SPEEDWAY, Ind. – Kyle Busch acknowledged Saturday (July 30) that “concessions” would have to be made by him in his contract negotiations, including driving for “under my market value” for whichever team employs him in 2023.
During a media session Saturday (July 30) in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway garage, called the process of determining his NASCAR future a “mess” and said he’s had “a lot of sleepless nights,” but that his goal was to remain with Joe Gibbs Racing.
“I don’t think money has ever been the objective or ever been the issue,” Busch said. “Obviously, I know where the sports landscape is, I know what’s happening. The talk from my side was that I know there needs to be concessions made to race under my market value. I’ve accepted that and have told everybody that and just trying to see where all that lies.”
Busch said he feels “no more or less” confident this week about the possibility of staying with JGR, the team he’s raced for since 2008. Asked whether he had spoken to any new teams last weekend at Pocono Raceway, Busch said “Every week we’re talking with somebody.”
There’s been increasing speculation that Busch could land at Stewart-Haas Racing.
The four-car team is scheduled to lose one of its driver at the end of the year when Aric Almirola retires.
Kevin Harvick would embrace being teammates with Busch.
“He could rebuild a whole organization just based off his pure talent,” Harvick said. “I can tell you having a teammate like Kyle makes my car run faster. … I’m 100% open to having Kyle as a teammate.”
However, Harvick couched his comments by adding, “I have not heard one thing about it from my organization.”
Busch is the only active Cup driver with multiple championships. He has more than 200 wins across all three of NASCAR’s national series.
But Busch said he’s not asking for “the sky” in terms of salary.
“I’m willing to take concessions, I feel like the market is different than what it was years ago and willing to race for under my market value,” Busch said. “Whatever that comes to be, obviously it’s a negotiation.”
When asked if he’d be willing to sign a one-year deal for 2023, Busch said “anything’s on the table.”
“We’re talking (2023) options, we’re talking (2024) options,” Busch continued. “We’re talking long-term, everybody and everything. The white board is quite full.”
Busch was asked if he was surprised that as a…
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