Father Time Finally Caught Up With Nascar Driver Kurt Busch

Kurt Busch made it official Saturday: he is retiring from NASCAR Cup racing. Busch suffered a concussion during a practice crash at Pocono Raceway last summer and was forced to step away from racing, ultimately being replaced by Tyler Reddick at the 23XI Racing for 2023 after Ty Gibbs subbed for him the remainder of the 2022 season.

“You know, last year in Las Vegas where my racing career began, I sat in front of many of you and it was one of the toughest and hardest things I’ve ever had to do in my racing career,” Busch said Saturday at Daytona. “And that was to talk about not being behind the wheel of a race car. After decades spent at a racetrack with helmet in hand preparing to compete, I was forced to take a step back and focus on my health while stepping away from full-time racing for the 2023 season.

“It’s been difficult, but it has provided me with a different perspective and more time to continue focusing on my recuperation and reflect on all that the sport has given me and all that I still have left to give back to it.”

While at this year’s Daytona 500 in February serving as a grand marshal for the race, Busch left the door open for a return saying his recovery was still ongoing.

The 45-year-old had taken a role as a consultant for the 23XI team since stepping back from racing while not officially calling it a retirement, until Saturday when prior to the summer race at Daytona Busch made the news official saying that he and his doctors determined that there were “too many obstacles to return to competition”.

MORE FROM FORBESAs Nascar’s Kurt Busch Writes His Final Chapter, Tyler Reddick Starts His Next OneBy Greg Engle

He said he will continue as a consultant for the team.

“I want to do all I can to continue making this race team one of the best in motor sports,” Busch said. “I guess it’s fitting that at age 45, my 23 years as a full-time driver in NASCAR would culminate in working with 23XI to impart the knowledge I have for our drivers and our team.”

As for his future, including getting back behind the wheel in some form of motorsports.

“It’s difficult to know which avenues will lead to what here in the short-term future,” he said. “Still wanting to get doctor approval and to get cleared. That’s the first step. That’s what I need to do personally. Then we will have opportunities to talk to different motorsport teams, different sponsors, and doing other races.”

For now, Busch said he’s happy with his life now.

“The perspective and taking a little step back from being in the car every week, the most joy that I’ve found is that everything has slowed down for me to help analyze the data, to give advice to Bubba and to give advice to Tyler, the engineering staff, the team members at 23XI.

MORE FROM FORBESCircumstances Put NASCAR Champion Kurt Busch In A New Role Sooner Than He WantedBy Greg Engle

“It’s really neat having all of this current knowledge and having the opportunity to be able to digest it and to give back to this team. So, that’s the short-term goal.”

Kurt made his NASCAR Cup debut in 2000 with Roush Racing. He would score the first of his 44 wins in the Cup series at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2002 and follow that up with a Cup title in 2004 during NASCAR’s inaugural Chase for the Championship.

His early years were marked by controversial incidents due mainly to his fiery temper that led to several angry encounters with reporters, but he was also suspended by Roush near the end of the 2005 season for an alleged DUI. He moved to Team Penske in 2006 but was reportedly fired from that team at the end of 2011 after launching a profanity laced tirade against an ESPN reporter after dropping out of the race at Homestead.

After brief stints with the now-defunct Phoenix and Furniture Row Racing, Busch signed with Stewart-Haas Racing where he remained until 2018. He moved to Chip Ganassi Racing in 2019 and moved to 23XI Racing when the team, co-owned by Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin, and NBA Legend Michael Jordan when that team bought the assets of Ganassi which decided to leave NASCAR to focus on other motorsports.

Saturday as he announced the end of his Cup driving career, Busch said he’s made peace with what happened during qualifying at Pocono on that July 2022 Day.

“I mean, it is kind of a Hollywood story ending, so to speak,” he said. “Going for pole and in your last race, you know, going out on top.”

And he added that he thinks NASCAR has made good safety improvements to the Next Gen car to ensure no other driver ends up in his situation.

“I think that NASCAR is doing all the right things to improve the safety of the car,” he said. “And made quick prompt changes after collecting data on my incident and many others.

“It’s always something in life where you’re trying to improve things and make it better for everyone. And I think NASCAR, the teams and the collaboration that I see… everybody’s moving in the right direction.”

His decision to make his retirement official wasn’t just based on his slow recovery, but a culmination of things, many of which were starting to surface prior to the accident at Pocono.

“My body is just having a battle with Father Time,” Busch said. “I’ve had arthritis ever since I can remember. My gout has flared up so much that I can barely walk on some days just pushing to get through physical therapy and to continue the workouts.

“I remember last summer I was trying to not show that emotion and I barely could even walk to the car at Dover, because I had to have some shots pre-race just so that I could move my knee and move my feet. Those are those moments where things were starting to add up before things happened at, at Pocono. So, Father time, I’m 45 years old. I’m very happy, complacent and there’s nothing that I look back on and regret about having this opportunity at the top level of NASCAR.”