NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Busch continued to address the media about his future in the series at Watkins Glen revealing that “a big change is coming” for him and his family.
Busch’s long-time sponsor Mars Wrigley, who makes M&M’s, Snickers, Skittles, and Pedigree is leaving the sport. Without a sponsor it’s hard for Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota to keep Kyle Busch in the No. 18 Toyota Camry.
It’s left Busch a free agent late into the season as he still finds himself negotiating with Joe Gibbs Racing as well as other potential suitors. Not only is he a free agent, but Busch comes with a lot of baggage as well including his own team, Kyle Busch Motorsports, which funds his son’s dirt track racing as well as a number of Truck Series trucks.
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At a press conference, Busch first detailed that he’s not looking for sympathy, but the situation he’s in has been tough for him and he’s had a bunch of sleepless nights due to his uncertain future.
“Let’s be frank about it, right. I’m an athlete. I make a lot of money. People aren’t going to feel or shouldn’t feel sorry for me. I’ve made a good living. That’s not the premise of this answer, but it’s been hard as hell. It’s been a lot of sleepless nights figuring out what your future is and all that sort of stuff,” Busch explained.
“Everybody’s like, ‘Oh well, you’ve made plenty of money you’re fine. You don’t have anything to worry about.’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, that’s true, but you still want to do what you love to do.”
Busch then points out, “I’m a racer. Only ever known how to race. Nothing else. Trying to do other business projects and things like that, but none of them have really blown up and taken off. So it has been hard. And figuring out all of that is certainly tough.”
“And the first time, the last time I went through this was 15 years ago, and it was a learning experience,” he explained. “It was hard then too, but it was nothing like now. Then it was just me, myself, and I. I didn’t have Samantha. I didn’t have a son. I didn’t have a daughter. All I had was an agent that was helping me. Now, I’m kind of all on my own doing it along with Samantha and the family.”
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He then elaborated on why it’s been so difficult to get a deal done, “But going through many of the same things, but it’s way way harder because now you have Kyle Busch Motorsports that you’ve got to think about. You’ve got a building that you’ve got to pay on. You’ve got a building note and all that sort of stuff.”
“So there’s a lot, a lot, a lot of piece,” he said. “And that’s why it’s not so simple. If you look at each aspect of everything of my life, which some of may not know or may not fully know is there’s just a lot. Trying to take care of all those pieces and make sure everything goes as it was or as it has been the last few years would certainly be nice.”
Busch would then be asked about his sleepless nights and if they are about whether or not he will be able to get in a ride that can instantly be a top competitor.
He answered, “That’s certainly top of the list. You want to be able to go somewhere that you feel like that you have legit shot to race, to win.”
“Trust me, I don’t feel like it’s fair to me or my family or anything else if we’re going to have to spend less time together moving forward because we are going to have to change our lifestyle. No questions. There’s a big change coming,” he then asserted.
“And so is it worth it to go run around and not have an opportunity to win right away versus building something versus jumping in something that can win,” he elaborated. “All those questions are certainly be weighed out and again that’s also why it’s not so simple and so easy.”
“Thankfully, there are opportunities out there. There are Cup jobs available. But again, it will not look the same as what it has for the last 15 years,” he reiterated.
While there’s a big change coming for Kyle Busch, he previously outlined what he would like to get with a new deal.
“I’ve got six, seven maybe eight more years. If I play all this out perfectly, Brexton and I, we share a truck when he turns 16 years old, when he’s 16 and 17 and then it’s his when he’s 18 and I’m done. I’m out. That’s the perfect play,” he declared.
“And so if I can align all of that, the runway does exist for a Busch — obviously, he’s pretty talented, he wins more than I do, I hear about it every day — so the runway for him if you want to look at it that way is 30 years plus. He can carry on this legacy a lot longer than I will,” he concluded.
Busch finished 32nd at Watkins Glen after starting 10th. Over the last couple of races he’s had mixed results. At Richmond he finished 9th. However, at Michigan he came in 36th. At the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course he finished 11th. At Pocono he finished 36th.
Despite the rocky results over the past couple of months, Busch is locked into the playoffs courtesy of his win at Bristol Motor Speedway. He’s currently 9th overall in the regular season, but he’s only earned 8 playoff points, which is good for 12th if the playoffs were to start this coming week. He’s got one more race at Daytona this upcoming weekend to earn some more playoff points to give him a better chance at winning the Championship.
What do you make of Busch’s comments about his future?
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