Holding the position as the all-time wins leader in the NASCAR Truck Series is no easy feat. For Kyle Busch, it was proof of his love for the series, a playground where he won races as both a driver and a team owner. Thus, it comes as no surprise that Busch’s passion for the Truck Series even moved NASCAR’s upper echelons.

Busch’s passion was visible during the current season as well, having won the race at Atlanta and Dover Motor Speedway. So after his latest victory, he had a request for NASCAR CEO Steve O’Donnell. As reported by Jeff Gluck:

“Steve O’Donnell says Kyle Busch texted him on Tuesday and proposed an ‘Over 40 Rule,’ which would allow him to run ALL Truck Series races next year. O’Donnell thought, ‘Damn, that’s actually good. We need Kyle in the Truck Series.'”

The NASCAR rules suggest that a driver can only compete full-time in one NASCAR national series during a season. Additionally, if they change their full-time status to any other NASCAR series, they will lose all their championship points in the series they were racing in prior.

NASCAR also has the rule that any driver who has more than three years of experience in the Cup Series may only race eight or fewer races in the Truck Series every season. It was a rule designed to promote healthy competition amongst the youngsters and allow the developmental drivers to hone their craft. Generally, a much-experienced Cup driver can easily undermine a Truck Series youngster owing to their lack of experience.

Busch’s suggestion was unlikely to help him earn another championship. It was just a way for him to spend time doing what he loved the most—racing. He did not care which series he was racing in as long as he was happy behind the wheel. Perhaps his drive to compete without prejudice was the primary factor that earned him the achievement of becoming the first driver to complete a Triple Threat in a single weekend.

The force that Kyle Busch was

Competing at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2010 and 2017, Busch went on to win all three races at the track that weekend. As O’Donnell admits, Busch’s entry and regular appearances in the Truck series carried his fans to the series and increased the popularity of the series.

And we all know how useful it was, given the struggles in viewership. The NASCAR Truck Series season opener from Daytona averaged a 0.53 rating and 990,000 viewers on FS1 on Friday night, down 8% in ratings and 6% in viewership from last year (0.58, 1.06M), marking the least-watched edition of the race since 2018 (936K).

Rowdy’s fans loved it when he raced hard without a care for others’ opinions. If he were to run a full season of the Truck series, there would be multiple incidents and legendary moments on track, pitting a veteran who would go to any lengths against budding talents who are still trying to make themselves known.

An example of the same arose this year in Atlanta itself. Kaden Honeycutt couldn’t stop himself from bashing Cup drivers over their ruthless behavior:

“When you line up against Cup guys, they really don’t care about restarts or anything. They just plug you into the fence or do what they have to do to win it. That’s what happened to me. The 91 went to the bottom and shoved me in Turns 1 and 2, and then Ross did it again off Turn 2, just flattening the right side out. It is what it is.”

In fact, a few weeks ago, when Carson Hocevar bumped Kyle Busch at Texas Motor Speedway, he earned himself an earful from ‘Rowdy.’

That’s one young hotshot. When ‘Rowdy’ competed against a field of 20 talented young drivers like them, nothing held him back from giving them a hard time.