliott, Bubba Wallace, Ryan Blaney or its other young stars.

“I think it was a miss on our part. Until four or five years ago, most of our marketing was about the racing itself and pretty pictures around the racing," Phelps said. “It wasn’t about the stars of our sport. So, do I think that’s fair that when he came into the sport and started winning right off the bat? Yeah, I think it’s a fair statement that we did not give that kind of support."

Phelps added NASCAR is promoting all of its drivers and pointed to a campaign currently in production that involved a number of younger and older drivers. He added that his remarks weren’t directly in response to Busch’s criticism.

“It’s not about Kyle’s comments, its absolutely about this is the direction we are going from a marketing perspective and it is as simple as this; the first piece is we have the greatest racing on the planet," Phelps said. “The second part is about star-power, right. It is about our drivers and the crew chiefs and the crews and everyone that makes this sport go. And the drivers really starts with our veteran drivers, Hall of Fame drivers like Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr., Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and all of these guys are such an important part of everything we do and it should be. But we also need to expose these young drivers, so our fans understand who they are.

“At the end of the day, it’s really good the story lines that are coming out of this, and for our fans, our research will tell you the majority of it is about winning, so what kind of success are they going to have on the racetrack. Making sure we are giving these young drivers a platform to do that is an important part of our marketing. So that would be the preamble."

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It wasn’t all that long ago that Kyle Busch was "that young driver." He entered the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series full time in 2005 when he was 20. Fast-forward to today and after 43 race wins along with a Cup title, Busch is now a veteran, despite his relatively young age of 32.

“Obviously, it's a unique opportunity for me being one of the elder statesmen, if you will, of the sport, let alone Joe Gibbs Racing," Busch said Tuesday during the preseason NASCAR Media Tour hosted by Charlotte Motor Speedway. “Being able to kind of lead our younger guys, if you will, Erik (Jones) and Daniel (Suarez); those guys have come through Kyle Busch Motorsports, so it's been fun to watch them progress through the years with the Truck Series, the Xfinity Series and now being into the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series."

The current crop of young drivers has been getting a great deal of attention lately. With veterans retiring, and others losing rides, NASCAR has been marketing newer, young drivers: Chase Elliott, Jones, Suarez and William Byron, among others.

And that has Busch a bit frustrated.

"It is bothersome," Busch said. “We've paid our dues, and our sponsors have and everything else, and all you're doing is advertising all these younger guys for fans to figure out and pick up on and choose as their favorite driver.

“I think it's stupid."

There were perhaps two moments in which Kyle Busch definitively lost the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship on Sunday night during the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.The …

“But I don't know, I'm not the marketing genius that's behind this deal. You know, I just do what I can do, and my part of it is what my part is."

There may be a reason veterans aren’t being called on as much as the younger drivers.

“I guess one thing that can be said is probably the younger guys are bullied into doing more things than the older guys are because we say no a lot more because we've been there, done that and have families, things like that, and want to spend as much time as we can at home," Busch said. “You know, maybe that's some of it. But you know, it's … some of these marketing campaigns and things like that, pushing these younger drivers, is I wouldn't say all that fair."

For Byron, the 20-year-old driver who will be taking over the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy in the Cup Series this season, it’s all about showing what he and the other youngsters can do.

“I feel like its all relative," Byron said sitting in the same chair Busch occupied only moments before. “When new guys come in, it’s kind of a fresh thing to talk about. We’re ultimately just going to have to prove ourselves on the racetrack and do things that show we are capable of being part of this sport. I think that’s going to show over time, and hopefully a couple of us young guys can win some more races." AutoWeek