A black cover slides off the car in the middle of a bright white race shop, and three people step in close. Samantha Busch leans over the driver’s side window of the No. 54 Toyota with one of her young children on her hip and the other beside her, and all three look down at a yellow paint scheme that, up close, turns out to be made of many small photographs.
The reel was posted on September 16, 2026 by @joegibbsracing as a joint post with Samantha Busch’s account. The team’s caption explains what the family was looking at: “The M&M’S Kyle Busch tribute car is complete and ready for Bristol.” It says the family “got a chance to see it first, and explore the many great photos featured within the design.”
Most of the video is spent at the level of the bodywork. From a few feet away the car reads as the familiar yellow M&M’S design, with a grinning red character across the doors, a green one on the nose and a giant white 54 on the side. Up close, the yellow is a mosaic. The camera holds on panels where you can make out race shots, trophy moments and a Joe Gibbs Racing banner inside the collage, all tinted in the car’s yellows and oranges.
The family spends that time doing exactly what the caption says. Busch crouches on the shop floor beside the rear quarter panel with one child in her lap. The other leans in over the window opening, studying the pictures. In one frame Busch has a hand flat against the red character on the door while a child watches, and in another a small child sits on the floor next to the car, reaching up to touch the photos printed on its side. The rear of the car carries a QR code above the Mobil 1 logo.
The final shots sweep over the nose and the 54 on the hood, then cut back to the three of them at the car, Busch wrapping both children in a hug beside the front fender.
Why This Car Ran at Bristol
Kyle Busch died on May 21, 2026, at the age of 41, according to NASCAR’s announcement of the scheme, which does not state a cause. NASCAR says Samantha Busch announced the tribute on Instagram on August 13, and that Mars would sponsor Ty Gibbs in the No. 54 at the Bass Pro Shops Night Race on September 19 with a scheme built as a mosaic of moments from Busch’s career.
The M&M’S colors were tied to him for most of his Cup career. NASCAR’s account says Busch joined Joe Gibbs Racing in 2008 and spent 15 seasons there with Mars sponsorship, winning 56 of his 63 Cup Series races with the team, 47 of them with Mars branding on his No. 18 Toyota, along with Cup championships in 2015 and 2019. “It was so much more than a paint scheme. Kyle became the M&M’s guy,” Samantha Busch said in that announcement.
How the Tribute Car Ran
According to the speedway’s race report, Gibbs finished fifth in Stage 1 and second in Stage 2, then led 120 laps in three stints late in the race before fading to fifth at the finish. “It was an honor to drive the M&M’s Camry and it was something I’ll never forget,” he said.