Kurt Busch emotionally reacts to his NASCAR Hall of Fame nomination

After being nominated for the 2026 class of NASCAR’s prestigious Hall of Fame, Kurt Busch expressed his feelings through a post on X. Busch, who retired from full-time racing back in 2022, will be joined by two-time NASCAR Busch Series (now Xfinity) champion Randy LaJoie to form the Modern Era Ballot.

Between 2000 and 2022, Busch ran 776 races in the NASCAR Cup Series, winning 34. His last race as a full-time Cup Series driver was the 2022 Ambetter 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Bagging a win at Kansas Speedway, five top-fives and eight top-10s, he finished 30th on points that year.

Here's what Kurt Busch wrote on X:

“I am very grateful to be nominated for NASCAR’s Hall of Fame. It’s an honor to be recognized at this top level. Thank you to NASCAR, my race teams, my family and to the race fans.”

Today, Busch is a consultant with 23XI Racing, his former team, which is owned by Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin and former NBA legend Michael Jordan. The team currently fields three drivers in the Cup Series: Bubba Wallace, Tyler Reddick, and 2025 newcomer Riley Herbst.

Busch came back for a one-off appearance in the 2025 Race of Champions in Australia, alongside three-time NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoor Truck Series champion, Travis Pastrana. Notably, he has not raced since then.

Kurt Busch happens to be the only former Cup Series champion to be nominated this year. Other names on the Modern Day Ballot are Greg Biffle, Neil Bonnett, Tim Brewer, Jeff Burton, Randy Dorton, Harry Gant, Harry Hyde, and Jack Sprague. The final voting will take place in May 2025.

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Back when Kurt Busch was slammed with DWI charges

Back in August 2024, Kurt Busch faced DWI (driving while intoxicated) charges and was arrested for reckless driving. As reported by Austin Konenski of USA Today Sports, Busch was running at 63 mph in a 45 mph zone.

Court records stated that Busch’s eyes were red from intoxication and that his breath smelled of alcohol. His blood alcohol concentration (BAC) was 0.17 percent, which happens to be double the permissible limit in North Carolina.

Days ahead of his court appearance on September 19, Busch said in a statement (via Bob Pockrass),

“I'm very disappointed in myself and I apologize to my family, my racing family, and to my fans. I will work with the authorities to rectify the situation and work with the county to make it a safer place in the future."

Kurt Busch was sentenced to 60 days in jail and suspended for a year. His license was revoked as well. Besides that, the Las Vegas native was required to do community service while being on unsupervised probation for 12 months.