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Indy 500: Will NASCAR’s Kurt Busch return with Chip Ganassi Racing?

By Asher Fair

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MAY 23: Kurt Busch, driver of the #26 Suretone Andretti Autosport Honda Dallara, drives during final practice on Carb Day for the 98th running of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race on May 23, 2014 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MAY 23: Kurt Busch, driver of the #26 Suretone Andretti Autosport Honda Dallara, drives during final practice on Carb Day for the 98th running of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race on May 23, 2014 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) /
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Kurt Busch made his IndyCar debut in the 2014 Indy 500. Will he return to the Indy 500 since he is now set to drive for Chip Ganassi Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series?

Over the course of history, a total of only four drivers have driven both races of the Memorial Day Double, the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, on the same Memorial Day Sunday. These four drivers have done so a combined nine times.

One of these four drivers and the most recent of them to compete in both the 200-lap IndyCar race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval in Speedway, Indiana and the 400-lap NASCAR Cup Series race around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) Charlotte Motor Speedway oval in Concord, North Carolina on the same day is Kurt Busch.

Busch, 40, attempted the Memorial Day Double back in 2014. The Cup Series veteran had never competed in an IndyCar race before, and he managed to finish in sixth place in the Indy 500 after qualifying in 12th. He was named the Indy 500 Rookie of the Year for his performance.

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Busch went on to finish in 40th place after starting in 28th in the Coca-Cola 600, as an engine failure with 129 laps remaining in the race prevented him from finishing it and thus becoming just the second driver to complete all 1,100 miles of the Memorial Day Double.

There are two teams that compete full-time in both IndyCar and in the Cup Series. Those two teams are Team Penske, who Busch drove for in the Cup Series from the 2006 season through the 2011, and Chip Ganassi Racing. But in 2014, he was in his first Cup Series season driving for Stewart-Haas Racing, and Andretti Autosport were the team that fielded an entry for him in the Indy 500.

Busch has never ruled out the possibility of returning to the Indy 500 since his impressive sixth place performance in the race back in 2014, and the odds of him returning to the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” are now about as high as they have ever been. After spending the last five seasons driving full-time for Stewart-Haas Racing, he has signed with Chip Ganassi Racing for the 2019 season.

Here is what Chip Ganassi Racing team owner Chip Ganassi had to say about potentially fielding an entry for Busch in the Indy 500 before he flies to Concord to compete in the Coca-Cola 600 on a future Memorial Day Sunday, according to Autoweek.

"“I think and in my conversations with Kurt, all that stuff is available. All our cars are available to all of our drivers. I think it’s just a matter of if the opportunity presents itself, and there is obviously a lot more than just me saying, ‘Hey, let’s do it’ and him saying, ‘Yeah, let’s do it.’“I am game. For the two of us to decide is somewhat on a bit of an island when it comes to those types of things. The important point is those things are available for conversations and that is one of the things I think we…and again it’s not often you have a guy that has the experience to do that like an Indy in an Indy car. It’s certainly on the table if need be.”"

Kyle Larson, who has driven full-time for Chip Ganassi Racing in the Cup Series since the 2014 season, has often been rumored to potentially be the next driver to attempt the Memorial Day Double. However, he has not yet done so.

Will Busch end up doing so? If he is interested, it is certainly not something that you should rule out.

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Do you believe that Kurt Busch will end up attempting the Memorial Day Double for the second time? If so, when do you believe he will return to IndyCar to compete in the Indy 500 before flying to Concord to compete in the Coca-Cola 600 along with his fellow full-time NASCAR Cup Series drivers?