Why Has Kyle Busch Not Followed Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch Into the INDY500?

Over the years, a handful of names from NASCAR, such as Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart, have tried their hand at the ‘Double Duty’, something Kyle Larson is all set for in the coming season. But there’s one other Kyle, Kyle Busch, who could, and many would argue, should try his luck at the INDY500 as well. And it’s not like he isn’t interested either.

Earlier this year on Cars and Culture by Jason Stein, Busch was asked whether running in the INDY500 appeals to him. “Absolutely, it definitely does,” he replied and further described why it hasn’t worked out for him yet.

“I’ve tried for years to get a ride and get over there and go do it but every time that I’ve talked to guys, different team owners and such, it would be a third entry or a fourth entry or something like that where it would not be a primary ride. So it would be there, lesser people or they’ll have to go out there and hire people to bring on for just one race, like how good are those people gonna be?”

Busch argued that under those circumstances, it wouldn’t be “a full-blown winning effort”, which is more or less the reason why his goal of running in that race hasn’t come to fruition yet. “I haven’t been able to find that top-ride opportunity, to be able to kind of jump in something and win. But you never know what’ll happen down the road,” he continued.

“I’m only getting older so that’s not going well for me, but I’d love to go.”

What Jimmie Johnson told Kyle Busch about NASCAR vs. INDYCAR

Many were left surprised when Jimmie Johnson, having retired from full-time NASCAR as a 7x Cup champion, decided to run in the INDYCAR Series as a full-timer. But one can imagine that no one was more surprised than Johnson himself considering what he told Kyle Busch about the single-seater machines versus the stock cars of NASCAR.

Busch revealed that he and Johnson spoke about INDYCAR “a little bit.” He claimed, “He basically said, what we race every weekend are boats, and that’s a real car. It’s a purpose-built racecar. It’ll do things. It’ll do things whatever you want it to do. It’s about how hard you push it to the limit.”

It goes without saying that many of Busch’s fans would be aching to see their favorite driver push one of those racecars to the limit and achieve what neither Johnson, Stewart, nor Busch’s brother has achieved.

But then again, that’s something that may or may not happen for Kyle Busch considering his age, and as he mentioned, a proper program with the potential to win.