Branching Out

Gotta give Kyle Busch credit. He's never dull.

Amid the Monster Energy motocross riders and a ton of fanfare, Kyle announced today that he and brother Kurt would run for the NASCAR Nationwide Series owner's title in the No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota.

Speculation had been rampant that the series' all-time leading winner would not be in the field for Nationwide races this season, after Joe Gibbs Racing and sponsor M&M'S said they would prefer him to concentrate on winning a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title first.

So, he went about setting up a way he could run the series some and give older brother Kurt a chance to run some races as well.

He'll run 12-14 races in the car, while Kurt will run the remainder.

Monster stepped in where NOS was stepping out, and that meant a full-season ride for the new car. Monster money is...well, monstrous, and the fact that the Busch brothers will be driving their car means plenty of eyeballs and ears.

Just what an attention-seeking sponsor likes to hear!