CONCORD, N.C. — Kyle Larson will drive a throwback paint scheme honoring the late Kyle Busch in the NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Oct. 4.
The design on the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet comes from the car Busch drove for the organization in 2007. That car was yellow and blue with red trim, with Kellogg’s and Carquest as sponsors. Larson’s version keeps the colors and carries his regular HendrickCars.com sponsorship.
On March 25, 2007, Busch drove that car to victory at Bristol Motor Speedway in the first Cup race run with the Car of Tomorrow. The win was the fourth of his Cup career and his last with Hendrick.
“I’m still not a very big fan of these things,” Busch said in victory lane. “I can’t stand to drive them. They suck.”
A portion of the royalties from Larson’s tribute merchandise will go to The Samantha & Kyle Busch Bundle of Joy Fund, which assists couples struggling with infertility.
In comments published Thursday by Motorsport.com, Larson said having children of his own led him to watch how Busch coached and mentored Brexton, the Busches’ son.
“To me, it was important to run a Kyle Busch tribute scheme because we shared the same number and I really looked up to him just from the good battles we had,” Larson said. “And then even moving on to having children, watching how he coaches Brexton and just really trying to pay attention to how he mentors his kid and how I can relate to that with my children. He’s just, to me, the best driver I’ve gotten to compete with in stock cars. So for me and our team to be able to honor Kyle Busch and take this scheme on our Cup car to Las Vegas in the fall is going to be really special.
“Thank you to HendrickCars.com and Samantha Busch, the whole Busch family for allowing us to run this paint scheme to honor Kyle, to show what he meant to me and to the sport,” Larson continued. “So look forward to getting out to Vegas and hopefully having a good run.”
Kyle Busch Won His First Four Cup Races With Hendrick Motorsports
Busch drove the No. 5 for Hendrick from 2005 through 2007. He won four Cup races in it, starting in 2005. In 2004, driving for the team, he finished second in the standings of what is now the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.
Hendrick signed Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the 2008 season, and Busch moved to Joe Gibbs Racing. He won Cup championships there in 2015 and 2019 before joining Richard Childress Racing in 2023.
Busch died May 21 at 41. Two days later, his family said in a statement that severe pneumonia had progressed into sepsis. His 63 Cup wins rank ninth all-time. Across NASCAR’s three national series, he won 234 races.
Busch was born in Las Vegas, and his lone Cup win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway came in 2009. He also won at the track in NASCAR’s other two national series.
When Larson arrived in 2021, Hendrick brought the No. 5 back into use. Larson has won 26 points races in the No. 5, along with the 2021 and 2025 Cup championships.
The HendrickCars.com scheme debuted on the No. 5 at Las Vegas in March 2021. It was modeled on a scheme Ricky Hendrick, the late son of team owner Rick Hendrick, ran in the Truck and Busch series. Larson won that race for his first victory with Hendrick, then won at Las Vegas again in 2023 and 2024.
Ty Gibbs Carries M&M’s Colors Into Bristol Night Race
Ty Gibbs will run a mosaic M&M’s scheme featuring moments from Busch’s career on the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol on Sept. 19.
Mars, the maker of M&M’s, sponsored Busch for 15 seasons at Joe Gibbs Racing and left NASCAR after 2022. The company is returning for the one race.
Gibbs, the grandson of team owner Joe Gibbs, took over the organization’s fourth car in 2023 after Busch left for Richard Childress Racing. On April 12, he won at Bristol for his first career Cup victory.
Samantha Busch, Kyle Busch’s widow, announced the Bristol scheme in a video posted to social media Aug. 13. For her, seeing the M&M’s car on the track without her husband behind the wheel will be heartbreaking and beautiful at once.
“Kyle loved Bristol and Bristol loved Kyle,” Samantha Busch said in a statement released with the announcement. “Being back with our NASCAR family under the lights to celebrate his life, his career, and the memories he gave all of us is something we will never forget. I know he will be right there with us that night.”
Busch won eight Cup races on Bristol’s concrete and one on its dirt surface in 2022. He swept all three national series races on the Bristol weekend in 2010 and 2017.
Gibbs is sixth in the Chase standings, 39 points behind leader Denny Hamlin. Larson is seventh, 49 points back.
At Darlington Raceway on Sept. 6, Larson led a race-high 99 laps and finished fifth. He has gone 50 races without a win.
Las Vegas is the fifth race of the 10-race Chase. The Chase continues Sunday with the Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway at 2 p.m. CT on USA Network.
The Bristol race starts at 6:30 p.m. CT on Sept. 19. The South Point 400 at Las Vegas starts at 4:30 p.m. CT on Oct. 4. Both air on USA Network.