Another NASCAR champion to compete in the Indy 500?

Kyle Busch has done almost everything there is to do in NASCAR. He has won two Cup Series championships and an Xfinity Series championship and is the winningest driver in the Truck Series, the Xfinity Series, and across all three NASCAR national series. From 2010 to 2023, all of his Truck Series wins came with his own team, Kyle Busch Motorsports.

Aside from NASCAR, Busch has competed in late model stock car racing, winning the Snowball Derby, a historic late model racing event, in 2009. Outside of stock cars, Busch has also competed in events such as the 24 Hours of Daytona and in Rallycross races for Nitro Rallycross, a series hosted by Travis Pastrana.

Busch's racing resume is one for the ages, but the one car Rowdy hasn't been able to pilot is an open-wheel car. While Busch reportedly had an opportunity to join Formula 1 in 2009, it never came to fruition.

Busch has also not been shy about his desire to compete in the Indy 500, and he even had an offer to compete in the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing" in 2017, only to have his then-NASCAR team owner Joe Gibbs prevent him from doing so.

Busch left Joe Gibbs Racing for Richard Childress Racing in 2022, and it seems his current owner is more open to the idea of having him compete in the Indy 500.

When asked about having Busch compete in the 500, Childress had the following to say.

"The right opportunities, the right team, the right situation, we would do it and I’m sure Kyle would do it."

- Richard Childress

Aside from Childress' approval, the Las Vegas, Nevada native has a clause in his contract allowing him to do it, as long as he is in a Chevrolet.

Arrow McLaren were reportedly interested in Busch before signing Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson to compete in this year's (and reportedly next year's) Indy 500, so it should be noted that Busch is already on the IndyCar radar.

Though Busch is 39 years old and would be 40 years old by next year's race, his age shouldn't be a nail in the coffin. Jean Alesi raced in the 2012 Indy 500 at the age of 47, making him the oldest rookie in series history.

Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson became the second oldest Indy 500 rookie at the age of 46 in 2022. While neither driver finished the race, that should not discourage Busch.

Time will tell if Busch actually gets a chance to pilot an open-wheel car at the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Speedway, Indiana oval. But he already has one thing that he was never able to get in years past: approval from his team owner.