Kyle Busch explains decision to shut down Rowdy Energy
At the end of 2023, Kyle Busch had to close down Rowdy Energy, a drink brand the NASCAR driver tried to establish over the years. While it had a run, it was ultimately short-lived. Rowdy himself has been downsizing recently, and that included the energy drink he worked hard to get going.
Kyle Busch had a lot more going on last January than he does now. Since then, he has sold off Kyle Busch Motorsports as well as Rowdy Manufacturing to Spire. That included the entire building itself.
Rowdy Energy was part of that downsizing.
“Similar to KBM and Rowdy Manufacturing and stuff like that, those companies were obviously sold, but Rowdy Energy just kind of shut down and closed shop,” Busch said to Bob Pockrass of Fox Sports. “Unfortunately, it just didn’t work out, we didn’t get the rebuys and the resales of everything to keep it on the shelves. So, it wasn’t worth putting good money to bad and made the business decision to let it go. I hate it. I wanted that to really work and be something and heard all about Rowdy Nation telling me how great it was and how much they enjoyed it. You never know, maybe we’ll try something else down the road.”
As far as the legal action that was being taken against Rowdy Energy, Kyle Busch says it was not a factor in closing the brand.
“No, actually we were talking about shutting it down in April, May something like that and then all the lawsuits came in December before it closed because we were just trying to get rid of the rest of the product that we had on stock. So, is what it is, we’ll deal with it. Legalities are legalities.”
Kyle Busch, less busy, less distracted in 2024?
Time will soon tell. However, it wouldn’t be shocking to see Kyle Busch take another step up in his second year with RCR. Yes, he won three races last year. But the end of the season was not up to par, at all.
Busch won’t have to worry about his own Truck Series team. He doesn’t have to drive out to his shop and then bounce back to RCR to do his Cup Series prep. Things are just going to be more simple for Busch in 2024, at least it seems.
With that newfound freedom, will we see an improvement with the No. 8 team? Let’s not forget all of these new sponsors that are coming on board as well. Rebel Bourbon and zone nicotine pouches, to name a couple.
It does seem that Busch is more comfortable now. He will be in year two at RCR and that means he should improve. There should now be cohesion on the team, everyone should have an understanding of what needs to happen to be successful.
Kyle Busch is a two-time champion who still has enough in him to win another. He just has to be given the tools to do it. Get him to Phoenix in the Championship 4 and let him do what he does best.