Kyle Busch open to running ‘for less than my market value’ in 23

INDIANAPOLIS– Kyle Busch started his Saturday by joining former winners of the hallowed Indianapolis Speedway for a class photo at the Yard of Bricks.

He sat next to Arie Luyendyk, ahead of Marcus Ericsson, Alexander Rossi and Helio Castroneves – a combined eight Indy 500 titles flanking NASCAR’s only active driver with multiple Cup championships.

And yet, Busch still doesn’t have a contract for next season. Its longtime sponsor is retiring from NASCAR at the end of the season, and if Joe Gibbs Racing can’t find a deep-pocketed replacement for M&M’s and Mars Inc., Busch will have to find employment elsewhere.

It’s an unfathomable situation for Busch, the 2015 and 2019 NASCAR champion and winner of 60 career cup races, with all but four won since joining JGR in 2008. He wants to stay in the No. 18 Toyota, but time is running out.

“It would be like Dale Earnhardt in 1998, three or four years after winning his last championship, being in free agency and not having a run. It just sounds crazy,” Busch said. “I don’t know what to do, how to solve this problem.”

Despite his credentials, Busch knows he’s going to have to take a pay cut. Motorsport’s business model relies on corporate funding, and the market is radically different from what it was when he signed his first contract with Gibbs in 2007 and even when he signed his last extension in 2019.

“You talk what you want, and I think you’re insinuating that I’m asking heaven on salary or something, and I’ve already admitted that I’m willing to make concessions,” Busch said. “I feel like the market is different than it was years ago, and I’m ready to run below my market value.

“You have to have sponsorship in this sport to get ahead. It’s not as simple as being a basketball player and being Michael Jordan or LeBron James and being a really good player and then the team loses a sponsor and then says “OK, Michael, LeBron, we have to To let you go”. We can’t pay you.'”

Rival driver Kevin Harvick said he would welcome Busch to Stewart-Haas Racing.

“There’s no way Kyle Busch doesn’t have a lot of options,” Harvick said. “Kyle is still one of the best that’s ever come into this garage. There are a lot of teams that can say they’ve never had one of those types of drivers. He could literally rebuild an organization if anyone took a chance that didn’t’ I had one of those types of drivers.

Busch acknowledged the stress has caused “a lot of sleepless nights” as NASCAR heads into Sunday’s race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. NASCAR will race the road course for the second year in a row; Busch finished 20th last year but won back-to-back Brickyard 400s at the oval in 2015 and 2016.

Busch has one win this season and is eligible for the playoffs. But his current organization, JGB, was rocked when Denny Hamlin and Busch were stripped of their 1-2 on Sunday at Pocono Raceway because their Toyotas failed inspection – an escalation as the series will not tolerate any nonsense with his new Next Gen car.

“It’s overkill for what it was, but I understand the process for the car and make sure the example is there,” Busch said of the suspension.

While typically daring and brash, Busch was more discreet on this and almost every topic, as he is clearly concerned about the future of his racing career.

He said he was talking to teams all over the NASCAR garage and he couldn’t even keep all the conversations straight. He knows he has the skills to step away from full-time NASCAR racing and build a multi-series racing schedule, but that’s probably an option of last resort.

Busch wants to keep his place at Gibbs, end of story.

“My first goal is to be at Joe Gibbs Racing and to be with Toyota and nothing changes,” Busch said. “If the musical chairs music stops and I’m still standing, and I don’t have a seat, I’m screwed. So I have to keep talking and evaluating every place and every situation and find something.

APPOINTMENT

Indianapolis is hosting a split NASCAR and IndyCar event this weekend, and speedway staff took the opportunity to round up as many living winners as possible for the group photo.

It made for a therapeutic Saturday for NASCAR star Ricky Rudd, the former Ironman who essentially gave up the sport when he retired at the end of the 2007 season. His appearance was his first time visiting on a track since he quit.

Rudd had been attending an air show in Wisconsin with a friend when IMS President Doug Boles contacted him about the photo.

“So yesterday at 3 o’clock we pulled over and we’re there,” said Rudd, who mingled with his old rivals and met Mario Andretti for the first time.

Rudd won 23 races during a 33-year career and held the mark for consecutive starts at 788 before Jeff Gordon broke the record in 2015.

JONES EXTENSION

Erik Jones and Petty GMS have announced a multi-year extension for Jones to continue driving the #43 Chevrolet.

Jones joined Richard Petty Motorsports in 2021 and remained in the car this season when GMS Racing and RPM merged. He has seven top-10 finishes this season and is 18th in the standings.

“I’m really excited to close this deal and finally be able to talk about it,” Jones said. “Every week I feel like we’re getting better and better and vying to win. Knowing where I’m going to drive allows us to really focus on building the team and improving our cars.

TIPS

Tyler Reddick took pole in Saturday’s qualifying, edging Austin Cindric by 0.252 seconds to claim his second career pole. Chase Briscoe qualified third and was followed by Christopher Bell and Joey Logano. … Hamlin said he took the Pocono trophy to IMS to give to Chase Elliott, who was deemed the winner despite finishing third. “He will be transported to Chase. I told Chase about it and we had a good text.

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