The marriage between Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) rookie Justin Boston is over after nine races.
Boston, a native of Baltimore, Maryland won’t drive the team’s No. 54 Toyota in Thursday night’s UNOH 225 at Kentucky Speedway and the former ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards Rookie of the Year has no plans to seek a ride for the 10th race of the season either.
“I don’t think it’s a matter of why to leave or not,” said Boston of the recent decision made. “It really comes down to what is best for my career as well as what is best for my sponsors. I would love nothing more than to keep driving for KBM, but it’s no secret our performance had been lacking compared to the other KBM teams. It just didn’t work out.”
Approaching the halfway point of his rookie season, Boston who sits 12th in the championship standings wasn’t happy with his performance on the track and swayed for some internal changes on his No. 54 ROK Mobile Toyota team, but when those requests were not met, they parted ways.
“Changes needed to be made, and weren’t,” Boston added. “I really do wish all the best for everyone I worked with at KBM. It just boiled down to what was best for me and what was best to keep my sponsors happy.”
After a shaky start with a crash in the season-opener at Daytona International Speedway, Boston bounced back in KBM’s third truck with a 16th place finish in his Atlanta debut. He then further picked up the pace and followed through with string of three consecutive top-10 finishes from Martinsville to Charlotte.
Subsequent wrecks at Dover and Gateway sandwiched with an eighth place run at Texas Motor Speedway, however, put a dent in the team’s momentum. Yet, even with an 11th place rebound in the series’ most recent outing at Iowa Speedway, Boston felt the team as whole, himself included were still struggling to unite.
“It was very frustrating,” said Boston of watching the success of his teammates Erik Jones and Daniel Suarez. “I am sometimes too hard on myself and have never questioned myself more than I have in the past few months. That’s how you get better. There is always something you can do differently. I believe that same accountability needs to be the lifeblood of a team. We needed to get better and improve, and it just wasn’t happening.”
Kyle Busch Motorsports released a statement to PopularSpeed.com, where they say Boston’s sponsor ZLOOP breached its contract.
“ZLOOP breached its agreement with Kyle Busch Motorsports and failed to cure, forcing Kyle Busch Motorsports to terminate the agreement,” the team said in a statement. “Notwithstanding this disappointing turn of events, the Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 54 Toyota Tundra will continue to compete for the remainder of the year.”
The 25-year-old joined Kyle Busch Motorsports at the end of last season after driving two NASCAR XFINITY Series races for Joe Gibbs Racing, where he earned a ninth-place finish in his debut at Kentucky Speedway. Finishing 12th a week later at Dover International Speedway, JGR officials still recommended the two-time ARCA winner put a full season of trucks under his belt, which led to the path of KBM.
As for what the future holds for Boston? He’s not exactly sure. One thing is for certain, he refuses to give up on racing.
“I don’t know exactly what is next for me,” said Boston. “I do know that I will be racing soon. Very soon. Where and what still unsure. My resolve and drive to be successful has never been higher and I am fortunate enough to have people behind me that believe in my abilities behind a racecar.”
CATCHFENCE.com broke the story on Saturday that Kyle Busch Motorsports was scheduled to have four trucks at Kentucky Speedway, but with the latest turn of events, Christopher Bell will now carry the No. 54 banner for his second-career start Thursday night.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
