The NASCAR world has taken quite the turn in the last week or so following the retirement announcement of Martin Truex Jr. and what it could mean for Kyle Busch and others if teams shuffle going forward.
This weekend, Busch was asked if there was any chance he might return to Joe Gibbs Racing. And rather than close the door shut on such talk, Busch blew the door off the hinges with his response, making it clear he absolutely would if asked.
“So now it just becomes more complicated because you’ve thrown all this out there and is he happy at RCR?” said Kevin Harvick on the Kevin Harvick Happy Hour. “I don’t see any scenario that Joe Gibbs Racing hires Kyle Busch back.”
One of the driving forces in Busch leaving Joe Gibbs Racing in the first place was the loss of title sponsor M&M/Mars. Shortly after that news came down the pipe, Busch announced he was leaving.
He signed a multi-year deal with Richard Childress Racing that started in 2023 and carried an option for the 2025 season.
But Busch’s comments seemed to make it clear he’s open to a departure.
“I would say anything is possible, always,” Kyle Busch said, via Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports. “Certainly, if I was welcomed (to Joe Gibbs Racing) I would go back, if Hendrick welcomed me back I’d go back. But right now I’m at RCR with my group of guys and the deal I have right now in place. So, we’re trying to work and build this program and make RCR great again.”
Harvick questioned whether a reunion with Gibbs is even a feasible possibility.
“How were those terms that he left with Toyota and Joe Gibbs? Was it Joe Gibbs that was mad?” Harvick wondered aloud. “I mean the whole truck team is gone. There has to be some sort of frustration, because you’ve got, they moved on from what he was doing at Toyota Racing with his truck teams and everything he had going and Joe Gibbs Racing. So there was obviously something not right there because otherwise they would have worked it out.”
Needless to say, there’s a lot that would have to be untangled in the event of a return for Kyle Busch.
Then there’s also the fact that most prognosticators have someone else penciled in to fill Truex Jr.’s seat.
“Everything that everybody keeps talking about is Chase Briscoe is going to go in the 19 car,” Harvick said.
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