When Kyle Busch announced he will be driving the #8 for Richard Childress Racing, the NASCAR Cup Series champion expressed an interest in racing the Indianapolis 500. Thanks to him moving over to Chevrolet, Busch said it’s in his RCR contract that he can race at Indy with a Chevy IndyCar team and put out a call saying, “By all means, any IndyCar teams that are Chevrolet, call me up.”
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Arrow McLaren SP principal stockholder Sam Schmidt is down with the idea of bringing in Busch to potentially race in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” Schmidt told the news outlet, “I’d love to figure out a way to get him on my team — do you have his number?”
Arrow McLaren is a top team in IndyCar. In this year’s Indy 500, the team finished 2nd and 4th with full-time drivers Pato O’Ward and Felix Rosenqvist and 11th with Juan Pablo Montoya, who was racing in a limited schedule. Schmidt is looking at it from a perspective where Busch racing the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 in the same day will not only benefit his team but benefit both series, while noting that given Kurt’s 6th place finish in 2014, Kyle can potentially win the race.
Schmidt said, “We saw how good his brother did, and I think it would be fantastic for IndyCar, the sport — we haven’t had a double for a while.”
On the business side, Lucas Oil is a sponsor for Arrow McLaren and RCR. In addition to being the stadium sponsor for the Indianapolis Colts, it’s possible that they could possibly be the company providing sponsorship for the car.
The planets will need to align before we see Kyle Busch racing in IndyCar. Who knows if it actually happens but if it does, it’ll be must-see TV.
About Phillip Bupp
Producer/editor of the Awful Announcing Podcast and Short and to the Point. News editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. Highlight consultant for Major League Soccer as well as a freelance writer for hire. Opinions are my own but feel free to agree with them.
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