Back in 2020, two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch and beverage entrepreneur Jeff Church joined forces to launch Rowdy Energy. The company is relatively young, but Busch is ready to “claw and build” it into a powerhouse in the space.
Busch sat down with Heavy prior to his victory at Bristol Motor Speedway for a discussion about his energy drink company. He provided some insight into his process of coming up with flavors that had ties to his childhood — some of his favorites are Strawberry Lemonade, Blue Raspberry, and Cherry Limeade. Busch also explained how a seven-time NFL champion made him look at what he was putting into his body.
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“As you get older, you have always tried to look at the Tom Brady way of life, right? Like, how can you figure out how to make your career go longer? How can I be in the race car longer? So you always look at what you’re putting in your body, whether it’s food, whether it’s supplements, or obviously what you’re drinking,” Busch explained. “And so, me, I looked at the label of what I was drinking and was like, ‘Man, I can’t sustain that for the rest of my life. So I need a better option. What is the better option out there? What can we do?'”
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Busch had already been in the energy drink space for nearly two decades after working with NOS, and Monster Energy multiple times, but he dove in headfirst by partnering with Church to launch Rowdy Energy. They have achieved success in the form of getting into a multitude of stores and building up Rowdy Nation, but the two-time champion has even bigger plans.
“The difficult task right now is being able to explain that and why they choose us over some of the other [brands],” Busch said. “So I feel like once we do get that message across and that brand — what would you say — I think the brand will explode. I think it’ll just really take off and be one of the powerhouses as we grow.”
Building the Brand Remains a Priority for Busch
Rowdy Energy has only been around since 2020, which is a minuscule amount of time compared to Red Bull, Monster Energy, NOS, or other brands. However, the company already has a growing list of personalities representing it on TV, on social media, and at a variety of sports venues.
Kyle and Samantha Busch are the biggest names, but there are other high-profile figures that have put the brand on display. The list also includes Kyle Busch Motorsports driver John Hunter Nemechek and championship-winning dirt racer Rico Abreu. Even St. Louis Cardinals player Ivan Herrera has popped up on the Rowdy Instagram page with a can in hand at practice.
“It’s really fun to just kind of be building the list of Rowdy athletes — if you will — and to continue that as we go down the line,” Busch said. “You know, we’ll work with bigger A-list stars and things like that, but obviously getting the brand awareness and things and getting sales itself to bring in the marketing dollars is what it’s all about. So there’s that whole system in play here that we’re working through and trying to develop.”
The work is not yet done for Busch and the Rowdy Energy team. They still have a considerable effort to put in while trying to add more ambassadors to the fold and trying to get the product into more stores across the country. There is also the matter of conveying why customers should choose Rowdy over other brands that have been around for decades.
Busch & Rowdy Energy Recently Branched Out
GettyKyle Busch has branched out with the Rowdy brand.
The first couple of years for Rowdy Energy have featured a focus on the core products, whether they are sugar-free drinks or those with fewer grams of sugar than the competition. However, the company recently branched out with a new line of drinks, the Rowdy Energy Power Burn.
This new line, which first became available in certain 7-Eleven retail locations, comes in a smaller, 12-ounce can and boasts that it helps people burn calories with thermogenic ingredients like 3,000 milligrams of amino acids.
Branching out with the new line of products was not a fast process. Busch, Church, and Rowdy Energy had to invest a lot of time and effort to ensure that they were ready for the release. They focused on nailing flavor profiles while keeping the drinks sugar-free. Additionally, they had to wait for some clinical trials to take place regarding the number of calories burned.
“Jeff is very forward-thinking and has a vision of stuff and so obviously that was kind of the direction that he had thought and we all agreed that that could be something that we could go down the path of,” Busch said. “I feel as though we definitely hit on a lot better ingredients in that than many of our other competitors with thermogenic ingredients. We also took the time to launch it because we wanted to make sure that we got everything right and that it tasted good.”
With Power Burn joining the existing list of products, Busch and Rowdy Energy now have multiple options for consumers. This should help the company grow and attract more ambassadors, especially if the current ones continue to showcase the brand after wins.
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Kyle Busch Pushes To Make Rowdy Energy ‘One of the Powerhouses’