Fresh off Mother’s Day weekend, Kyle Busch opened up about a financial nightmare from his only NASCAR career, which unexpectedly involved his own mother. “I was broke at one point,” Busch confessed.

Back in 2007, a 20-year-old Busch faced a harsh reality check. After being warned, he could end the year “negative 200,000.” Rowdy was forced to cut spending immediately and remove his own mother from managing his finances. Speaking on the In Depth with Graham Bensinger podcast, the now 41-year-old driver revealed the reason behind firing his mother, Gaye Busch.

“In 2007, my money guys, they said, ‘You’re gonna be negative 200,000 by the end of the year if you keep spending this way, so we literally had to stop spending in July,” Busch said. He initially let his mom take care of the accounts. However, that arrangement didn’t last long. “I let her start doing it, you know, and a couple bills don’t get paid, so I’m like, okay, you’re out,” he added.

For the Richard Childress Racing driver, the decision was never personal. In fact, Gaye Busch was one of the biggest influences behind his early racing career. Busch worked for the Clark County School District while simultaneously helping both of her sons chase their racing dreams across Nevada’s short track scene.

When Kyle and Kurt Busch were grinding through legend cars, modified and streak stocks at places like Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s Bullring, she was often right there beside them, working as an official of the tracks. Long before the million-dollar contracts and cup championships arrived, the Busch family poured everything they had into keeping their racing dreams alive.

Their father, Tom Busch, famously sold his 1932 Ford for $32,000, just to fund Kurt’s early racing career and buy race cars for his sons. Those sacrifices eventually paid off massively. But despite her involvement in his career, Kurt knew that he didn’t want his mother to handle his money.

“Interesting point about me is my mom was a school banker, so when I get to make it to the big time, she wants to control my money, and she wants to be the money gal,” Busch explained. “I was furious at the people that were helping me before, so I went from my mom to somebody to somebody else, so the middle person, I was furious.”

Ironically, the financial scare hit just as Busch’s career took off. In late 2007, he signed a major multi-year contract with Joe Gibbs Racing. This deal quickly made him one of the highest-paid drivers in NASCAR.

Busch’s earnings only continued to climb after that initial contract. He agreed to another massive extension with JGR in 2019. During his peak years, Busch earned an estimated $15 million to $20 million annually through his salary and endorsements.

However, as he mentioned, his spending habits caused a massive spiral for him. But things changed as Busch learnt more about his savings and money management.

“Well, it taught me the buckets, right, and it taught me the opportunity to not fall into the trap of other professional athletes that when you look at them after retirement, after a year or two, they got no money. They’re broke because they spent it all. So you’ve got to have good people surround you to help you in those instances,” he admitted.

That lesson became even more relevant for Busch nearly 2 decades later. Last year, Kyle and his wife, Samantha, filed a massive lawsuit against a life insurance company. The couple claimed they lost more than $8.5 million after being sold misleading tax-free retirement policies. They had paid over $10.4 million in premiums before realizing the investments they were promised did not actually exist.

The case was eventually settled out of court earlier this year, adding another painful chapter to Busch’s long history of financial hard lessons.

Today, Busch is worth an estimated $80 million. His finances are finally on solid ground. Despite their past money drama, he knows he wouldn’t be where he is without his mom. Her strict rules pushed him and his brother to actually make it in NASCAR. That’s why he made sure to celebrate her this Mother’s Day.

Kyle Busch pens down a heartfelt message for his mother

Gaye’s influence went well beyond finances. She kept both her sons strictly disciplined while they chased racing success at a young age. Busch remains deeply grateful for that guidance. All the love and support through the years have made him who he is. And Rowdy took the perfect opportunity to let his mother know that.

“My girls deserve the spotlight today 💕,” Busch posted online. “Happy Mother’s Day to Samantha and my Mom! Thank You both for the love, patience, strength, and everything you pour into our family every single day.”

During his childhood, Gaye actually tried steering the future two-time NASCAR champion away from the track. She handed him a baseball bat and glove, hoping another sport might stick. When that failed, she let Kyle and Kurt race under one strict condition: good grades came first.

Kyle Busch said in 2014, “The biggest thing was working in the school district; she always had access to our grades, so she knew what they really were, and you had to have good grades in order to go racing.”

All that hard work paid off. Today, Kyle Busch keeps his nose clean with investments and money; things are starting to pick up for the RCR driver. And he knows who helped him survive this journey.