For the better part of a decade, two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch had pursued an opportunity to follow in older brother Kurt’s footsteps and compete in the Indianapolis 500.
Speaking to Denny Hamlin on his Actions Detrimental podcast, Busch revealed the two times he thought he had the deal done.
“2017, I had it,” Busch said. “It was done. M&Ms was going to do it. Guess who said no.”
Joe Gibbs.
“Yep. Chevrolet was okay with it. Toyota was okay with it. m&m’s was paying for it.”
Joe Gibbs has famously kept his drivers from racing in other disciplines up until this year where he finally allowed the likes of Christopher Bell, Ty Gibbs and Chase Briscoe to participate in extracurricular racing activities.
Busch left Joe Gibbs Racing after the 2022 season where he again had a deal to run the race, with the blessing of current owner Richard Childress, and of all people, Kyle Larson took the Arrow McLaren deal out from under him.
“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.’”
Hamlin didn’t understand why there just couldn’t have been a crash clause.
“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.”
Nevertheless, Busch thinks the door has closed on his chances to ever run the Greatest Spectacle in Racing but wishes he could have followed what Kurt accomplished in 2014, with a sixth place and rookie of the year award.
Larson will compete in that car again the next two weeks, with Rick Hendrick having bought the car and sponsored it, and the 2021 Cup Series champion looking for a mistake free race after a pit road speeding penalty eliminated him from a top-10 run in 2024.
