Kyle Busch

The next morning, NASCAR president Mike Helton announced, following discussion with Busch and team owner Joe Gibbs, that Busch would remain parked for the remainder of the weekend, including the Nationwide Series O'Reilly Auto Parts Challenge and the Sprint Cup AAA Texas 500. Denny Hamlin replaced Busch in the Nationwide Series event, while Michael McDowell drove Busch's No. 18 in the AAA Texas 500. Helton took this action under a rule that allows NASCAR to park a driver in order to ensure the "orderly conduct of the event." Since this was not considered a suspension under NASCAR rules, Busch could not appeal the decision. It was the second time since the Truck Series was launched in 1995 that NASCAR has parked a driver across national series (In 2002, during a Craftsman Truck Series race at Martinsville, Kevin Harvick was parked for aggressive driving, when he said over the radio that he will "kill" Coy Gibbs. A few moments later, he spun him out intentionally. He was parked for the Winston Cup race at Martinsville.) and only the third cross-series sanction in NASCAR's 64-year history. NASCAR's action mathematically eliminated Busch from contention for the Sprint Cup, though any realistic chance of him winning the championship had ended races prior. Later that day, Busch issued an apology for his actions, saying that the Texas incident was "certainly a step backward." In addition, Busch offered to let Hornaday, his Kevin Harvick Incorporated team closing at the end of the season, drive his No. 18 truck in 2012; Hornaday declined the offer due to his long-standing relationship with Chevrolet.

Busch began his driving career in 1998, shortly after his 13th birthday; from 1999 through 2001, Busch won over 65 races in legends car racing, winning two track championships at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway Bullring short-track, before moving to late models; Busch scored ten victories in late model competition at the Bullring during the 2001 season.

At the age of 16, Busch began competing in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (now Gander Outdoors Truck Series), driving the No. 99 Ford for Roush Racing as a replacement for Nathan Haseleu, who was released midway in the 2001 season. He made his debut at Indianapolis Raceway Park, posting a 9th-place finish in his first race in the series. In his second race at Chicago Motor Speedway, he was leading until his truck ran out of fuel with 12 laps to go.

Busch was the fastest in practice for the 2001 Auto Club 200 at California Speedway in Fontana, CA, when he was informed he was not allowed to participate in events at the track, due to the fact that the CART FedEx Championship Series, running at the track the same weekend had its race sponsored by Marlboro cigarettes. Busch was decreed ineligible to compete due an interpretation of the Master Settlement Agreement of 1998, prohibiting people under 18 years of age in participating in events sponsored by tobacco companies; Tim Woods III replaced Busch in the No. 99 Ford for the event and finished 25th. Busch competed in a total of six races in the Truck Series in 2001, finishing ninth twice, at IRP and at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Six weeks after the incident, NASCAR imposed a minimum age of 18 years starting in 2002 to prevent incidents of the sort from happening again; this was partially because Winston was the series sponsor of its premier Winston Cup Series at the time. When the age requirements were put in place, Busch switched from NASCAR to the American Speed Association (ASA) National Tour, finishing 8th in points.

In 2002, Busch graduated a year early with honors from Durango High School in Las Vegas, Nevada to focus on his driving career. That same year, he made his debut in the ARCA RE/MAX Series at Lowe's Motor Speedway, finishing twelfth in the No. 22 Chevrolet for WP Motorsports.

Busch began his 2004 season by competing in the ARCA Re/MAX Series 200-mile race at Daytona International Speedway; he won the event, beating Frank Kimmel for the win. He began his first full-time Busch Series season in 2004, replacing Brian Vickers in the No. 5 Chevrolet. Busch scored his first career pole in the series in the fourth race of the year at Darlington Raceway, and his first career win in May at Richmond International Raceway in the Funai 250. Busch won four additional races, tying Greg Biffle for the record for most wins by a driver in their rookie year, and finished 2nd in points behind series champion Martin Truex, Jr.

Busch also made his debut in the Nextel Cup Series in 2004, driving the No. 84 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. He attempted to qualify for nine races in 2004, qualifying for six events with his first being at his home track of Las Vegas Motor Speedway; he posted a best finish of 24th at California Speedway.

In October 2004, it was announced that Busch would be competing full-time in the Nextel Cup Series for Hendrick Motorsports starting in 2005, replacing Terry Labonte in the No. 5 Chevrolet as Labonte semi-retired to run a partial season. Busch won his first career Sprint Cup race at California Speedway in September, winning the Sony HD 500; at the time he was the youngest winner in the history of the series, at an age of 20 years, 4 months and 2 days, four days younger than previous record-holder Donald Thomas. Busch won his 2nd race of the season later in the year at Phoenix International Raceway, on his way to finishing 20th in series points and winning the Nextel Cup Series Rookie of the Year title. Busch also became the youngest pole-sitter in Nextel Cup Series history when he was the fastest qualifier for the Auto Club 500 at California Speedway in February.

Busch ran the entire 2009 NASCAR Nationwide Series schedule, making it the first time he had done so since his rookie year in 2004. In the 2009 Nationwide Series finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 21, 2009 Busch won the race, clinching his first NASCAR Championship; having won nine races over the course of the season, he was the first driver since Sam Ard in 1983 to win the season finale and the championship in the same year. He tallied nine wins, twenty five top fives, and thirty top tens. Busch also won seven races in the Camping World Truck Series during the 2009 season. He also competed in a single Camping World East Series event at Iowa Speedway, winning the race from the pole.

Busch also competed on a limited basis in the Busch Series and Craftsman Truck Series in 2005, in Busch Series competition he ran fourteen races, winning at Lowe's Motor Speedway in May; he won three races in eleven starts in the Craftsman Truck Series for Billy Ballew Motorsports; his first career win, at Lowe's Motor Speedway on May 20, 2005 made Busch the youngest winner in series history at the time.

Busch won his third straight race at Richmond after starting the race in 32nd, marking the first time he has won three in a row since July 2015 when he won Kentucky, New Hampshire, and the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis. Next at Talladega, he went as high as second, but went on to finish 13th. At the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte in May, Busch dominated the race and scored his first career win at Charlotte, making him the first driver to win a race at every racetrack in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at which he has competed. The next week at Pocono, Busch led the most laps and won the Xfinity Series race, meaning he has now won at every active Xfinity Series track he has competed at. 3 weeks later Kyle Busch battled Kyle Larson for the win at Chicagoland with a Bump & Run on the No. 42 of Larson with Busch completing the run for the win. At Daytona, Busch, was turned by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. resulting in a 33rd-place finish. Two weeks after Daytona, at New Hampshire, Busch, was moved in the final laps by Harvick having Busch finish 2nd. The next week Busch started at the back in 27th but finished 4th in Stage 1, then used pit strategy at before the end of Stage 2 to get in front of the dominate car of Kevin Harvick (who also started at the rear) and then held off Daniel Suárez to win his 6th race of the year and second straight summer race at Pocono. In the final pit stop for the 18 team during Watkins Glen, the gas can had a malfunction to where fuel wasn't put into the car and forced Busch to pit before the green flag putting him as the last car on the lead lap. He rebounded to a 3rd-place finish. In the first laps of the Bristol Night race, a caution came out for Busch who spun exiting turn 4. After spending most of the race picking up laps, fixing the damage, and being 2 laps down, Busch was able to contend up in the Top 5. However, after an incident with Truex Jr. and later on Jimmie Johnson and Chris Buescher, he finished 20th. After the Brickyard 400 in September, which was the Regular Season Finale for the first time, he easily won the 2018 Regular Season Championship. Busch finally won his 50th career Cup Series race at Richmond. With the 50th win, Kyle Busch is the only driver in NASCAR history to reach 50+ wins in all 3 of the top touring series. After making it to the round of 8, Busch went on to win at Phoenix (ISM Raceway) for the first time since his rookie season in 2005, and secured his spot in the championship 4. He would go on to finish 4th in the final standings, with Joey Logano winning the championship.

After Busch's first Cup Series win at California on September 4, 2005, he and car owner Rick Hendrick donated their winning shares from that race to the American Red Cross to help benefit those in need after Hurricane Katrina. Because of this, Busch had an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show, which during the interview he announced the donations, which gained huge public attention and praise.

Busch scored one Nextel Cup Series win in 2006, taking the checkered flag in the Lenox Industrial Tools 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway. Busch qualified for the Chase for the Nextel Cup for the first time in his career by finishing second at Richmond International Raceway in September, moving into the top ten in points, he finished the year tenth in points, 448 behind series champion Jimmie Johnson.

At Daytona Busch ran in the top ten all day long. However "the big one" struck after half-way into the race. Busch got clipped by Justin Allgaier and Denny Hamlin. He then got crushed and t-boned by Cole Whitt causing him to flip over onto his roof. Busch was mostly unscathed. Busch recovered from the bad finish by winning the pole a week later for the Camping World RV Sales 301, a race at a track he's finished second at many times and won in 2006. Busch finished second to Brad Keselowski.

In 2006, Busch founded the Kyle Busch Foundation following a visit to the St. John's Home in Grand Rapids, Michigan. According to the Foundation, "The Kyle Busch Foundation is dedicated to providing essential tools for less fortunate children throughout the country.". Busch also has personal sponsorship deals in place with Monster Energy and Electric Visual, with both appearing on his late model at one time or another.

In 2007, Busch became the first Nextel Cup Series driver to win in the Car of Tomorrow, winning the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway in March over Jeff Burton, despite winning, Busch stated an intense dislike of the Car of Tomorrow after the race. The win was the 200th NASCAR national touring series win for Hendrick Motorsports, the 600th NASCAR victory for Chevrolet, and the first win for a Chevrolet Impala in NASCAR since Wendell Scott won at Speedway Park in Jacksonville, Florida in December 1963. At Texas Motor Speedway in April, Busch left the track without informing his team after an accident; Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was asked by the team to relief-drive once the car was repaired. Later at Talladega Superspeedway in the Busch Series Aaron's 312, Busch flipped his car seven times in a wreck with Tony Stewart and Casey Mears, causing his HANS device to crack from the force of the wreck.

On June 15, 2007, it was announced Busch would be leaving Hendrick Motorsports after the end of the 2007 season. A contract extension had been proposed, but instead Dale Earnhardt Jr. was signed to replace Busch starting with the 2008 season. Busch stated that the decision to terminate his contract had been mutual, but it had been influenced by a change in agent. On July 7, 2007, Busch battled Jamie McMurray in the Pepsi 400, finishing second to McMurray by only 0.005 seconds. In August, Busch announced that he would be joining Joe Gibbs Racing for the 2008 season, replacing J. J. Yeley in the No. 18 Toyota.

Busch also ran nineteen Busch Series races in 2007, winning four times and finishing sixteenth in points, he raced eleven times in the Craftsman Truck Series for Billy Ballew Motorsports, scoring two wins.

In the Craftsman Truck Series, Busch finished second in the Chevy Silverado 250 at Daytona International Speedway, and followed it up a week later with a win in the San Bernardino County 200 at the newly renamed Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. Two weeks later at Atlanta, he raced to another win in the American Commercial Lines 200; his third and final win of the 2008 truck series season came at Bristol Motor Speedway on August 20, 2008.

During the 2008 season, Busch announced the "Kyle's Miles" program in association with Pedigree to help dogs in shelters and breed rescue organizations.

On May 2, 2009, Busch became the second driver in Sprint Cup Series history to win a race on his birthday, after Cale Yarborough, with a win in the Crown Royal Presents the Russ Friedman 400 at Richmond International Raceway. In the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway, Busch was involved in a violent wreck while attempting to block Tony Stewart to win, Stewart won the race but apologized in victory circle for the wreck. Busch went on to win his fourth race of the season at Bristol Motor Speedway in August; he missed qualifying for the Chase for the Sprint Cup by eight points to Brian Vickers.

On December 11, 2009, Busch announced the formation of Kyle Busch Motorsports, planning to field two teams in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 2010. The No. 18 Toyota Tundra was to be driven by Busch part-time, with the remainder of races to be driven by Brian Ickler, and the second truck, given No. 56, was to be driven by Tayler Malsam. However, after both Ickler and Malsam accepted jobs to drive in the Nationwide Series, and while suffering financial troubles due to lack of sponsorship, Busch withdrew the No. 56 from competition; Johnny Benson, Jr. and Kasey Kahne drove the No. 18 when Busch wasn't driving it himself.

Busch has maintained an active schedule of regional late model stock car racing, running his own Kyle Busch Motorsports cars in various events. His biggest win came in December 2009 when he won the 42nd running of the Snowball Derby at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida. Busch won the Snowball Derby again in December 2017.

A professional wrestling fan, Busch has also appeared on WWE programming several times, including guest hosting Monday Night Raw in 2009, and 10 years later on the same program on December 2, 2019. During the latter appearance, he won the WWE 24/7 Championship, pinning R-Truth with fellow NASCAR personality Michael Waltrip as special guest referee; R-Truth reclaimed the title later in the show.

On August 21, 2010, Busch became the first driver in NASCAR history to win all three NASCAR national touring series events run in a single weekend. This was achieved at Bristol Motor Speedway, where Busch won in the Camping World Truck Series, Nationwide Series, and Sprint Cup Series events over a four-day period. Busch was described as "an ass" in driver introductions for the Cup race by fellow NASCAR star, Brad Keselowski, who Busch had intentionally wrecked in the Nationwide Series race the previous night.

On November 7, 2010 at Texas Motor Speedway, Busch spun midway through the race, and while pitting to change tires sped on pit road. While serving a penalty his in-car camera caught Busch flip the finger to the officials; he was penalized two additional laps for the gesture, and was later fined $25,000 in addition to being placed on probation through the end of the year.

In the Nationwide Series he won 13 races in 2010, breaking the all-time record for most Nationwide Series wins in a season previously held by Sam Ard with 10. Busch also won three Cup Series and eight Truck Series races in 2010, including a win at Talladega Superspeedway over Aric Almirola by 0.002 seconds, the closest finish in Camping World Truck Series history since the introduction of electronic scoring. His No. 18 Truck Series team won the 2010 owners' championship in the series.

Kyle Busch married Samantha Sarcinella on December 31, 2010 in Chicago, which was featured in an hour special on Style Network. Sarcinella is a native of St. John, Indiana, and a graduate of Purdue University with a psychology degree. Their son, Brexton Locke Busch, was born on May 18, 2015. On November 30, 2018, Samantha announced that she suffered a miscarriage, losing their daughter.

Busch's 2011 Sprint Cup Series season began with a wreck in the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway. Busch also raced in all three NASCAR points events at Daytona, with a best finish of fifth in the Truck Series event; the next week at Phoenix, Busch dominated the Truck Series race, and led every lap of the race in the Nationwide Series Bashas' Supermarkets 200. He was close to sweep all 3 races at Phoenix again, but Jeff Gordon overtook him with 9 laps to go and took the trophy. Busch swept the March weekend at Bristol, his second sweep of a Bristol weekend. On April 30, 2011, Busch won his third straight spring race at Richmond International Raceway, capturing his second win of the 2011 season.

Following an on-track incident with Kevin Harvick during the Southern 500 on May 7, 2011, and a post-race scuffle that saw Busch push Harvick's unoccupied car on pit road with his car, Busch and Harvick were fined $25,000 and put on probation for four races, in addition to the Sprint All-Star Race. Following the Truck Series O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 at Kansas Speedway, Busch became involved in an altercation with Richard Childress; Busch had bumped Childress' No. 22 truck, driven by Joey Coulter, on the race's cooldown lap, and according to witnesses about 30 minutes after the race Childress came up to Busch, put him in a head lock and started punching him. Childress had previously stated, following Busch's altercation with Harvick at Darlington, that he would consider it personal if Busch damaged another vehicle he owned; Childress was fined $150,000 for the incident, and placed on probation for the remainder of the year. Busch stated that the bump had been congratulatory, and that had he realised the resulting damage would upset Childress he would have paid for the repairs.

Busch won the inaugural Sprint Cup race at Kentucky Speedway on July 9, 2011 beating David Reutimann and Jimmie Johnson; at Watkins Glen in August, Busch led the most laps but lost the lead to Marcos Ambrose during a green-white-checkered finish. The following week Busch won the Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway, becoming the first driver that season to clinch a spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

On August 24, 2011, while competing in the Truck Series O'Reilly 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway, Busch was hit by the Joe Denette Motorsports truck of Elliott Sadler, sending him into the wall and causing severe damage to his truck, while waiting for the caution flag to be displayed, Busch drove rapidly around the track and hit Sadler, spinning him. Busch stated afterwards that Sadler, a regular driver for Kevin Harvick in the Nationwide Series, deliberately crashed him due to his connection with Harvick, who at the time was feuding with Busch in the Sprint Cup Series, Sadler and Harvick denied any connection, and no penalties were assessed for the incident.

On August 26, 2011, Busch won the Nationwide Series Food City 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway, surpassing Mark Martin for the most Nationwide series wins ever, with 50, and also simultaneously became the first driver to win three consecutive races at Bristol Motor Speedway in the Nationwide Series. The race also had the closest finish at Bristol in series history, 0.019 seconds over teammate Joey Logano.

On November 4, 2011, Busch was involved in an incident during the Camping World Truck Series WinStar World Casino 350K at Texas Motor Speedway. While passing the lapped truck of Johnny Chapman, Busch made contact with series regular championship contender Ron Hornaday, Jr., causing a caution flag to be displayed. While under the yellow flag, Busch drove to Hornaday's truck during the caution and deliberately turned him into the outside wall, smashing Hornaday's truck and ending Hornaday's title hopes. NASCAR immediately black-flagged Busch and parked him for the remainder of the race for his aggressive driving; this was the first case of this being done since Robby Gordon was parked in a 2007 Nationwide Series race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Busch declined comment after speaking with NASCAR officials, Hornaday stated "I'll be at his house Monday morning" if Busch was not suspended.

On November 7, 2011, NASCAR fined Busch $50,000 for "actions detrimental to stock car racing", in addition, Busch was placed on probation for the rest of the year, being warned that he would be suspended indefinitely if he committed another offense detrimental to stock car racing or disrupted the orderly conduct of a NASCAR event during the remainder of the 2011 season.

On November 10, 2011, it was reported that M&M's, the primary sponsor for Busch's Sprint Cup team, refused to sponsor the 18 for the last few races as a result of Busch's behavior in Texas. Aric Almirola was briefly considered by Joe Gibbs Racing to replace Busch for the remainder of the year, while it was decided by the team to allow Busch to drive in the final two races of the season with Interstate Batteries sponsorship, Busch was replaced in the team's Nationwide Series car for the final race of the year at Homestead-Miami Speedway by the request of the team's sponsor, Z-Line Designs. Busch was subsequently replaced by Denny Hamlin as had occurred previously at Texas.

On July 10, 2011, Busch won the 32nd annual Slinger Nationals at Slinger Speedway in Wisconsin. Two weeks later, Busch won the 38th annual TD Bank 250 presented by New England Dodge Dealers at Oxford Plains Speedway; it was his third attempt to win the event. Kyle Busch became only the second active NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver to win the event, New England's largest short track race, joining Kevin Harvick as the only other active Sprint Cup driver to win the race with his victory in 2008. Busch stated "I've had this one on my list of big races that I wanted to win and now that I've done it, it feels great - it was everything I thought it would be." Busch also won the preliminary Pro All Star Series Oxford 150 the previous night, sweeping the weekend's events.

On May 24, 2011, Busch was cited for reckless driving and speeding near Troutman, North Carolina, driving 128 mph (206 km/h) in a 45 mph (72 km/h) speed limit zone. He issued a public apology in which he stated he got "carried away" test driving a Lexus LFA. On August 23, 2011, he received a $1,000 fine and had his license suspended for 45 days after he pleaded guilty to speeding. He was also ordered to serve 30 hours of community service and placed on one year of unsupervised probation. On April 29, 2014, Busch was cited for traveling 60 mph (97 km/h) in a 45 mph (72 km/h) speed limit zone on NC 73 in Denver, North Carolina. Busch claimed he thought the speed limit was 55 mph (89 km/h). The officer claimed Busch had a "disrespectful attitude."

His 2012 season in the Sprint Cup Series began with a win in the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway, his first win in the event; his margin of victory over Tony Stewart, 0.013 seconds, was the closest in the event's history. However Busch's only win in a Sprint Cup points event during the year came at Richmond in the Capital City 400 in April, the fourth straight year he won the event; he nearly won at Watkins Glen International before, on the final lap, hitting oil on the track from Bobby Labonte's car and being spun by Brad Keselowski, giving the win to Marcos Ambrose. He finished 7th. He failed to make the Chase for the Sprint Cup, finishing 13th in Sprint Cup points, and was winless in Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series competition. Despite the fact he was not in the Chase, he did well in the final ten races, accumulating 7 top 5 and 8 top 10 finishes. He also dominated a few races - He led the most laps at Dover International Speedway, but had to pit for fuel with 10 laps to go and gave up the lead to Brad Keselowski who gambled and won the race. He was close to his first win at Martinsville Speedway, but he could not overtake Jimmie Johnson in the final laps. He led the most laps at Phoenix International Raceway, but the last caution gave the trophy to Kevin Harvick. In the season finale, he also led the most laps at Homestead-Miami Speedway, but had to service the car for fuel, resulting in Jeff Gordon winning.

Busch won the eighth annual Prelude to the Dream at Eldora Speedway in June 2012, beating Tony Stewart to win the pay-per-view all-star event.

In July 2013 Busch won the second running of the Howie Lettow Memorial 150 at the Milwaukee Mile, beating defending race winner Travis Sauter and NASCAR Truck Series regular Johnny Sauter to win the darkness-shortened 43-car event, having led every practice session and setting fast time in qualifying.

In 2014, Busch announced that he would drive the No. 54 car part-time in the Nationwide Series for Joe Gibbs Racing, splitting the ride with Sam Hornish, Jr. He also stated that he would drive the No. 51 truck part-time for 10 races in the Camping World Truck Series, with Erik Jones driving the other 12.

On March 23, 2014 at Auto Club Speedway, Busch started 14th and was running fifth on the final restart. His older brother Kurt Busch appeared to have the win locked up, but Kurt and Tony Stewart got into an aggressive battle for the lead that resulted in Busch catching up to the leaders and passing for the win on the final lap. Busch held off rookie Kyle Larson for the win after passing Kurt Busch and Stewart.

Kyle Busch also had a good Nationwide series season. He shared the No. 54 with Sam Hornish Jr. bringing the 54 to victory many times. Busch took the win at Phoenix holding off former rival Kevin Harvick. The rain delayed the race finish forcing it to be called official therefore giving Busch the win. He took the checkers at Bristol by holding off Kyle Larson in a re-run of the 2013 Bristol race. He then ended Joey Logano's Dover streak by winning the Dover NNS race on May 31, 2014 edging Trevor Bayne by 9 seconds (29 car-lengths) after a side-by-side battle with Bayne with 20–15 laps to go.

In June 2014 Busch led 31 laps of the Quaker State 400 but got passed by Brad Keselowski with 16 laps to go. Busch finished second but said in an interview that after his 10-week streak of bad luck the runner-up felt like a win to him. The runner-up returned Busch to the top ten in points after being ranked 12th before the Kentucky event.

Busch's results in the Chase spiraled downward after he did not make it to the next round but went on to finish 10th in the standings. He won a Nationwide race at Kansas and almost won a Nationwide race at Phoenix, but got passed by Brad Keselowski on the final lap. Busch's truck series operation won the most races in 2014 for the truck series and he won the owner's championship for a second consecutive time. When his truck driver/teammate Darrell Wallace Jr. celebrated the race win on the track, Wallace joined his buddy/boss on the front-stretch doing donuts together.

Busch finished 10th in the 2014 Cup series standings.

On February 10, 2015, Busch announced that he would skip the truck series race at Daytona to focus on racing in the Daytona 500. During the second Budweiser Duel, Busch dominated the first half of the race. However he was called for a stop-and-go-penalty for speeding exiting pit road. He restarted the second half of the race in 23rd spot. He came back to the front of the field within 15 laps of the penalty, finishing second behind former Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson.

On February 21, 2015, Busch was involved in a multi-car accident with eight laps to go during the Xfinity Series race at Daytona International Speedway. The accident happened exiting the tri-oval, and Kyle Busch bounced off Kyle Larson and slid down into the infield grass and slammed into a concrete wall head-on with no SAFER barriers, Busch climbed out of his race car with the help of medical and on-track officials. He laid on the ground before being placed on a stretcher as medical personnel attended to his right leg. He later was transported to Halifax Medical Center for further evaluation. A few hours later, the diagnosis was found to be a massive compound fracture in the lower right leg, a small fracture in the left foot, and a sprained left finger. Busch did receive a medical waiver by NASCAR, enabling him to run for the championship even with his injury layoff, so long as he could qualify under playoff rules.

On May 12, 2015, Busch announced on Twitter that he would return to NASCAR at the Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte on May 16, 2015. On June 13, 2015, nearly four months after his injury, he won the Xfinity Series race at Michigan in his second start of the season. In order to make the Chase in 2015, Busch needed to be in the Top 30 in points and have one win in the Sprint Cup Series.

On return to the Sprint Cup Series, Busch had an up-and-down season. In the Coca-Cola 600, he finished 11th. At Dover, he was running well until he was caught up in a late race crash and finished 36th. He then finished ninth at Pocono. At Michigan, Busch lost control of his car and cracked the wall, wrecking his car and finishing dead last. At Sonoma, Busch won after a late race caution put him on fresher tires than leader Jimmie Johnson. A few laps later, Busch was leading over brother Kurt Busch and Clint Bowyer. Their race against each other for second place allowed Busch to keep enough distance to hold first place. He had built up just enough time to come in first knowing that his brother had passed Bowyer and was quickly gaining on him. On July 11, 2015, Busch won at Kentucky, making him only 87 points from breaking the top 30 in points, and be eligible to enter the Chase. It also denied Jeff Gordon's quest to win at least once on every active NASCAR tracks in his final season as a full-time driver. On July 19, 2015, Busch won at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, making him only 58 points from breaking the top 30 in points, and be eligible to enter the Chase. With 50 laps to go, Busch made a daring move on Brad Keselowski and Kevin Harvick to get his lap back, which resulted from a pit stop earlier in the race. A caution was later thrown, ultimately putting Busch in the lead with 44 laps to go, where he would not be challenged at all in the remaining laps. The race ended under caution when Alex Bowman smacked the wall off turn 2 as a result of a blown tire on the last lap. This was Busch's third victory in the past four races in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. He also fended off Brad Keselowski and Kevin Harvick for the win. In the next race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, he won the prestigious Brickyard 400 and put himself 23 points behind the cutoff for the Chase for the Sprint Cup. He also completed the sweep for the weekend after winning the Xfinity race the day before and won three Cup Series races in a row for the first time in his career.

On November 15, 2015, Busch clinched a spot to stay in contention as the Championship Four for the final Chase at Homestead. On November 20, 2015, Kyle Busch Motorsports's Erik Jones won the Camping World Truck Series championship, making Busch the owners champion. He was named to the Championship 4, mainly competing against Jeff Gordon. On November 22, 2015, Busch won the Ford EcoBoost 400 to win his first ever Cup Series championship. Busch ended the season with five wins, twelve top fives, and sixteen top tens, despite racing in only 25 of 36 races.

Before the 2016 season started, Busch announced that he would no longer race in Xfinity or Camping World Truck Series restrictor plate races because of his Daytona crash in 2015. Busch started his season off with a 17th-place finish in the Sprint Unlimited, crashing with less than 5 laps left in the race. He won his Can-Am Duel and started on the front row of the Daytona 500 after his teammate Matt Kenseth, who qualified second for the 500, wrecked his car in the Duel and was forced to start from the back of the field. Busch finished 3rd in the 500. After the Daytona 500, Busch stated that he could "obtain 200 wins from all three national touring series combined" before he retires, which would tie Richard Petty's record. On February 27, 2016, Busch won the Xfinity Series' Heads Up Georgia 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The next week, Busch led all but one lap at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to win the Boyd Gaming 300. That same race, he led his 16,000th career Xfinity Series lap just before a red flag came out around lap 163.

During the 2016 Kobalt 400, Busch was leading with 13 laps to go, and seemed to be the eventual winner, when he reported a vibration on his right front tire, thinking it was going to shred. He fell behind Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, and Jimmie Johnson, finishing fourth at his hometown track. He had started 23rd in that same race. At Phoenix, Busch earned his third Xfinity Series win in a row, making it his 79th career victory (led 175 of 200 laps). The next day, he started on the pole at the Good Sam 500 and finished fourth.

In the Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas, Busch collided with Joey Logano as the two battled for a top-five finish on the final lap. The contact spun Busch out and onto pit road, relegating him to 22nd, while Logano finished fourth. After the race, Busch confronted Logano on pit road. Before words could be exchanged, Busch threw a punch, but it is unclear if the punch landed. Logano and his crew then quickly took Busch to the ground. Busch suffered a bloody forehead in the brawl. "I got dumped, flat-out dumped," Busch stated in a post-race interview. "He just drove straight into the corner and wrecked me. That's how Joey races so, he's gonna get it." Neither driver was penalized for the fight. The following week at Phoenix, Busch led a race-high 114 laps and was in position to win before Logano's tire blew with five laps to go to bring out the caution. For the final restart, Ryan Newman stayed out and went on to win, while Busch finished third. Busch finished 8th the next week at Auto Club Speedway. He then led a race-high 274 laps the following week at Martinsville but finished 2nd to Brad Keselowski. Kyle Busch won the exhibition All Star Race held at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 20, and followed it up with his then best finish in the Coca-Cola 600 coming in 2nd-place. At Indianapolis, Busch looked to defend the previous year's Brickyard 400 win. He won the first two stages easily, but when he decided to race Truex for the lead in the third stage, starting second, the two slammed into the wall, ending both drivers' days. Busch had led 1,000+ laps in 2017 coming to the second Pocono race in July, where he had yet to win. He started on the pole, led the most laps, and retook the lead from Kevin Harvick for his 39th career victory. It was his first at Pocono and left Charlotte Motor Speedway as the only track where Busch had yet to win at in the Cup Series. On August 19, Busch swept the weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway. He won all stages in the truck race on Wednesday and did the same in the Xfinity Series race on Friday. Busch would go on to win the Cup race on Saturday night after holding off a hard charging Erik Jones, who up to that point was dominating the race. Busch would go on to accomplish his second Bristol sweep. He later went on to help teammate Hamlin win the Southern 500 two weeks later.

Busch had a cameo as a West Virginia state trooper in the 2017 film Logan Lucky.

On February 22, 2020, after Busch won the Las Vegas Truck race, Kevin Harvick and Camping World CEO Marcus Lemonis offered a US$100,000 reward to any full-time Cup Series driver who can beat Busch in the Truck Series. Corey LaJoie, Austin Dillon, Landon Cassill, and Timmy Hill were among those who showed interest in the challenge. Chase Elliott later won the race and the bounty. Busch qualified for the playoffs on points and was eliminated after the round of 12.

In 2020, Busch and beverage entrepreneur Jeff Church created a brand of energy drink called Rowdy Energy.