Kurt Busch opens up on impact of Reddick signing, 'fountain of youth' and how long he'll be racing
LOUDON, N.H. — As one of a small handful of drivers over the age of 40 racing full-time at NASCAR‘s top level, 2004 Cup Series champ Kurt Busch isn‘t immune to retirement rumors.
They‘ve cropped up over the past few years, almost an annual tradition at this point, but here he is still winning races and looking just as competitive only weeks shy of his 44th birthday.
Naturally, with this week‘s news that up-and-coming superstar Tyler Reddick had signed with Busch’s team 23XI Racing — currently a two-car operation with Bubba Wallace driving the No. 23 Toyota — the rumor mill sparked right up again that Busch could be the odd man out before Reddick joins the franchise for the 2024 season. Team co-owner Denny Hamlin strongly reiterated during the announcement that Busch would have a seat for as long as he wants it (and has a “cushy office job” waiting for him when he does decide to hang it up) but a lot can change over a year and a half.
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For now, nothing has changed. In fact, it might‘ve even opened up some new “options” for himself and 23XI.
“It’s all on the same timeline,” Busch said Friday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, site of Sunday‘s Ambetter 301 (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, NBC Sports App, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). “For me, this is just now that it’s out in the open, things that we’ve been working on behind the scenes, part of the process of which drivers we were evaluating and communicating with Toyota and their development program as well. So it’s neat to have these options, that’s the key thing as well as the options part of this. It’s what it does with sponsorship, it’s what it does with Toyota’s involvement, and just the way that we’re developing some things and the infrastructure behind the scenes. This is a key movement. And that’s what we’re trying to do is do it as a team.
“It’s still the same, it’s a matter of what is the right option. And when all signs point towards this or that, the great thing that I have right now is a lot of respect from the race team. Steve Lauletta, MJ, Denny, they’ve all said that I have a seat as long as I want it. That’s so valuable to me. Just … it makes me smile, want to race harder and work harder. So there’s still plenty of options that we’re looking at.”
23XI will have a decision to make at some point, however. No car number or sponsor was made part of the Reddick announcement, just that the Michael Jordan/Hamlin-co-owned organization had signed a “franchise driver.” There was no indication of expansion, either.
It‘s extremely unlikely Wallace will be squeezed out for Reddick, and Busch, based on what Hamlin has said, can dictate his future. There‘s a possibility, of course, the team expands to three cars to accommodate its newest acquisition, but it‘s a bit of a tall order for an organization still working to find its sea legs to a degree in its infancy. This is just its second year of existence, after all, and Hamlin himself has said time and again that it will take years to get to where he wants the team to be.
So, to count on Busch walking away after next season to post up in front of a laptop instead of a steering wheel feels less likely at this point with how Busch continues to perform. A win at Kansas Speedway earlier this year has him provisionally locked into the playoffs, and he has been sporty at the “Magic Mile” thus far this weekend, claiming a P3 spot in Saturday’s qualifying session.
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It‘s just a matter of, essentially, how long he wants to keep doing this.
“I need to call Mark Martin and double check where the fountain of youth is,” Busch cracked when asked if he‘d want to race into his 50s. “It’s just … it’s respect. And it’s the opportunity that’s around us with so many different variables with the manufacturer filling sponsorships for me and having a place like this to be part of when I’m done racing. That’s important to me as well. So there’s just a lot of options right now. We just don’t have all the exact answers.
“I don’t have an (age) in my head I, again, sat down and did lists and did options and thoughts, pros and cons, when I was going from Roush to Penske, and when I was leaving Penske, and just all the lists.
“The key thing is if the phone keeps ringing, you keep racing.”
