NASCAR Cup Series

Ross Kenseth impresses Kyle Busch

Published Nov. 3, 2012 12:09 a.m. ET

foxsports

Kyle Busch would love to offer Ross Kenseth a Camping World Truck Series ride in 2013.

While Busch is quite impressed with Kenseth and has raced against the 19-year-old in various series, the biggest stumbling block for inking a deal could be sponsorship.

“I’d like to do something with Ross,” Busch said. “It’s just a problem trying to get funding. There’s no backing for some of the drivers that are here right now.

"The price is obviously cheaper in the truck series. You can start small and grow big. But it’s hard to get interest there.”

Ross Kenseth, the son of 2003 Sprint Cup champion Matt Kenseth, is currently studying engineering at Clemson University, but is earning quite the reputation on short tracks. In July, he won the Redbud 300 at Anderson (Ind.) Speedway. Last month he was victorious in the All American 400 (Fairgrounds Speedway, Nashville) and in the Winchester (Ind.) 400, besting Busch in both events.

Ross Kenseth’s father, who will be Busch's teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing next season, said on Friday he was out of the loop regarding Ross’ plans for next year. But considering he made the move to NASCAR at 24 with Robbie Reiser, he feels that Ross is ready to take that next step.

“The funny thing about this sport is I’ve seen Late Model champs come to (NASCAR) and struggle and some guys that you never expected would be competitive run strong,” Matt Kenseth said. “You never know until you get here, but he’s matured and grown a lot as a driver.”

As for the remainder of the Kyle Busch Motorsports lineup for 2013, Busch says he’s “getting closer” to an announcement. Busch intends to keep a Nationwide deal at KBM, however, there could be as many as three trucks next year.

“There’s still about two to three things in the fire,” Busch said. “There are two that are done and two that are in the fire. Hope to have all the announcements done by (the season finale at) Homestead.”