Las Vegas Motor Speedway has renamed its annual fall race at The Bullring the Kyle Busch Classic, honoring the NASCAR record-holder on the same 0.375-mile oval where he first learned to race. The inaugural event is set for Friday, October 2, 2026, and will now anchor the track's fall lineup every year going forward.
According to FOX5 Las Vegas, the announcement was made by Las Vegas Motor Speedway itself, which will host the race each fall during NASCAR weekend at The Bullring. Kyle Busch is a Las Vegas native who began his racing career at the short track, learning the craft from his father, Tom, before racing alongside his brother Kurt there as well.
Busch's ties to the venue run deep. He won two track championships as a young driver at The Bullring, according to the station's report, and years later returned to race against his own son, Brexton, in what turned out to be his final race at the track — part of a Battle of the Busches event that pitted father against son. Those same three generations of Busch family racing are expected to continue this fall, with Brexton slated to compete in the CARS Tour West Legends division's 30-lap feature, according to SpeedwayMedia.com.
Family Reflects on the Honor
Samantha Busch, Kyle's wife, said The Bullring is where her husband's racing career began, and called the track's decision to honor his legacy with a namesake race special to the Busch family, per the same account. Patrick Lindsey, senior vice president and general manager of Las Vegas Motor Speedway, said Busch's impact at The Bullring will continue to inspire future generations of racers, adding that the Kyle Busch Classic will create a signature event fans can look forward to every fall.
Busch's short-track résumé at the venue is extensive. Per KyleBusch.com, he captured 65 Legend Cars race victories and 10 Late Model race wins during the 2001 season alone, having started in Legend Cars at age 13 before moving up to Late Models at 16. Those local roots eventually launched a national career; Busch now holds NASCAR's all-time record for combined wins across the Cup, Xfinity, and Craftsman Truck Series, with 234 career victories spanning 63 Cup wins, 102 Xfinity wins, and 66 Truck Series wins, according to the Kingsport Times News.
A Freshly Paved Stage for Six Divisions
The timing lines up with a facility milestone. October 2 will mark the first circle track race held on The Bullring's oval since a full track repaving was completed over the summer, SpeedwayMedia.com reports. The inaugural Kyle Busch Classic will feature six racing divisions, headlined by a 151-lap ARCA Menards Series West main event and a 118-lap SPEARS CARS Tour Southwest Pro Late Model race, with national television coverage on FloRacing.
The ARCA West feature carries its own storylines, with 2025 series champion and defending race winner Trevor Huddleston in the field alongside 15-year-old Vito Cancilla, who will make his series debut just one day after reaching the minimum age requirement, per the outlet's report. The card will also include CARS Tour West Limited Late Models, Legends, Modifieds, and INEX Bandoleros divisions.
The Bullring itself is a 3/8-mile banked asphalt oval with 5,400 permanent grandstand seats and a turn 3 and 4 tailgating area known as the Stockyard, according to Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Built in 1985 and last overhauled in 2000, the short track sits within the broader 1,200-acre speedway complex alongside the 1.5-mile tri-oval used for national NASCAR races.
Kicking Off a Playoff Weekend
The Friday night short-track event opens Las Vegas Motor Speedway's 2026 Fall NASCAR Playoff Weekend, which continues Saturday with an O'Reilly Auto Parts Series race and culminates Sunday, October 4, with the South Point 400 Cup Series playoff race — run under the speedway's multi-year entitlement partnership with South Point Hotel, a deal Hoodline detailed in its prior coverage of the sponsorship. The speedway also recently locked in its 2027 NASCAR dates for two race weekends.
Gates for the Kyle Busch Classic open at 4 p.m. on October 2, with opening ceremonies beginning at 5:30 p.m. and racing action underway at 6:10 p.m. Tickets are priced at $25 online and $30 at the gate for adults, with children 12 and under admitted free, and additional event information is available on the Bullring website.
The tribute to Busch is not confined to Las Vegas. Bristol Motor Speedway announced its own parallel honor the same day, unveiling a commemorative Rowdy Towel giveaway during its September Night Race to benefit the Samantha and Kyle Busch Bundle of Joy Fund, celebrating Busch's track-record 23 victories at Bristol, according to the Kingsport Times News. Busch's win total there includes nine Cup Series races, nine Xfinity Series races, and five Truck Series races.
