Layoffs underway at Kyle Busch Motorsports

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This sucks.

Kyle Busch Motorsports has laid off a number of employees, the first step in abolishing its NASCAR Nationwide Series operation for 2014, and possibly scaling back its highly successful Camping World Truck Series operation.

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Sources close to the team say KBM laid off 10 employees this morning, and could terminate more next week.
Busch admitted last week at Talladega Superspeedway that the future of his team is in doubt, due to lack of sponsorship.

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Contacted today, Kligerman was unable to confirm reports of layoffs, but said his tenure with KBM will end following the 2013 season finale at Homestead Miami Speedway.
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Entire article: http://motorsports-soapbox.blogspot.com/2013/10/layoffs-underway-at-kyle-busch.html
 
I hope someone comes forward with some money, I really feel sorry for the folks that have been laid off.
 
That's too bad, given how many wins Kyle racked up in the Truck series, I'm surprised no one stepped up to be a part of it going forward.
 
3wideinturn1 said:
That's too bad, given how many wins Kyle racked up in the Truck series, I'm surprised no one stepped up to be a part of it going forward.
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I cant help but wonder if sponsors might be a bit uncertain of Kyle. The Hornaday incident and a few others may have put him in a bad place.
 
I knew something was up when I saw how upset he was about wrecking his superspeedway truck. Seemed like it was his only one or something.
 
SlicedBread22 said:
I knew something was up when I saw how upset he was about wrecking his superspeedway truck. Seemed like it was his only one or something.
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Yeah that was a different tone from his usual ticked off attitude. I think the fact that he goes out and dominates for another team (JGR) makes it a tough sell to sponsors. It's like saying "hey want to sponsor my team?, I will be regularily kicking their butt with Gibbs but hey want to give me money anyways?"

He should have sucked up his pride and kept driving his own car, that way he may have been able to improve the performance and also attract potential sponsors to his own team rather than bringing them to Gibbs ala Monster Energy.
 
I can't imagine how it is working for him, he seems to have a slight temper,,just a little.

May be a lot of truth in this "hey want to sponsor my team?, I will be regularily kicking their butt with Gibbs but hey want to give me money anyways":)
 
Monster followed (probably convinced) him to drive the 54 for JGR instead of KBM.. I just don't get why KBM and JGR wouldn't have worked closer together to make Kyle's cars more like that last year. KBM imo is basically a satellite team of JGR. If Monster is willing to fork out the cash for the JGR engines or whatever they're doing different this season.. I don't get why they wouldn't have done it for him last year.
 
Does he get his engines from TRD? Maybe JGR won't sell him chassis' and he's forced to buy them from a smaller organization? If I were in charge at JGR I probably would have done the same thing. Let him go but make sure he fails.. then buy his car and take his sponsor. Even if it is for him in NNS... it's still for JGR.
 
SlicedBread22 said:
Monster followed (probably convinced) him to drive the 54 for JGR instead of KBM.. I just don't get why KBM and JGR wouldn't have worked closer together to make Kyle's cars more like that last year. KBM imo is basically a satellite team of JGR. If Monster is willing to fork out the cash for the JGR engines or whatever they're doing different this season.. I don't get why they wouldn't have done it for him last year.
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Because Joe and JD wanted him to concentrate more on cup and stop playing in the minors. Kyle's solution was to drive for his own teams instead. Why would JGR help him?
 
FenderBumper said:
Because Joe and JD wanted him to concentrate more on cup and stop playing in the minors. Kyle's solution was to drive for his own teams instead. Why would JGR help him?
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Exactly. Maybe they decided to put him back in their NNS car after seeing what happens when he only concentrates on cup. lol
 
FenderBumper said:
Because Joe and JD wanted him to concentrate more on cup and stop playing in the minors. Kyle's solution was to drive for his own teams instead. Why would JGR help him?
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I always thought JGR "parked" Kyle last year in NNS because of the Hornaday incident, so he started his own team to race.
 
FenderBumper said:
Because Joe and JD wanted him to concentrate more on cup and stop playing in the minors. Kyle's solution was to drive for his own teams instead. Why would JGR help him?
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Yep, I don't think JGR had any interest in helping KBM succeed. Kyle said I'm going to do my own thing, so JGR let him go do it with limited support.

Say what you will about Kyle, but he's such a talented driver that if he got quality NNS equipment at KBM then he could pose a serious threat to JGR's success at the NNS level. They let him have the trucks but when Kyle announced he was going to NNS and he brought in Kurt, I think that was a major shot across the bow to JGR. IMO they never had any interest in helping KBM in NNS, doesn't make sense for them to do so.
 
FenderBumper said:
Because Joe and JD wanted him to concentrate more on cup and stop playing in the minors. Kyle's solution was to drive for his own teams instead. Why would JGR help him?
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Wait a tick, double standard much?

They cant help Kyle out with their engines but are ok with their other drivers running in the NW despite being Cup regulars. So you see, it cant be because they wanted Kyle to focus on Cup full time.

It probably had more to do with the fact Kyle would kill them on his own car with Gibbs own engines. lol
 
It's a shame to see, without owners and sponsors our sport doesn't exist. I don't think this is negative view of Kyle Busch or KBM, but the NCWTS as whole. The trucks used to be basically a short track series w/ some superspeedways thrown in and popular among the fans.It's no longer what it was. There's a unhealthy amount of trucks with lack of sponsorships, especially full time ones.
 
Lack of some VERY expensive pieces of equipment in the KBM shop is supposedly what was holding the 54 car back. If I recall they were some sort of jigs for the chassis. I remember hearing Kyle talk about it but he didnt go into much detail. Apparently they are better equipped on the truck side of his shop
 
Kyle18fan said:
Lack of some VERY expensive pieces of equipment in the KBM shop is supposedly what was holding the 54 car back. If I recall they were some sort of jigs for the chassis. I remember hearing Kyle talk about it but he didnt go into much detail. Apparently they are better equipped on the truck side of his shop
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If that's the case, then Kyle needs to take a long, hard look at himself as an owner and ask if he gave his team all the tools they needed to be successful. If you're not going to invest in your own race team, why would anyone else?
 
3wideinturn1 said:
If that's the case, then Kyle needs to take a long, hard look at himself as an owner and ask if he gave his team all the tools they needed to be successful. If you're not going to invest in your own race team, why would anyone else?
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The last time I heard him talk about it he said that he was going to obtain the needed equipment at the late part of the season. He realized that they didnt have what was needed to win and was working towards that goal. I seriously doubt that there are many owners who can put a race shop and team together overnight. If Kyle had given it another year he would have been winning races with the 54, his truck team is proof of that
 
3wideinturn1 said:
If that's the case, then Kyle needs to take a long, hard look at himself as an owner and ask if he gave his team all the tools they needed to be successful. If you're not going to invest in your own race team, why would anyone else?
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Ask Curt Schilling how well it works out when you invest your personal fortune into a business venture.

Seems to me that Kyle Busch provided the startup capital for KBM and then expected it to stand on its own feet. Not a bad strategy. If sponsors won't come, no need for him to burn up his JGR cup money running a truck team for fun.
 
Man, this really sucks for everyone. I wonder what will happen to Klingerman, and I wonder what Trucks will get eliminated.
 
Man I can't believe as often as his cars go to victorylane that he'd be in sponsor trouble. Guess that's the state of today's NASCAR. I supppose if I were him i'd dump the Busch Series program & scale back to one full time truck plus the truck Kyle drives with up & coming drivers at the races he doesn't attend. I think despite his troubles that he should still be able to get some decent sponsorship for that much of an effort anyways. I don't think the Hornaday incident is still lingering in the minds of potential sponsors so much but what do I know...
 
KevinWI said:
Ask Curt Schilling how well it works out when you invest your personal fortune into a business venture.

Seems to me that Kyle Busch provided the startup capital for KBM and then expected it to stand on its own feet. Not a bad strategy. If sponsors won't come, no need for him to burn up his JGR cup money running a truck team for fun.
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I don't blame him for not pouring all his own money into it and I understand how expensive it can be, but KBM's been around for a few years now and Kyle should have known better. If the team didnt have the equipment in the shop to compete then they shouldn't have gone to the NNS at all.

What it sounds like to me is 2 things happened, first Kyle overestimated his own driving abilities and thought he could compete without the right stuff. Secondly, he didn't like how JGR wanted him to curtail his NNS driving so he went ahead with his own team and without the full support of a Cup team like JGR. There aren't really any competitive NNS teams that aren't supported or affiliated by a Cup team these days.
 
Monster Energy is one of only a few sponsors that would have anything to do with KBM after his near miss of losing MAR's with JGR due to his constant unsportsmanlike conduct and meltdowns so I'm not surprised that he couldn't get further sponsorship for his teams. This is my opinion.
 
Johali said:
Monster Energy is one of only a few sponsors that would have anything to do with KBM after his near miss of losing MAR's with JGR due to his constant unsportsmanlike conduct and meltdowns so I'm not surprised that he couldn't get further sponsorship for his teams. This is my opinion.
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I think people are over that, bro.
 
Thegroundpounder99 said:
It's a shame to see, without owners and sponsors our sport doesn't exist. I don't think this is negative view of Kyle Busch or KBM, but the NCWTS as whole. The trucks used to be basically a short track series w/ some superspeedways thrown in and popular among the fans.It's no longer what it was. There's a unhealthy amount of trucks with lack of sponsorships, especially full time ones.
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Yep. In fact, the state of sponsorship across all three of the major NASCAR series is dangerously unstable. This is why any fan who blows up the Facebook and/or Twitter accounts of a sponsor after the team or driver does something they don't like is an absolute moron. I've said this once, and I'll say it a billion times - sponsors who put money into the sport need unconditional support (assuming THEY weren't the ones who did/said something dumb). It's pretty bad out there, folks.
 
Johali said:
Sponsors and others never will be, in my opinion, BRO.
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Never???? Nah. Some are, some aren't. Businesses don't live in the past, or hold personal grudges. They do what's best for them today and tomorrow. Kyle scares some, and excites others.
 
Allenbaba said:
Never???? Nah. Some are, some aren't. Businesses don't live in the past, or hold personal grudges. They do what's best for them today and tomorrow. Kyle scares some, and excites others.
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That's your opinion and I don't agree, we have to remember that you are a spindoctor for the Sr. Busch brother so to defend him you defend both.
 
Allenbaba said:
Yep. In fact, the state of sponsorship across all three of the major NASCAR series is dangerously unstable. This is why any fan who blows up the Facebook and/or Twitter accounts of a sponsor after the team or driver does something they don't like is an absolute moron. I've said this once, and I'll say it a billion times - sponsors who put money into the sport need unconditional support (assuming THEY weren't the ones who did/said something dumb). It's pretty bad out there, folks.
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Sponsors might need unconditional support is more like they need to sell sell sell. They are the

unstable ones, the racing has been going on long before most of the sponsors have been in

business. If they are so thin skinned that WE the fans have to act a certain way? Think your job

fear is overloading the facts. The show will go on, with or without certain fickle sponsors. Kyle

Busch laying off and downsizing? Running three trucks and a N'wide car would be a full time job

for a really good businessman. Kyle Busch although optimistic about his abilities, has found like

many others that it isn't as easy as it looks. Kevin and Delana sold their operation to RCR, D.W.

went broke trying to field a one car team, Jr. is in partnership with Hendrick and has only one or

two cars entered in N'wide. Some of the cup drivers own sprint dirt car teams, but few..very few

have tried to field 4 vehicles in two series and race at the same time. I don't know of any off hand.
 
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Johali said:
That's your opinion and I don't agree, we have to remember that you are a spindoctor for the Sr. Busch brother so to defend him you defend both.
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Kyle would be out of the sport if people "didn't forget." Instead, he's selling candy to little kids and is the sport's poster child for Toyota... another pretty wholesome brand. I'm not "defending" Kyle...I'm just citing a few facts. Facts > Opinions. Some are over it, some aren't.
 
Johali said:
That's your opinion and I don't agree, we have to remember that you are a spindoctor for the Sr. Busch brother so to defend him you defend both.
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I don't agree about the unconditional support thing, as I never have or will support a tobacco company regardless of the contribution to the sport. However I think he's right, most people are over it. Furthermore the Busch bros, while lacking certain social skills, both possess the most important marketing tool...the fact that they are winners, and consistent winners too. All companies want those guys, regardless of their past transgressions.
 
Allenbaba said:
Kyle would be out of the sport if people "didn't forget." Instead, he's selling candy to little kids and is the sport's poster child for Toyota... another pretty wholesome brand. I'm not "defending" Kyle...I'm just citing a few facts. Facts > Opinions. Some are over it, some aren't.
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3wideinturn1 said:
I don't agree about the unconditional support thing, as I never have or will support a tobacco company regardless of the contribution to the sport. However I think he's right, most people are over it. Furthermore the Busch bros, while lacking certain social skills, both possess the most important marketing tool...the fact that they are winners, and consistent winners too. All companies want those guys, regardless of their past transgressions.
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And again I am entitled to my opinion and I disagree. I dealt with the PR Department/Spindoctors of a very large International Company for 42 years and I have an inkling of how they think and it is damage control and image repair at all costs.
 
StandOnIt said:
Sponsors might need unconditional support is more like they need to sell sell sell. They are the unstable ones, the racing has been going on long before most of the sponsors have been in business. If they are so thin skinned that WE the fans have to act a certain way? Think your job fear is overloading the facts. The show will go on, with or without certain fickle sponsors.
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What job fear are you referring to? My firm has a laundry list of clients, a few are NASCAR teams and drivers. The sport could disappear tomorrow and my accountant would barely notice.

But getting back on topic, If Clint Bowyer spins out at Richmond, why should fans beg 5-hr energy to leave? Why should fans blow up NAPA's Facebook page? Do me a favor and defend those actions - I'm curious to hear your logic.
 
Johali said:
And again I am entitled to my opinion and I disagree. I dealt with the PR Department/Spindoctors of a very large International Company for 42 years and I have an inkling of how they think and it is damage control and image repair at all costs.
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How is Mars and Toyota spending tens of millions of dollars on Kyle's persona "spin"?
 
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