Kyle Busch Motorsports laid off a number of employees today, the first step in abolishing its NASCAR Nationwide Series operation for 2014, and possibly scaling back its highly successful Camping World Truck Series operation.
KBM currently fields the No. 77 Nationwide Series Toyota Camry for driver Parker Kligerman, and a trio of Truck Series Toyotas for Busch, Darrell Wallace, Jr., and Joey Coulter. Kligerman currently stands 10th in the Nationwide championship standings, while Wallace is ninth and Coulter 14th in the Truck Series points. Busch has won four times in nine Truck Series starts this season.
Sources close to the team say KBM laid off 10 employees this morning, and will terminate 10-20 more next week.
Busch admitted last week at Talladega Superspeedway that the future of his team is in doubt, due to lack of sponsorship.
“It’s a hassle, it’s a headache and it’s a burden,” said Busch of the ongoing hunt for corporate sponsorship. “But if you were one of the people (employed) at KBM, would you want me to close the doors? We try to take care of the families as best as we can… but ultimately, there comes a time when the inevitable has to happen.
“This was our most prosperous year of being in the business. We had four teams. We had 82 employees, or something like that. It was great to be able to take care of that many families, but you have to make sure you don’t go broke doing it.”
Contacted today, Kligerman was unable to confirm reports of layoffs, but said his tenure with KBM will end following the 2013 season finale at Homestead Miami Speedway.
“I haven’t been at the shop this week, so I don’t really know anything about (the layoffs),” he said. “But I can say that I’m not returning to Kyle Busch Motorsports next season. I don’t think the resources are there, and I don’t think the philosophy is there to compete successfully at the Nationwide level.”
Kligerman said he is working on a new deal for next season that – if finalized – will allow him to run “a lot of races in 2014 with a different (as-yet undisclosed) team.” Calls placed to KBM in search of comment today were not immediately returned.
(Godfather Motorsports)
