Indy 500: Kyle Busch confirms he's eyeing future ride amid approval

Two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch has confirmed that he is eyeing a future ride in the Indy 500, and he has been approved to compete in it.

When Kyle Busch signed a multi-year contract extension last February to continue competing for Joe Gibbs Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series, nobody was even remotely surprised.

The 34-year-old Las Vegas, Nevada native was arguably the best driver of the latter half of this past decade, winning the 2015 championship after missing the 36-race season’s first 11 races with injuries suffered in a wreck and then adding a second title in November of 2019.

But one thing in his contract — or not in his contract, depending on how you want to look at it — was well worth noting.

In 2017, just a few days before the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Busch stated that he had a ride lined up to make his IndyCar debut in the Indianapolis 500 at the track earlier that year, but that one of his two “bosses” said no.

Here is what he had to say about the matter, according to IndyStar.

"“I had it done last year, sold and everything ready to go, and I’ve got a boss that said no. Figure it out. I’ve got two bosses — one’s a male and one’s a female. I thought that I had a great opportunity to do it.”"

One boss is obviously Joe Gibbs and the other is wife Samantha.

The latter is the one who did not say no, which has been confirmed by Fox Sports’ Bob Pockrass despite speculation that she would be too frightened to let him compete.

Here is what she had to say about the matter in 2016, according to IndyCar.

"“Well, I can’t say it’s on the top of my list of things for him to do just because I am a worrier, but I know that one day it is something that he really wants to check off his bucket list. So, although I will be a nervous wreck throughout, I will support him all the way if he decides to do it one day.”"

At the time when Kyle made the above quote about one of his bosses saying yes and the other saying no, he also added the following, according to IndyStar, also confirming that it was Gibbs who gave him the red light.

"“I think the biggest thing that scares my boss is that I’ve never driven those cars and so I don’t know — you know, a Cup car or a XFINITY car or a truck or something like that, like I know what to feel and how to feel and when something bad starts to happen, I can straighten it out.”"

Now under his new contract, Busch has officially been approved to compete in the 200-lap “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval in Speedway, Indiana, and Toyota is reportedly okay with Busch running a Chevrolet-powered car in this race despite the fact that he competes against Chevrolet in the Cup Series.

Kyle says he has approval to run Indy with a Chevy team. He doesn’t have a deal or anything, but can do it if something was put together. https://t.co/MEDG7Z8P30
— Jenna Fryer (@JennaFryer) January 4, 2020

All in all, it makes sense considering the fact that his only other IndyCar option is Honda, and Toyota wouldn’t want him in a Honda-powered car given their rivalry.

Busch himself has confirmed that while there is not currently anything lined up, he is interested in pulling it off.

Here is what Busch had to say about the matter, according to Autoweek.

"“I have a couple of short-track races ideas on my mind, but I’m not ready to release those. The Indianapolis 500 is out there, but nothing seems to be coming together.”"

Will this lead to anything this May?

Indy 500: Kyle Busch confirms he’s eyeing future ride amid approval

By Asher Fair | Jan 9, 2020

Two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch has confirmed that he is eyeing a future ride in the Indy 500, and he has been approved to compete in it.