During his first formal media availability in two months, 23XI Racing’s Kurt Busch said he was “hopeful” that he’ll be able to race again in 2022.
The 44-year-old Busch has missed the last 10 NASCAR Cup Series races after he suffered a concussion when his No. 45 Toyota backed into the fronstretch wall during qualifying at Pocono Raceway on July 23.
Since then, Busch has been replaced in the car by Xfinity Series driver Ty Gibbs.
Busch made his comments Tuesday during Breast Cancer Awareness Month activities at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
“I don’t know when I’ll be back, but time has been the challenge,” said Busch, the second oldest active Cup driver behind Kevin Harvick. “Father Time is the one in charge on this one.”
Kurt today pic.twitter.com/giNdXb2pqN
— Jenna Fryer (@JennaFryer) September 27, 2022
With six races left in the season, Busch sits idle at 776 career NASCAR Cup starts.
“I feel hopeful,” Busch said. “I know I have more doctor visits and distance to go, and I keep pushing each week,” Busch said. “And TPC, Toyota Performance Center, has been a group of angels with the workouts and the vestibular workouts (balance), different nutrition as well and different supplements and things to help everything rebalance with my vision, my hearing. Just my overall balance in general.”
According to the Associated Press, Busch said his vision in one eye was close to 20/20, while his other has been slow to recover.
Busch said he didn’t know why his crash at Pocono resulted in such a serious concussion.
“Each situation is different. It’s similar to a breast cancer survivor. Not every story is the same, not every injury is the same,” Busch said. “It’s not like a broken arm and then you get the cast taken off and can go bench press 300 pounds. It’s a process. I don’t know what journey I’m on, but I’m going to keep pushing.”
Last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, Busch’s team co-owner, Denny Hamlin, said Busch’s next medical update wasn’t expected until the first week in October. That would come after this weekend’s playoff race at Talladega Superspeedway.
“He’s fully embedded in the team trying to help these young guys (Gibbs and Bubba Wallace) that we got continue to be better,” Hamlin said. “Honestly, a lot of the growth in Bubba is because he’s got Kurt in his ear quite a bit through every practice, every qualifying and every race. He’s that valuable part of the organization that we said he always would be.”