Anytime Kyle Busch walks around at a NASCAR track he normally can’t do so without a group of fans surrounding him clamoring for an autograph or a picture. That’s because the two-time NASCAR champion is one of the sport’s most popular drivers, in other words, KFB (as he likes to sometimes refer to himself jokingly) is a pretty BFD.
The tables however were turned somewhat when the series visited L.A. for the Clash at the Coliseum. In a world filled with celebrities seemingly at every corner, Kyle Busch is little more than another face in the crowd. Some of the celebrities who visited the L.A. Memorial Coliseum on race day were widely recognized: Ashton Kutcher, Danny Trejo, and those who preformed for the crowds like Pitbull and Ice Cube.
There were also celebs only recognizable to the youngest of the crowd; social media “influencers” who are known for what they do online, not on a movie or TV screen.
Kyle Busch met two such influencers on race day. To most of us the two petite girls looked like nothing more than teens out for a Sunday afternoon with their parents; however, they were far from that. Sure, they were with their parents Marc and Heidi, and Charli and Dixie D’Amelio aren’t exactly household names but in the social media world the two sisters are very big deals. 20-year-old Dixie has 25.2 million followers on Instagram, her sister Charli, who is 17, has 47.2 million followers on the same platform. Kyle Busch meanwhile has 382,000. Charli is the most followed account on TikTok with 135.1 million followers, Busch 368,200. And the family recently started their own reality TV show on Hulu.
Advantage D’Amelio sisters. Definitely.
The meeting was a big deal, even for Busch, who is normally the big deal himself.
“I met them through a mutual friend that who knew their agent, manager, whoever,” Busch said. “And he called us and asked about bringing him out to the race and we were like, ‘yeah, sure, come on, bring them out’…’we’ll give ’em a tour around show ’em what’s up and have ’em come out for the race.’
“(Wife) Samantha was able to watch the race with them, be with them during the race and stuff like that. So that was cool.”
Kyle’s meeting came prior to the race. He showed them around the garage area that had been set up in a parking lot adjacent to the Coliseum and the pit area.
“They got a full sense of what a NASCAR weekend looks like,” he said. Adding with a chuckle: “I think mom and dad were a little bit more interested in it; just with the fact of them being a little bit older, knowing more about NASCAR versus the kids, but the kids seemed to take to it well, and they seemed to be having a good time.
“I knew they were coming, and I didn’t know who they were before the whole introductory thing all went down. But then got a good sense of knowing what their background was.”
The celebrity world is of course nothing new to Busch. Despite meeting many celebs through the years, he admits he’s not really a fan of any one celebrity in particular.
“I would say I’m a fan of everybody,” he said smiling. “I guess, you know, there’s really nobody I don’t like. Overall, I’ve met a lot of celebrities over time coming out to California races, Texas races, championship races, whatever it might have been.
“(The) Daytona 500, obviously we get a good celebrity count as well there. But overall, you know, to me, I can’t just name one. I’d have to name ’em all. Cause there’s a lot of ’em. (I’ve) befriended many of them, exchanged numbers and we hang out whenever we go back to town, whether it’s race weekend or not a race weekend in those particular markets. So pretty cool to be able to do that. Definitely fun.”
At the end of it all, Busch puts It in perspective.
“Sometimes you meet them and they’re more famous than you, but they look at you as being a famous superstar athlete guy as well. So, it kind of goes hand in hand. It’s pretty neat. “
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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