NASCAR: Kurt Busch out at 23XI Racing for 2023?

Does Tyler Reddick’s impending arrival at 23XI Racing for the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season mean that Kurt Busch won’t be back?

Kurt Busch hasn’t been behind the wheel of a NASCAR Cup Series car since Saturday, July 23, when he was involved in a single-car qualifying wreck at Pocono Raceway. It was announced the following day that he would not be competing in the race as a result of the concussion-like symptoms he had suffered following the wreck.

Skip ahead more than two and a half months, and Busch is set to miss his 13th consecutive start this Sunday afternoon at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Just three races will remain on the 2022 schedule following this race.

There has long been speculation that at 44 years old, the 23XI Racing driver could opt to hang it up instead of trying to return, putting a focus on his long-term health after a career with which he has long said he is beyond satisfied.

Team co-owner Denny Hamlin has also long said that it is truly Busch’s decision to make and that he won’t rush him when it comes to making that decision. The Las Vegas, Nevada native does have a contract that runs through 2023, and that deal also contains an option for 2024.

However, a recent development has cast an element of doubt on Busch returning for the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season.

According to Lee Spencer, Tyler Reddick has reportedly had his contract bought out by Richard Childress Racing, and he is set to join 23XI Racing a year early in 2023.

Reddick had signed with 23XI Racing for 2024 after it was announced over the summer that Richard Childress Racing had picked up an option in his contract for the 2023 season.

It was never a secret that team owner Richard Childress was not pleased with how the whole Reddick to 23XI Racing deal went down, although all parties involved maintained that Reddick would be back with the team to fulfill the remainder of his contract next year.

Then came the rumor that Richard Childress Racing was the most likely landing spot for Kyle Busch, with Busch and Joe Gibbs Racing unable to reach a new deal for next year following the departure of longtime primary sponsor M&M’s.

Literally right before Busch’s new deal was announced, Childress informed Reddick that he wouldn’t be back behind the wheel of the #8 Chevrolet next year.

Childress did say that the team had added a third charter to keep Reddick for 2023, but no further details were revealed, most notably from where they had secured this alleged third charter.

Given the team owner’s tone when asked about why he had selected this route as opposed to a contract buyout, many believed that the story wasn’t completely over and that Reddick leaving the team a year early wasn’t out of the question.

Plus, with Reddick set to leave Richard Childress Racing anyway, would the team really acquire a third charter for just one season, or did they have a long-term plan to expand to three cars?

Now Reddick leaving the Chevrolet team a year early apparently a reality. But does that mean Busch’s time in the NASCAR Cup Series is up?

It is entirely possible that Reddick is joining 23XI Racing in a third car, even if that third car doesn’t have a charter. It had been reported that 23XI Racing were looking for a third charter, but nothing beyond that was ever revealed. Full-time entries have been run without charters before, and by teams with fewer resources than the Hamlin and Michael Jordan-owned organization.

However, it is also entirely possible that he is joining the team as Busch’s replacement behind the wheel of the #45 Toyota.

But Hamlin had stated that the team had a contingency plan in place that did not include Reddick, in the event that Busch decided not to return for 2023.

It was widely speculated that John Hunter Nemechek, who was the team’s original emergency driver for 2023 before they called upon Ty Gibbs to fill in for Busch, was the subject of that contingency plan.

Regardless, Reddick joining 23XI Racing for 2023 all but eliminates the possibility of Nemechek landing a seat there next year. However, if Busch returns in 2023 and Reddick joins in a third car, perhaps Nemechek replacing Busch is a possibility for 2024.