Kyle Busch has largely given up on his decade long dream of racing in the Indianapolis 500 but there were two times, in both 2017 and 2024, that he felt like he had deals done to compete in The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.
He discussed both on Monday during a conversation with Denny Hamlin on the Actions Detrimental podcast.
“2017, I had it,” Busch said. “It was done. M&Ms was going to do it. Guess who said no.”
Hamlin, knowing exactly the policy that was about to be referenced, correctly guessed his boss, Joe Gibbs.
“Yep. Chevrolet was okay with it. Toyota was okay with it. m&m’s was paying for it.”
Joe Gibbs has famously restricted his drivers from competing in anything other than NASCAR races over the years, with pavement Late Models being the only real consistent exception, and Busch was not going to be allowed to race at Indy because his then-boss feared the consequences of an injury.
He reversed that policy this year.
So then, Busch leaves Gibbs after the 2022 season for Richard Childress Racing, a team that was more than willing to let him do it. This time, it was ultimately Kyle Larson that thwarted his near deal.
“No, I had it signed, sealed, and delivered again, and then Larson took it,” Busch said. “Yes, I won’t release the sponsor but I had a sponsor talking to Zac Brown, the deal was done, and we were about ready to go to contract and Zac Brown was like, ‘Well, hey,’ told the sponsor, he was like, ‘Hey, I need you to buy the car.’ And the sponsor was like, ‘Why do I want to buy the car? I don’t want to buy the car, I don’t need the car, I want to sponsor the car. I’m sponsoring Kyle, he’s going to drive the car. I don’t want to buy the car.’ ‘In case he wrecks the tub, we want you to buy the tub.’
“Well, it wasn’t two weeks later that then I’m talking to this sponsor guy, and he was like, ‘Yeah, I guess that we’re too late anyways now that the opportunity’s closed because Larson got it.’ I’m like, ‘What do you mean Larson got it?’ Then I found out Larson signed a two-year deal, and we were only going to do a one-year deal.”
Now, Busch feels like that ship has sailed but he frequently thinks about joining his older brother Kurt, who finished sixth for Andretti Autosport, as NASCAR drivers that crossed over into the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.
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