Kyle Busch Interested in Possibly Running Indianapolis 500 in the Future

Take Kyle Busch’s name out of NASCAR drivers potentially attempting “The Double” in 2016, which includes racing 1,100 miles in the same day, both the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend.

However, it still remains a bucket list item for the Las Vegas native. It has been rumored that drivers such as Brian Vickers and even Busch’s older brother Kurt Busch could possibly race in the 100th anniversary of the event this year.

The elder Busch brother admitted a few weeks ago that his name was now off the radar after placing sixth in the event just two years ago for Andretti Autosport. On Friday, at Bristol Motor Speedway, the younger brother took his name out of the running as well, though the sponsors are all for it.

“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,” Busch said in a press conference.

Busch, 30, raised speculation on social media last month when he sent out a tweet saying “Always said when I win a Cup championship I’d give it thought.”

The reigning Sprint Cup champion is in the midst of a hot streak. He has won the last two Cup events at Martinsville and Texas and has also been triumphant in four of the XFINITY Series six races this year. It would make sense that this year would be the year to run the historical race in Indianapolis.  

Busch admitted that it would be hard to persuade car-owner Joe Gibbs to let him run the event. One of the reasons that Tony Stewart left Joe Gibbs Racing following the 2008 season was because Gibbs was not for the veteran driver running extracurricular events.

Busch’s wife Samantha is not necessarily in favor of her husband running the event either.

“Joe’s going to be the hardest one for sure,” Busch explained. “Samantha is not necessarily a fan of it and 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.’”

Busch has gone to Victory Lane at Indianapolis before as he is the reigning winner of the Brickyard 400.

Dustin Albino