Oct 16, 2022; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Busch (18) before the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Sponsorship is what keeps NASCAR teams racing and drivers in their race cars. It’s a reason why Kyle Busch is no longer going to be in the #18 for Joe Gibbs Racing after 2022. Mars, who had M&M’s on the car, is leaving NASCAR after the season and suddenly there wasn’t enough money to keep Kyle on the team.

Now that Busch is heading to Richard Childress Racing and piloting the #8 Chevrolet, the hunt is on to find sponsorship for that car. Busch may have found one in the most unlikely of places, a light-hearted Twitter exchange.

Sling’s Twitter account responded to a post from the USA Network asking between Busch, Ross Chastain, and Joey Logano who hands out full-sized candy for Halloween. Given he’s still an M&M’s driver for about a week, Sling said, “If the Candyman doesn’t hand out full-sized candy bars, we have a problem.” Busch jokingly retorted with, “If u don’t @sling me a sponsorship, we have a problem” along with a laughing emoji.

That joke appeared to open the doors for a potential sponsorship opportunity as a day later, Sling’s account responded that they want to keep in touch about 2023 and until then, Sling is donating $8,888 to Kyle and Samantha Busch’s Bundle of Joy Fund which raises awareness for in vitro fertilization and to provide grants for people who want to have a baby and need to conceive via IVF. Kyle, Samantha, and the Bundle of Joy Fund expressed their gratitude to Sling’s offer.

Obviously, many things can happen between now and the start of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season. Sponsorship deals don’t typically happen this fast and this informally anymore and I’m sure corporate needs to study and sign off on this. While there’s still a long way to go before we’ll see a #8 Sling Chevrolet on the track, it’s at least a positive first step.

About Phillip Bupp

Producer/editor of the Awful Announcing Podcast and Short and to the Point. News editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. Highlight consultant for Major League Soccer as well as a freelance writer for hire. Opinions are my own but feel free to agree with them.

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