NASCAR: No timetable for return, Kyle Busch says

Kyle Busch made his first his first public appearance Wednesday since the heavy crash in Daytona's XFinity Series race that sidelined him with multiple leg fractures. In a media conference at Joe Gibbs Racing's headquarters, Busch said that he was pleased with the progress of his recovery and expressed hope he might be ready return to racing for NASCAR's return to Daytona in July, but emphasized that it wouldn't be up to him.

"First and foremost, I've got to please my doctors, and they say my recovery is going faster than they expected," Busch said. "They won't release me a timetable. It's week by week and what I can show them I can do."

Busch went through video of the incident with reporters (LEFT, photo courtesy of NASCAR), and accepted full blame for the multi-car wreck.

"From the beginning, the wreck was essentially all my fault," said Busch. "I was being greedy and trying to win the race." He called the 90G impact with a concrete wall "a whale of a hit, the hardest I've ever had in NASCAR."

Busch's injuries – and the fact the section of wall he struck was unprotected by tire barriers – set off intense focus on safety, with Daytona one of several tracks to upgrade its tire and SAFER Barriers in the aftermath of the incident. Busch admitted he was "disappointed" but declined to blame Daytona for the severity of his accident.

"I'm not going to say I'm happy the wall I hit was unprotected. I can't – that's just not being honest," Busch said. "Just disappointed that wall is not covered, but I am encouraged by the fact the racetracks have taken the steps they have taken to get that going and in the right direction for driver safety."

As soon as he gets medical clearance to drive, Busch plans to test one of Late Model team's cars. “I probably will do a couple of tests at least and see how it goes to determine my readiness for Cup,” he said.