SALISBURY, N.C. — There’s a new Busch blooming in the dirt-racing world — and he’s giving the older Busch a run for his money.
At just 9 years old, Brexton Busch raced his father, two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch, head-to-head for the first time in competition Wednesday at Millbridge Speedway. The duo raced nose-to-tail with Kyle Busch fifth and Brexton Busch sixth for much of the night’s 20-lap feature in the 600cc Winged Micros class, but the elder Busch escaped to a third-place finish on the final restart with six laps to go while Brexton earned an impressive sixth-place result in the 20-car field.
The scoreboard offered slim bragging rights for the veteran 39-year-old dad, but Kyle Busch’s experience competing straight-up against his son is one he sincerely cherishes.
“It was cool,” Kyle Busch said. “One of these days, we’ll get to battling it out and swapping back and forth, hopefully. But for a first-nighter, that’s definitely impressive for a 9-year-old to come on out here.”
The Busch brigade was quick all night, but not as quick as Kyle Busch hoped for. On the final restart, Kyle, a 63-race winner in Cup competition and defending track champion of the 600cc Winged Micros class, charged the outside to nab second before Nathan Meendering shot back to the runner-up spot on the bottom. Watching his dad take the high side, Brexton Busch decided to follow suit from fifth place but didn’t find the same momentum, allowing Kolson Nelson to storm to his inside, make slight contact in Turns 3 and 4 and take away the top-five spot.
Kyle Busch then had a front-seat for a thrilling photo finish between race-winner Joey Robinson and Meendering for the win.
“Our run was OK,” Kyle Busch said. “Just felt like we needed a little bit more there. It was just kind of fighting that bottom groove, everybody running the bottom. And then I jumped to the outside for the restart, and that seemed to pick me off one spot, I guess. But I was hoping there’d be more lanes than that when we got to traffic, and I never really found traffic.”
In qualifying, both Busches flashed speed with Kyle qualifying third and Brexton seventh. Kyle then charged from fourth to second in Heat 2 and Brexton placing third in Heat 1. On the starting grid for the A Main, Kyle lined up fifth and Brexton seventh — just behind his dad. The first 13 laps ran without incident until race leader Tyler Lupton spun in Turn 2. The relatively long run resulted in Brexton settling into sixth place, following in his father’s tire tracks.
Under caution, the Busches advanced to fourth and fifth, respectively, before the final restart that allowed Kyle’s charge to third while Brexton fell to sixth.
“He did a great job, though,” Kyle Busch said. “I wasn’t very good, so I wasn’t making time going to the front, passing guys or getting closer to those in front of me to make a move. So I was just kind of holding my own riding, but trying as hard as I could. And if he was right there, then that’s pretty good. We’ve just got to work on our stuff.”
Wednesday night won’t mark the only time the father-and-son duo will compete against one another, but the next is yet to be determined. The opportunity to battle each other in a full-fledged competition is one Kyle has had in mind for years. Even so, the chance to do so now “kind of popped up” for the family.
“The other day, the guys were all like, ‘Are you racing too on Wednesday?”” Kyle Busch recalled. “And I’m like, ‘Well, yeah, why?’ And they’re like, ‘Well, you guys are going to be together.’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, OK, we are. Let’s go! Here it is.””
Brexton Busch has been racing significantly more in recent years, competing in over 150 races in 2024, his mom and Kyle’s wife, Samantha Busch, told NASCAR.com. His love of the sport is evident, and the chance to compete against his dad was one he was excited about, too.
“I don’t know that there’s ever a right time, but obviously, he’s 9, and it’s just that he’s old enough to run in this class,” Kyle Busch said. “We thought that it would probably be another year until he was, but Millbridge here obviously has seen his racing, his craft, his development over the last year. And so they believe he’s experienced enough and good enough to be able to go out there and race with all the big guys tonight.”
Brexton proved he was ready Wednesday night, finishing ahead of 12th-place Thad Moffitt and 19th-place Lawless Alan, both of whom have made starts across the ARCA Menards Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
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