Kyle Busch apparently was set to follow in his brother’s footsteps and complete the Memorial Day double in 2017, but one of the people he answers to wouldn’t allow it.
Busch revealed Saturday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway that he had a ride lined up for the 2017 Indianapolis 500, but he also has “a boss that said no,” according to USA TODAY. He wouldn’t specify which boss it was, however.
Kyle’s older brother, Kurt, was the last NASCAR driver to run in both the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 in the same day in 2014.
“I had it done last year, sold and everything ready to go, and I’ve got a boss that said no,” Busch said. “Figure it out. I’ve got two bosses — one’s a male and one’s a female. I thought that I had a great opportunity to do it.”
The reason his boss stepped in and pulled the plug reportedly is his lack of open-wheel experience. Kurt, unlike his brother, had completed several tests prior to his Indy 500 bid.
“I think the biggest thing that scares my boss is that I’ve never driven those cars and so I don’t know …” Busch said, “you know, a Cup car or a Xfinity car or a truck or something like that, like I know what to feel and how to feel and when something bad starts to happen, I can straighten it out.”
Although Kyle’s female boss — aka his wife, Samantha — admittedly could have reservation about him attempting to drive such an unfamiliar car, Joe Gibbs likely was the person he was talking about. Busch is extremely valuable to Joe Gibbs Racing, and given that Gibbs signs Busch’s paychecks, he easily could’ve had the final say.
The 32-year-old Busch joked that he was relieved he didn’t run at Indy, as Fernando Alonso stole the spotlight at this year’s race.
Thumbnail photo via Jasen Vinlove/USA TODAY Images
