Kyle Busch’s aspiration to run the Indianapolis 500 is going to wait -- the defending Sprint Cup Series champion said Friday that despite some sponsor interest, he will not compete in this year’s event.
Kyle Busch will not race 2016 Indianapolis 500
The reigning NASCAR champ won’t race the Indy 500 this year, but is open to doing so in the future.
Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
Recently Busch has hinted on social media about the possibility of racing in the Indy 500 with the NASCAR champion tweeting last month, “Always said when I win a cup championship I’d give it thought.” Naturally this message created speculation whether Busch would become the latest driver to attempt the Indy 500/Coca-Cola 600 “double,” just as older brother Kurt accomplished in 2014. (Kurt finished sixth.)
“The sponsor aspect, they’ve actually shown some interest in it and that was kind of fun for me to hear that there might actually be an opportunity there if I continue my relationship with them from the Cup side to the IndyCar side,” Kyle Busch said Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway. “We have to work out all those details and it’s certainly not going to happen for this year, but maybe in some future years we’ll see what we can put together.”
Busch acknowledged it would take some convincing for team owner Joe Gibbs to allow such an endeavor, saying, “Joe’s going to be the hardest one for sure.” As for Busch’s wife, Samantha, she supports the idea -- sort of.
“Samantha is not necessarily a fan of it,” Busch said. “I’ve talked to her about it a little bit and she’s just like, ‘I’ll be there when the time comes, but don’t tell me.’”
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