NASCAR Driver Kyle Busch Shutting Down Rowdy Energy Beverage Company

Jan. 11, 2024

Busch cited strong headwinds in the marketplace as the primary reason; company did face legal and regulatory hurdles, however.

Andy Hanacek

The energy drink brand owned by NASCAR driver Kyle Busch will be shut down, according to a post by the driver on his X (formerly Twitter) account. Rowdy Energy will stop production and close its doors in the coming weeks, Busch said.

Rowdy Energy was founded in 2020 by Busch and beverage entrepreneur Jeff Church, and was able to raise $13 million in funding in May 2021 to spur growth. Busch said in his X post that the brand saw “quick success getting into 50,000 doors in just two short years.” However, Busch cited headwinds that faced many new consumers brands being too strong for the brand to continue.

Those headwinds may or may not have included a class-action lawsuit and a notice of violation of the state of California’s health and safety code — both filed in 2023 against the company. The lawsuit filed in May 2023 in a California federal court alleges that the company’s Rowdy Power Burn product falsely advertised as having “no preservatives.” It says that Rowdy Energy uses citric and ascorbic acid in its Rowdy Power Burn energy drinks — ingredients the lawsuit states are recognized as food product preservatives by the FDA.

In addition, the state of California filed notice in December that four of the company’s products contained unacceptable levels of lead and mercury (and associated compounds), in violation of the state’s health and safety code.

Whether those legal and regulatory issues led Busch to the decision to shut the company down or not, the company will shut its doors in the coming weeks nevertheless.

About the Author

Andy Hanacek | Senior Editor

Andy Hanacek has covered meat, poultry, bakery and snack foods as a B2B editor for nearly 20 years, and has toured hundreds of processing plants and food companies, sharing stories of innovation and technological advancement throughout the food supply chain. In 2018, he won a Folio:Eddie Award for his unique "From the Editor's Desk" video blogs, and he has brought home additional awards from Folio and ASBPE over the years. In addition, Hanacek led the Meat Industry Hall of Fame for several years and was vice president of communications for We R Food Safety, a food safety software and consulting company.