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Kurt Busch's retirement from the world of NASCAR did not come in the most ideal of situations. Forced to vacate his seat at 23XI Racing last season due to a crash during qualifying at Pocono Raceway, the former #45 Toyota Camry TRD driver is now retired from the sport.
While his concussion injuries sustained during the rearward impact in the Next Gen car did not force him to retire immediately, he was fenced for the foreseeable future. With medical officials deeming him unfit for racing, Kurt Busch's official full-time retirement came one year on from his crash.
The 2004 NASCAR Cup Series champion left a mark in the highest echelons of stock car racing like no other. Known for his fiery exchanges on and off the track in his rookie years, Busch went on to amass 776 starts in his 23-year-long career.
Looking back on his years in the sport during an interview with racer.com's Eric Johnson, the Las Vegas native said:
"It’s been a nice run. I’ve been very blessed and privileged to have been able to run for over two decades. I’ve met all the different people, the teams, the sponsors, and have won the races and wrecked some cars and have developed teams. It was a good run and I don’t think there’s anything that I could have done any better or different. Looking back on it all, I would not change a thing."
As an avid analyst and commentator in his post-racing days, Kurt Busch is often seen track-side during the 2023 Cup Series races.
Kurt Busch elaborates on Kyle Busch's take on the 23XI Racing driver's retirement
Holding the statistic for the winningest brothers in the history of NASCAR, Kurt Busch's brother Kyle Busch is also a name synonymous with stock car racing. The two drivers on the track and brothers off it were very similar and very different in quite a lot of ways during their careers.
Here is what Kyle thought of his elder brother's retirement from the sport, as narrated by Kurt himself:
"Kyle’s been very supportive and understands age is a tough thing to battle and the amount of time that I’ve been racing since I was 16 years old. Now it’s basically like Kyle saying, 'Hey, now we’ve got [Kyle’s son] Brexton. Be an uncle and take care of Brexton.'"
Kurt Busch continues to try and better 23XI Racing's efforts in the Cup Series and his broadcaster roles for various races.
