Like any other sport, acquiring one’s favorite merchandise is indeed an intricate part of the fan experience in NASCAR. However, in an interview, Richard Childress Racing icon Kyle Busch revealed how selling merchandise doesn’t help the drivers financially like it once used to.
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Just one tap to rowdybusch.com, and fans are left with an array of cool merch in front of them ranging from autographed diecast cars to Kyle Busch earrings. Although most of those have already been sold out, it caters more to the fans than the pocket of the #8 speedster.
According to the 2x Cup champion, the drivers sell merchandise just because the fans want to wear them as they go to the racetrack. Don’t be mistaken; Busch absolutely loves seeing his fans wear his #8 hats and cheer for him.
Previously, when Rowdy was a part of Joe Gibbs Racing, his fans would wear the M&M gear. With his transition to RCR, the fans have also changed teams. Busch said, “I love going to the racetrack and everybody wearing the new 8 hats and the new 8 RCR gear and everybody changing teams with me; it’s really cool to see the swap over.”
However, he also stated that merchandise does not bring them revenue. “It’s not a money-maker per se,” explained the Chevy star.
“The retail space in our sport has sort of lost its way over time…the last, probably, 10 years. It just hasn’t quite been what it once was. I think we just do it for our fans.”
A brief overview of the 2023 season for Kyle Busch
2023 snapped a 15-year-long relationship between Kyle Busch and Joe Gibbs Racing. As he shook hands with Richard Childress, the fans expected a breakthrough year from the Las Vegas native.
However, things didn’t pan out that well for the 38-year-old athlete.
Busch failed to make it out of the second round of the 2023 NASCAR playoffs and had to settle for a disappointing 14th place on overall points. It was also his second-lowest finish in his entire Cup career. To make things worse, he led the least number of laps (241) this year.
Nevertheless, his wins at Fontana, Talladega, and Gateway got him the solace of flaunting three victories this year; the most wins in a season since 2019, when he had won five races. Moreover, he has also won at least one race in each of the 19 years that he has been driving in the Cup Series.
