TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) — The only active multiple champion at NASCAR's top level has no idea where he'll be driving next year. But if it's not in the Cup Series, Kyle Busch can land a ride with his 6-year-old son.
“Brexton Busch’s truck driver,” the two-time champion quipped Saturday about his plans.
Busch has been sponsored by M&M's since he joined Joe Gibbs Racing in 2008, but the company informed the team ahead of the season that it was leaving NASCAR at the end of this year. That started a sponsorship search at JGR that will be key in retaining Busch, who won last week at Bristol to tie Richard Petty with a victory in 18 consecutive seasons.
Busch was matter-of-fact following Saturday qualifying at Talladega Superspeedway about his future in the No. 18 Toyota.
When would he like to know his 2023 plans?
“Yesterday.”
Is he antsy about the uncertainty?
“I’m not getting antsy about it. If it happens, it happens. If it don’t, it don’t. Goodbye.”
Wait, so leaving JGR is an option?
“Ask Joe Gibbs.”
Gibbs has not been made available to reporters since Busch's win at Bristol, where he was accompanied last Sunday night by JGR vice chairman Coy Gibbs.
“So, I don’t deal with the sponsorship stuff directly,” Coy Gibbs said. “I kind of stick on the competition side. But we’ve got a couple people we’re talking to, so we’re excited about that, excited about the leads. I think any time you win, it helps.”
Deciphering Busch's curt remarks Saturday was at times a slippery slope. When Busch was asked if JGR can't find any funding for him if there would be another Cup seat open for Busch, he answered “probably not.” But when pressed to clarify if that meant he'd retire, Busch grew visibly frustrated.
“Really? I mean, what are we doing?” he said.
Busch has been with JGR for 14 years. The team signed him and M&M's following his firing from Hendrick Motorsports. He'd been with Hendrick since he was 18, but the team found him untamable and cut him loose when Dale Earnhardt, Jr. became available.
Gibbs snapped up Busch and has been rewarded with two Cup championships with the driver. Busch leads all active drivers with 60 Cup wins, and he's won 223 victories across NASCAR's three national series.
He's part of a four-driver lineup at JGR alongside veterans Denny Hamlin, a three-time Daytona 500 winner, former champion Martin Truex Jr. and Christopher Bell, who is in his second full season with the team.
But Busch spends a fair amount of time working on his son's budding race career, and he and his wife, Samantha, are expecting a daughter via a surrogate next month.
WDUN will carry live MRN Radio coverage of Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series GEICO 500 from Talladega Superspeedway beginning at 2 pm on 102.9 FM, AM 550 and streaming live on AccessWDUN.
NASCAR Cup Series
Talladega Superspeedway – Talladega, AL
GEICO 500 – April 24, 2022
Sunday’s Staring Line Up
Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed
1. 20 Christopher Bell DeWalt Toyota 52.927 180.928
2. 19 Martin Truex, Jr. Bass Pro Shops Toyota 53.008 180.652
3. 16 Daniel Hemric(i) Majestic Steel Chevrolet 53.221 179.929
4. 99 Daniel Suarez Tootsies Orchid Lounge Chevrolet 53.234 179.885
5. 5 Kyle Larson HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 53.254 179.817
6. 45 Kurt Busch Monster Energy Toyota 53.255 179.814
7. 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx All in for Small Business Toyota 53.308 179.635
8. 24 William Byron Liberty University Chevrolet 53.316 179.608
9. 23 Bubba Wallace McDonald’s Toyota 53.336 179.541
10. 8 Tyler Reddick BetMGM Chevrolet 53.399 179.329
11. 31 Justin Haley LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet 53.514 178.944
12. 18 Kyle Busch Interstate Batteries Toyota 53.515 178.940
13. 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil/Autotrader Ford 53.572 178.750
14. 3 Austin Dillon Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Off Road 53.602 178.650
15. 6 Brad Keselowski Castrol Carbon Neutral Ford 53.626 178.570
16. 43 Erik Jones U.S. Air Force Chevrolet 53.628 178.563
17. 14 Chase Briscoe Mahindra Tractors Ford 53.635 178.540
18. 2 Austin Cindric # Menards/Sylvania Ford 53.653 178.480
19. 1 Ross Chastain Moose Fraternity Chevrolet 53.657 178.467
20. 42 Ty Dillon Black Rifle Coffee Company Chevrolet 53.689 178.361
21. 34 Michael McDowell Love’s Travel Stops Ford 53.708 178.297
22. 12 Ryan Blaney Wurth Ford 53.743 178.181
23. 10 Aric Almirola Smithfield/IHOP Ford 53.744 178.178
24. 4 Kevin Harvick GEARWRENCH Ford 53.751 178.155
25. 21 Harrison Burton # Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford 53.764 178.112
26. 47 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Kroger/SunnyD Chevrolet 53.802 177.986
27. 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 53.813 177.950
28. 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 53.940 177.531
29. 41 Cole Custer Feeding America/Wow Wow Chevrolet 53.943 177.521
30. 17 Chris Buescher Fastenal Ford 53.964 177.452
31. 62 Noah Gragson(i) Wendy?s $5 Biggie Bag/Beard Oil Chevrolet 53.989 177.369
32. 38 Todd Gilliland # First Phase Credit Card Ford 54.178 176.751
33. 7 Corey LaJoie Raze Energy Chevrolet 54.205 176.663
34. 51 Cody Ware Nurtec ODT Ford 54.677 175.138
35. 44 Greg Biffle Morehouse College Chevrolet 54.791 174.773
36. 15 David Ragan Envision Ford 55.118 173.736
37. 78 B.J. McLeod Motorsport Games Ford 55.129 173.702
38. 55 J.J. Yeley(i) Hex.com Ford 55.662 172.038
39. 77 Landon Cassill(i) Fox Nation Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
http://accesswdun.com/article/2022/4/1096655/kyle-busch-uncertain-about-future-during-jgr-sponsorship-search