NASCAR: Kurt Busch reveals possible retirement season

Kurt Busch admitted that the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season may be his last, though he still has plenty of time to make up his mind.

Kurt Busch is in his first season behind the wheel of the #45 Toyota after signing with Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan’s 23XI Racing, which joined the NASCAR Cup Series with the #23 Toyota for Bubba Wallace last season. They expanded to two cars for their second year in the sport.

The 2022 season is Busch’s 23rd season competing at the sport’s top level, and it is his 22nd season as a full-time driver. It is his first season with Toyota, making him just the second driver to compete for Dodge, Ford, Chevrolet, and Toyota.

Busch is still performing at a high level, having won the race at Kansas Speedway back in mid-May to make the 2022 season his ninth consecutive winning season and presumably his 10th consecutive season with a playoff berth.

But at the age of 43, the Las Vegas, Nevada native has unsurprisingly been the subject of retirement rumors in recent seasons. He is under contract with 23XI Racing through the 2023 season, but many believe that he may have signed his final contract.

When discussing NASCAR’s addition of the first ever street course race in Chicago, Illinois for 2023 on Thursday on “CBS Mornings”, Busch admitted that he could very well call it a career after next season.

Here is what the 2004 series champion had to say about the matter.

"“I’ve been in this sport 23 years, and this, to me, is like one of those kid-in-the-candy store moments of, ‘I wanna be a part of this.’ And I’m glad I’m having the chance to drive next year for the team, and I might be done driving after that.”"

However, this isn’t the first time that Busch, a 34-time winner at the Cup level, has hinted at retirement.

He did so before the 2021 season, his third and final season with Chip Ganassi Racing, only to sign a multi-year deal with 23XI Racing after it had been announced that Chip Ganassi’s team would be acquired by Trackhouse Racing Team post-2021.

Busch has also made clear that 23XI Racing want him to drive for their team for as long as he wants to continue competing, and the plan is for him to remain with the team in some form even after he has retired from his current role.