By Holly Cain and Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service
After a year that can be described conservatively as tumultuous, two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch is ready to take the next step in his career.
Busch is leaving Joe Gibbs Racing, where he spent 15 full seasons, to drive a Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing.
“It’s obviously been a challenging… not just this year, but the last little while… so it’s kind of maybe a blessing in disguise,” said Busch, who explored various options for 2023 after his sponsor, M&M’s, declined to return to the No. 18 JGR Toyota after this year. “Honestly, it just might be time for a fresh start—something new and something different.
“I’m kind of looking at it as the Tom Brady/Peyton Manning aspect, where they left great teams, great organizations where they won championships, and they went on to win championships somewhere else.”
Busch arrived at his Champion’s Week question-and-answer session at the Music City Center wearing the championship rings he won in 2015 and 2019, one on each hand.
“If you’ve got it, you might as well wear it,” Busch said. “You’re not going to wear it getting into a race car, so you might as well wear it at the functions where you can show people what they’re going after…
“Again, I’m going to go back to the Brady/Manning theory where, yes, I’ve done it before at one place. I want to do it again somewhere else.”
