Kurt Busch says he's retiring from full-time racing
Kurt Busch, still trying to work his way through the concussion he suffered three months ago and advised by doctors to get out of a race car, will not compete fulltime in 2023.
The 44-year-old NASCAR champion made his announcement Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, his home track and where he launched his career on the bullring as a child. He choked up when he said doctors told him “it is best for me to `shut it down.'”
“I know I am not 100% in my ability to go out and race at the top level in the NASCAR Cup Series,” Busch said. “These are the best of the best drivers, and lately, I haven't felt my best. My long-term health is priority number one and I don't feel committing at this point to compete for a championship next year is in my best interest or the best interest of the team.”
Tyler Reddick will replace Busch in the No. 45 Toyota at 23XI Racing next season. Reddick was signed to the team for 2024 but is no longer needed to complete his contract at Richard Childress Racing because RCR signed Kyle Busch, Kurt's younger brother and a twotime Cup champion, for next season.
“I will get back to 100%, I promise,” Busch said. “If I'm cleared, maybe you'll see me at a few select races” next season.
Reddick wins Cup pole for Las Vegas race
Tyler Reddick is determined to close his tenure at
Richard Childress Racing on a high note, and hours after announcing he'll drive for 23XI Racing next season, won the pole at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Reddick, who said his Chevrolet was subpar in Saturday morning practice, rebounded for an electric lap at 184.603 mph to earn the top starting spot for the opening race of the third round of NASCAR's playoffs.
It is the third pole of the season for Reddick, who also has three Cup wins but was eliminated from the playoffs in the opening round. He announced in July that he was moving to 23XI Racing in 2024 when his RCR contract ended, and team owner Richard Childress remained adamant that Reddick would be in one of his Chevrolets next season.
But RCR has since signed Kyle Busch and no longer needs Reddick to fulfill his contract. Kurt Busch, meanwhile, announced Saturday that the concussion he suffered in July has forced him to step away from full time racing — opening the No. 45 Toyota for Reddick to move into a year early.
“I'm really excited about next year, but there's still a number of races left this year and I'm going to continue to remain focused and do everything I can for my team,” Reddick said.
Austin Cindric, who was eliminated from the playoffs last week, qualified second for today's race in a Ford from Team Penske. He was 0.05 seconds slower.
Playoff drivers took the next three spots with William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports qualifying third in a Chevrolet, followed by Penske
drivers Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano.
Christopher Bell, who won at Charlotte last Sunday to advance into the third round of the playoffs, qualified seventh in a Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. Ross Chastain of Trackhouse Racing was 11th, Chase Briscoe of Stewart-Haas Racing qualified 16th, Chase Elliott of Hendrick was 20th and Denny Hamlin of JGR will start 31st, lowest of the eight remaining playoff drivers.
Berry wins spot in Xfinity title race
Josh Berry became the first driver to take a spot in the Xfinity Series championship race, leading a 1-2-3 finish for JR Motorsports on Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Berry's win in the opening race of the third round of the playoffs guarantees his Chevrolet will run for the Xfinity title next month in the finale at Phoenix. There are three spots still open with races at HomesteadMiami Speedway and Martinsville Speedway remaining to determine the championship four.
“We've had a tough couple weeks, couple months, but we knew that we could do this if we were at our best,” said Berry, who led 65 laps in winning for the third time this season but first since May at Charlotte.
“I can't even put into words what this means. When we sat down at the beginning of this year, we knew this was going to be an opportunity for me. My goal is to make the championship four. I think if you do that, it's a successful year, and I can't believe we came here, locked ourselves in.”
It was the 499th victory for Chevrolet in the Xfinity Series.
Noah Gragson finished second at his home track and Justin Allgaier was third.
AJ Allmendinger, winner of the last two Xfinity Series races, the regularseason champion and polesitter at Las Vegas, had to make a late pit stop for two loose wheels. It dropped Allmendinger two laps off the pace, he finished 22nd and is now below the cutline to advance into the championship finale.