Kurt Busch entered the Chevrolet simulator last Wednesday with a clear mind — and phone. When he exited, there were about 200 unread messages. Busch immediately knew something happened.
While he was turning laps on the virtual Road America, the Trackhouse Racing Team announced it purchased Busch‘s current team, Chip Ganassi Racing.
“It was a surprise to me,” Busch said Saturday after posting the fastest speed in the NASCAR Cup Series practice at Road America. “But all of us at Ganassi looked at each other and said, ‘We‘ve got a playoff berth right in front of us. Let‘s go get it, let‘s win, and let‘s push as hard as we can here, right now, in 2021.”
“We‘ve actually talked — (owner) Justin Marks and myself — about Trackhouse,” Busch said. “Now it‘s going to have a different name and branding, and I‘m familiar with everybody at Ganassi, so it changes the complexion of how we‘ve talked already and what we still need to talk about.”
Nothing in Busch‘s long-term future is confirmed yet. The 2004 champ does have a call in to FOX Sports, which is now down an analyst after Jeff Gordon‘s departure for a vice-chairman position at Hendrick Motorsports. Busch will be in the booth for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series playoffs this season and next, he confirmed.
— NASCAR.com —
