NASCAR: Does Kurt Busch have more than two options?

There appear to be two serious possible landing spots for Kurt Busch in the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season as silly season heats up.

Kurt Busch signed a two-year contract extension with Chip Ganassi Racing back in the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season, making him a pending free agent this year for next season.

Complicating matters for the 2004 series champion is the fact that Chip Ganassi Racing have announced that they will be acquired by Trackhouse Racing Team after the 2021 season wraps up in November, meaning that a fourth season behind the wheel of the #1 Chevrolet for Chip Ganassi’s team is out of question for 2022.

However, despite retirement rumors stemming from a preseason video featuring Busch by his longtime primary sponsor Monster Energy, it doesn’t look as though the 42-year-old Las Vegas, Nevada native has plans to hang up his helmet anytime soon.

The reason why Busch signed a two-year extension back in 2019 was so that he could stick around long enough to drive the Next Gen car.

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But as a result of COVID-19-related restrictions last year, the launch of that new car was delayed from the 2021 season to the 2022 season, meaning that Busch is no longer under contract to get this opportunity.

He still wants that opportunity, and he still has what it takes to get the job done behind the wheel. He just dominated the race at Atlanta Motor Speedway this past Sunday afternoon, proving to the doubters that he is still more than capable of performing at a high level. He has now won at least one race in each of the last eight seasons, and his upcoming playoff appearance is slated to be his ninth in a row.

But with Chip Ganassi Racing off the table, where will Busch continue his Cup Series career, if it is to continue into next year when the Next Gen car is slated for its debut?

Fortunately, he does have options, two to be specific. Whether or not there are more may not end up mattering, because he is likely to land with either Trackhouse Racing Team or 23XI Racing.

Trackhouse Racing Team had been eyeing expansion even before announcing that they will acquire Chip Ganassi Racing after the 2021 season and run two cars in 2022 after fielding just the #99 Chevrolet for Daniel Suarez this season.

And they had reached out to Busch during this period as well. Following the announcement, they made clear that they remain interested in the possibility of signing either Busch or Ross Chastain, who competes alongside him at Chip Ganassi Racing behind the wheel of the #42 Chevrolet.

As for 23XI Racing, they have long said that they want to expand to become a two-car team in 2022 as well. But they have yet to make a move to make that official, and Bubba Wallace remains the only driver under contract there for next year.

However, it has been reported that Busch is the top candidate to drive a second car alongside Wallace in the #23 Toyota should they expand next year, a move that is still considered quite likely despite the fact that nothing has been solidified yet.

On Corey LaJoie’s “Stacking Pennies” podcast earlier this week, Busch stated the following.

"“I don’t have a deal signed yet. The Trackhouse thing changed the way the Ganassi structure was being chatted about. And the yea…23XI is out there as well.”"

There have been rumors that Busch has already signed a deal somewhere and it simply hasn’t been announced, but this clearly isn’t the case.

However, barring something completely unforeseen, such as a surprise return to Stewart-Haas Racing or even retirement, Busch should end up at one of these two teams in 2022, presumably leaving a seat open at wherever he doesn’t end up.

The only scenario under which this may not happen is if 23XI Racing don’t expand and Trackhouse Racing Team opt to sign Chastain or somebody else instead of Busch. But this isn’t a scenario that anybody sees playing out at this point.