By David Morgan, Associate Editor
INDIANAPOLIS – Another week has passed in the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season without Kyle Busch and Joe Gibbs Racing cementing a deal for him to stay put as the driver of the No. 18 Toyota next season.
And the two sides don’t seem to be any closer to an agreement than they have been in recent weeks.
Addressing the issue ahead of practice and qualifying Saturday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Busch noted that he has looked at the landscape of the sport and is willing to make concessions to race for less than what his market value may be, but without sponsorship to help make that a reality, it’s a non-starter at this point.
“Obviously, I know where the sports landscape is,” Busch said. “I know what’s happening. The talk from my side was that I know there needs to be concessions made to race for under my market value. I’ve accepted that and have told everybody that. Just trying to see where all that lies.
“I feel like the market is different than what it was years ago and willing to race for under my market value. So, whatever that comes to be, obviously it’s in negotiation and figuring out where I go and what the long term play is, what the short term play is. And you know, hopefully not being able to go through this again.”
As he continued on, Busch compared the situation he is in to teams in other sports having to release big name athletes due to lack of funding, but add in the additional layer of having to deal with the necessity of sponsorship in the motorsports world.
“It’s not as simple as being a basketball player and being a Michael Jordan or a LeBron James or something like that,” Busch said. “And being a really good player and the team losing a sponsor and then saying, okay, Michael, LeBron, you guys, we’ve got to let you go. Because we can’t afford you. You know what I mean?
“So, again, you have to have some sponsorship on that car and unfortunately right now there’s just not that unicorn. There’s not that big $20 million number out there. I’d like to be able to piece it together, but haven’t heard much on that yet either.”
He also noted that if seven-time champion Dale Earnhardt had been on the free agent market in the late 1990’s, his current situation would be akin to something like that.
“I hate to make comparisons, but somebody told me this a week or so ago. It would be like Dale Earnhardt in 1998, three or four years after…
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