NASCAR: Kyle Busch back to Hendrick Motorsports?

Could two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch leave Joe Gibbs Racing and reunite with an organization which he left a decade and a half ago?

It’s not a stretch to say that Kyle Busch has been linked to almost every team in the NASCAR Cup Series garage in recent weeks as he remains unsigned by Joe Gibbs Racing for 2023.

When Busch made his cryptic comments about his contract status back in April at Talladega Superspeedway, many chalked it up to Kyle Busch being Kyle Busch. But that has since proven to be an incorrect assessment of the situation.

In late 2021, Mars Wrigley confirmed that they would not be renewing their deal to serve as the primary sponsor of Busch’s #18 Toyota in 2023.

Despite the fact that we are now done with the 2022 regular season and into the playoffs, Joe Gibbs Racing haven’t been able to find replacement sponsorship.

To make matters worse, what was actually once considered to be a promising development recently fell through, setting the team back and leaving them without any significant leads.

As time goes on, it looks less and less likely that Busch will be back behind the wheel of the #18 Toyota for a 16th season next year.

Could a return to the team with which he began his Cup Series career, Hendrick Motorsports, before his move to Toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing in 2008 be in the cards?

With Chevrolet reportedly “in the mix” to sign Busch for 2023, the sport’s top Chevrolet team has naturally been mentioned as a possibility, as Busch has admitted that he wants to go to a team where he has the ability to contend for wins.

However, while other Chevrolet options in Kaulig Racing and Richard Childress Racing have emerged as potential landing spots, a return to Rick Hendrick’s team is not much of a serious possibility at this stage.

All four of Hendrick’s current drivers are under contract through the 2023 season, with two set for even longer. Chase Elliott recently signed through 2027 and William Byron recently signed through 2025.

Kyle Larson and Alex Bowman do have contracts which expire at the end of next year, however. Bowman is the driver whom many believe could be entering his final year with the team next year, barring an improvement, but there is even talk of Larson potentially seeking other options.

Of course, in this day and age, you can never say never, considering some of the crazy silly season developments we have seen, and there’s always the possibility of a contract buyout that could land Busch back with Hendrick Motorsports. However, a reunion any earlier than 2024 does not seem feasible.

As for the other two Chevrolet options, Kaulig Racing plan to reveal their plans for next year in the near future, while Richard Childress Racing is reportedly the new “favorite” to land Busch.

Busch has confirmed that he has contract offers from multiple teams, though aside from his current organization, he wouldn’t specify which. He too plans to make his decision in the near future, as he has been told by multiple teams that his “domino” effectively needs to be the first to fall.