The familiar yellow M&M’s colors returned to a NASCAR Cup Series car at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday night. But the people who helped make those colors synonymous with Kyle Busch were there, too.
Members of the Mars family and longtime executives connected to the company’s former NASCAR program traveled to Bristol as the sport honored Busch and his remarkable 15-year run with M&M’s and Joe Gibbs Racing.
Their presence carried significance well beyond a one-night paint scheme.
Mars ended its NASCAR sponsorship following the 2022 season, the same year Busch’s tenure with Joe Gibbs Racing came to an end. From the outside, it looked like the closing of one of the most recognizable driver-sponsor partnerships in NASCAR history.
Behind the scenes, however, the relationships never went away.
M&M’s Executives Came to Bristol to Honor Kyle Busch
Joe Gibbs Racing president Dave Alpern revealed in an interview with Adam Stern of Sports Business Journal that the connection between Busch, JGR and the people at Mars continued long after their professional relationship ended.
“I know when Kyle left, there were a lot of circumstances. Fans get upset,” Alpern told SBJ. “What I hope everyone understands is this is personal for all of us, and just because Kyle stopped racing for us and M&M’S stopped sponsoring us, you don’t stop the relationship.”
Alpern said JGR remained close with Kyle and Samantha Busch, while the people at M&M’s continued communicating with them as well.
That relationship became especially clear following Busch’s death in May.
“I want people to understand that these relationships continue, so we continue to have a relationship with all parties and when we lost Kyle, the M&M’S folks were at Kyle’s service because they love Kyle,” Alpern said.
According to SBJ, the idea for the commemorative M&M’s paint scheme that returned Saturday night was already beginning to take shape at Busch’s memorial service.
Five members of the Mars family were expected at Bristol, along with other longtime executives connected to the company’s NASCAR program, including William Clements, who ran the Mars NASCAR program from 2000 through 2022.
For one night, a partnership that helped define an era of NASCAR was together again.
Kyle Busch and M&M’s Reunited Under the Bristol Lights
The setting made the reunion particularly fitting.
Busch built some of the defining moments of his career at Bristol, and Samantha Busch spoke before Saturday night’s Cup Series race about just how much the track and its fans meant to her husband.
“Bristol was always so special to Kyle,” Samantha said. “He loved racing under the lights, the energy of this place, and most importantly, you, the fans.”
She later acknowledged every side of Busch’s famously complicated relationship with the NASCAR fan base.
“You celebrated his wins. You stood by him on the hard days. And yeah, plenty of you booed him as well,” Samantha said. “There was no Rowdy without you guys.”
Then came a sight that would have been instantly recognizable during Busch’s years in the No. 18: M&M’s colors circling Bristol under the lights.
The tribute extended beyond the car. Fans received yellow towels to wave on Lap 18, creating another nod to the number Busch drove throughout his 15 seasons with JGR.
For Mars, however, Saturday wasn’t simply an opportunity to revive one of NASCAR’s most recognizable paint schemes.
It was personal.
“It’s important that people know, they didn’t just disappear and show back up,” Alpern told SBJ of the Mars family. “These relationships, they last. … What I think about when I think about this is we had a magical 15 years.”
That distinction may be what made Saturday night’s tribute resonate so deeply.
M&M’s left NASCAR after 2022. Busch left Joe Gibbs Racing. The famous yellow No. 18 disappeared from the Cup Series.
The relationship behind it never did.
M&M’s Relationship With Kyle Busch Never Ended After NASCAR Exit