Menu
Kyle Busch spelled out his retirement “Dream” on “Cars and Culture with Jason Stean” on Sirius XM Business Channel 132. That plan involved Busch retiring from the Cup Series when his son, Brexton, turns 15, and running one full-time Truck Series season to become the first driver to win a championship in all three national touring series. After that, Busch would split a truck with Brexton for two seasons before Brexton takes over full-time at the age of 18.
The plan is…elaborate and potentially even a bit idealistic. Kyle Busch even started the description by saying, “In a perfect world”, this is the scenario he wants to play out. However, which questions did Busch keep unanswered when explaining his retirement plan?
This is an incredibly detailed plan for years down the road. Brexton does not turn 15 until May 18, 2030. That gives Kyle seven or eight more seasons after 2023 before his Cup career is up. It also gives him three seasons after that before he ends his career as a driver entirely, so, this is a plan for a decade down the road.
That’s a long time, and a lot can happen between now and then. Busch said he would retire from Xfinity competition after he won 100 races, and, sure enough, he has come out of retirement to run a couple of Xfinity Series races this year. Things can always change and quickly.
Who knows if Brexton will even want to keep pursuing racing in a few years? It’s entire plausible Brexton will want to keep doing this as he gets older, but a lot can change. Maybe even Kyle will want to race longer, so, will this plan even be realistic in a few years.
Kyle Busch Motorsports seems to have some sort of a purpose for Kyle Busch for at least the next decade or so, but what about beyond? If Brexton finds a way up the NASCAR ladder into the Xfinity and eventually the Cup Series, then what does Kyle do with his race team?
It’s entirely possible that Busch keeps his race team operating, but will he? He has other business ventures with brands such as Rowdy Energy. Does Busch want to do other things aside from owning a NASCAR team?
If Busch keeps his race team operating, then does he want to stay in the Truck Series, or does he want to go bigger. He has expanded beyond the Truck Series before, but the results were not great. In 2012, Kyle Busch Motorsports expanded to include a full-time Xfinity Series operation.
The first year was split between Kyle and Kurt Busch. Kyle went winless for the first time since 2003 in the Xfinity Series, a season where he only ran seven races. Kurt got the team’s only win at Richmond. In 2013, Parker Kligerman joined the team full-time, and he failed to win a race despite finishing ninth in the points standings.
Does Kyle want to take another crack at Xfinity? Does he want to go to Cup? When he retires, it is increasingly more likely that he could find a way into the higher series if he so chooses.
In January of 2021, Kyle Busch had to close down his super late model team. However, he has run super late model races before. He won the Slinger Nationals in 2011 and the Snowball Derby in 2009 and 2017.
He does not race in late models as much as he used to, but, once he retires from NASCAR, he may have another chance to start that up again. If Kyle is not ready for a jump up to the Cup Series with his team quite yet, maybe late models are the start for him.
Talk about a question that is impossible to answer. Will the SRX even be around in 10 years? It has been an interesting place for guys like Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman, Greg Biffle, and others to scratch that racing itch.
Busch intends to compete in the SRX this season for two races, so could the SRX continue to scratch that racing itch. It would be far from the only thing Kyle would do to fill his schedule, but it is something he could do.
A lot can happen between now and 10 years from now. Who knows if Kyle Busch’s master plan actually works out. It will be interesting to see how everything plays out.
