NASCAR: Kyle Busch says what everybody else is thinking

Kyle Busch made an interesting comment in response to the announcement that Chandler Smith had signed with Kaulig Racing for the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series season.

Last month, Kaulig Racing confirmed that they would be making a 2023 NASCAR Cup Series driver announcement as a part of Kaulig Racing Fan Day on Wednesday, October 5.

The team indeed confirmed that A.J. Allmendinger is set to move from the Xfinity Series to the Cup Series, driving the #16 Chevrolet full-time next year. Allmendinger currently shares time behind the wheel of that car with two other drivers, Noah Gragson and Daniel Hemric.

It was also confirmed that Justin Haley would be staying for another year behind the wheel of the #31 Chevrolet.

Unfortunately, the Allmendinger confirmation became the latest confirmation to be revealed before it was formally announced, a situation which has become quite common in NASCAR.

But what wasn’t revealed ahead of time was who would replace Allmendinger behind the wheel of the #16 Chevrolet in the Xfinity Series.

Current Kyle Busch Motorsports Truck Series driver Chandler Smith got to make that announcement himself, confirming his switch from Toyota to Chevrolet amid his jump to NASCAR’s second highest level in 2023.

Kyle Busch took notice and left the following comment on Smith’s Instagram post about the move.

“Congrats! Someone that got to announce their own news”

Smith had hinted that he had signed a deal for 2023, but he gave no indication as to the team with which he had signed.

The news wasn’t revealed by any outlet ahead of time either.

https://twitter.com/CSmithDrive/status/1577450097947942916

Additionally, Smith had been a pending free agent for 2023, so it’s not like this was really much of a hint, even considering the timing of the tweets and their closeness to Kaulig Racing Fan Day. Plus, the announcement which had long been planned as a part of “Kaulig Racing Fan Day” was simply classified as a ” 2023 Cup driver announcement”.

The irony of Busch leaving that comment is that, like Allmendinger’s, Busch’s new deal with Richard Childress Racing was revealed several days before the announcement was actually made. In fact, when the news broke of the biggest NASCAR free agency signing in a decade and a half, Busch had said that it wasn’t even a “done deal” yet.

Interestingly, Busch himself had been linked to Kaulig Racing, with many once pegging the Matt Kaulig-owned team as the favorite to land the two-time champion. In fact, one report even said that a deal had been signed and that Kaulig Racing had acquired Kyle Busch Motorsports.

That obviously didn’t happen, yet Busch’s real news still ended up being leaked early, which is practically the norm in this day and age.

Fortunately for Smith, he got to break his own news, and considering how rare that is anymore, it might have left his current boss feeling a little bit jealous — in a friendly way, of course.

Kyle Busch Motorsports themselves will likely switch to Chevrolet, with Busch ending a 15-year relationship with Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota to reunite with his former manufacturer. As for Smith, he had been a Toyota Racing Development driver since 2018, so his departure marks yet another loss for Toyota this silly season.