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The 2004 NASCAR Cup Series champion and one of the most experienced drivers to race in the highest echelon of stock car racing in 2022, Kurt Busch is not having the season he would have hoped for at the beginning of the year.
The 44-year-old veteran driver has been sitting on the sidelines of the playoffs despite potentially qualifying for the same after his victory during the regular season. A crash during qualifying for the M&M's Fan Appreciation 400 at Pocono Raceway rendered the #45 Toyota Camry TRD driver out of the car due to concussions sustained during the impact.
Kurt Busch, a 34-time winner in the Cup Series, has played a vital role in 23XI Racing, a team he recently joined alongside Bubba Wallace Jr. Ever since Busch's car backed into the fence at Pocono, however, there has been a lot of chatter in the sport about driver safety and the Next Gen car. The chatter was exacerbated especially after a similar incident meant Alex Bowman was also out of the playoffs on the same account.
The 23XI Racing driver himself had not spoken until now about the severity of the impact since the accident. The Las Vegas, Nevada native broke his silence recently during the latest episode of NASCAR's Race for the Championship series. He said:
“At Pocono, I wanted to get that first pole for 23XI, Pocono is one of my favorites. Car was there. I just overstepped the line coming through Turn 3 and the thing just snapped around so fast, and it backed in. And boom. And I 1,000% knew that it was a different kind of hit. That’s been the scary part and the tough part.”
The sport's visit to Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend marks the 13th race Kurt Busch will miss in the 2022 season.
Retirement rumors surround Kurt Busch ahead of first Round of 8 race weekend in Las Vegas
Rumors about Kurt Busch finally hanging up his racing overalls after being a part of the sport since 2001 have been circulating for quite some time in the fraternity now. Hesitation from team co-owner Denny Hamlin on any updates on the #45 Toyota Camry TRD driver's possible return, and rumors of the team welcoming Tyler Reddick a year earlier than originally planned, make Busch's hopes of returning bleak.
It remains to be seen what comes of the official press conference scheduled for Saturday morning this weekend. Meanwhile, the rest of the NASCAR Cup Series drivers are preparing to go racing for the first Round of 8 race at 2:30 pm ET on Sunday.
