Kurt Busch might have already decided to step away from full-time Cup racing but he is certainly planning to run some races in 2023.
Busch had a very unfortunate 2022 season as he missed a number of races due to concussion-like symptoms in the Pocono qualifying crash. Given the seriousness of the issue, Busch decided to step away from full-time Cup racing and he is yet to be cleared by NASCAR for a return.
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Nonetheless. it hasn’t stopped Busch from planning the upcoming season. He says that he is still not fully ready to race but the 23XI Racing driver is helping out the team wherever he can.
“I’m hopeful to get cleared but I’m still not cleared to race. I feel it at the same level. I’m still missing that last little bit to compete at 100 percent with the best of the best in this sport. Continuing therapy, the physical side of it, the mental side of it, and with 23XI, my family there with Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin, we’re working on that third car, and it’s there. There’s that easy opportunity,” Kurt Busch said.
“Just a matter of all of it plugging back in the right way. If I can’t drive, I’ll still be at track helping our team, our engineers, consulting, and being around Bubba, and being around Tyler Reddick and making 23XI a more competitive place, and can win more races and compete for championships.”
23XI Racing have two cars with Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick on a full-time basis but they will still run a third car now and then. For their 3rd Cup entry for Daytona 500, it will be driven by Travis Pastrana. But when Busch is cleared to race, he will certainly be back on this car, for which he already has a list of some tracks that he would like to race.
“Yeah, it would be dabbling here or there,” he said. “It wouldn’t be any kind of full-time. Whether it’s the Chicago street race, which looks fun, or North Wilkesboro, and then some of my favorite places like Watkins Glen or Homestead. Still got to get cleared. Let’s get the season underway, and things will sort out.”
Busch has already made it clear in the past too that he wants to race through the streets of Chicago and it is this place that has a high chance of the driver returning to the Cup series than the others.