Busch still basking in NASCAR Hall of Fame induction

Kurt Busch officially went into the NASCAR Hall of Fame on January 23, 2026. For Busch, who was the 2004 NASCAR Cup Series champion, as well as the 2017 Daytona 500 winner, the honor meant everything. From 776 Cup Series starts, Busch won 34 races and placed in the top 10 339 times.

“To be inducted into NASCAR’s Hall of Fame and to achieve that highest honor, it’s just amazing," he said. "This blue collar kid from Las Vegas made it in. I just worked hard. I had this dream to try and make it and, man, it all turned out! To be able to drive competitively and share the track with all those legends for 20 years was amazing. I’m still riding high of going into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. 

“Everybody has their own story and everybody has to blaze their own trail. For me, coming out of Las Vegas, the key ingredient was the work ethic that my parents instilled in me. My dad taught me that I had to work on my own racing stuff first before I could drive. That enabled me to bounce around and to go to different race shops in Vegas. Whether it was a Late Model or Hobby Stock or Modified or even a Legend car, I was just working on people’s stuff and then I’d help them shake it down at the racetracks. That’s really how it all started.

"To be on the track with the pioneers that helped start NASCAR, and then to be there with the boom of the 1990s, and watching the sport go through the roof TV-wise and with corporate sponsors and everything like that was just awesome. A guy named Jeff Gordon opened up the door for a lot of young guys and us West Coasters to be looked at and to get a shot at it. I hit the timing really well. I think another key ingredient was Las Vegas Motor Speedway. When the built that track it out a lot of eyeballs on the city of Las Vegas and the racing scene there.

“The amount of people that reached out to me and actually came to the ceremony was amazing. It was such a fun process and again, I’m very blessed to race for so many good teams and to have met so many quality people. Even today, I got a handwritten letter from the NASCAR president in my mailbox. He was congratulating me on my journey and how I made a lasting impact on the sport. Where my lasting impact can help young drivers is that if you have that true grit and that determination and that work ethic, you don’t have to have a lot of money. You can go after it if you just really pour your soul into it. I think my story will resonate with a lot of kids coming up these days.”

Then and now, Busch has displayed an unabashed love for the sport. 

“My dad was a big time fan of the sport and he’s an intelligent person around cars,” said Busch. “When we made it to the big time, one of his best friends that he made away was Leonard Wood and the Wood Brothers. Those are those old school boys who will outwork you and outrace you, as well. So it’s been fun to see it all come full circle. My brother Kyle, I’m so proud of him. He basically doubled all of my stats. He’s got so many wins in Trucks and Xfinity and Cup. I mean, who would have thought that we would be able to do all of this over the last 20 years? It was fantastic for Kyle to be my ring presenter and to enshrine me into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. I couldn’t have picked a better person. I’m so happy to have shared the racetrack with him. Early on, it was definitely a sibling rivalry between us. We were at each other like oil and water. However, later in or careers, we really helped each other out on the track to benefit each other.

“The way that I wanted to be remembered, and some of the things that I’ve spoken about since the Hall of Fame is about the fans. I wanted the fans, no matter where we were racing, whether it was in New Hampshire or down in Florida or in the desert southwest where I’m from, to know I was going to show up and race hard and race for a top 10 and race for a win each and every week. That’s something I wanted to give to my fans. I wanted them to know that I was there pushing, and not riding at all. We went there to grab that trophy each week. I can hang my hat proudly on that.

"The fan support over the years, it was really a nice about face. I rubbed a few people wrong early in my career, but that’s part of rivalries in NASCAR. I came in and I was beating all of the race fans’ favorite drivers that they had in the 1990s and early 2000s. Then my core group developed and rooted for me.

"I’ll tell you a fun story. At the end of my career I was at a Walmart signing autographs for Monster Energy and this eight year-old kid comes up with all the Monster gear on. He was all swagged out. He said to me, ‘I’ve been a fan of you my whole life!’ I asked him how old he was and he said, ‘I’m eight!’ I went through three generations of fans.”

Next stop for Kurt Busch: Daytona International Speedway. 

“I just got an invite from the NASCAR brass to come to the Daytona 500,” said Busch. “So I’ll be participating in pre-race activities. I’m going to the track once a quarter. Just enough to still be around. I’ll give a high five to Bubba Wallace or Tyler Reddick or Riley Herbst. I’ll be at Phoenix for the IndyCar and NASCAR doubleheader in March. I’ll also be doing different motorsports appearances. Just having some fun. I’ll also be helping with 23XI Racing.”

Busch has been keeping himself busy with the International Race of Champions, as well as a host of motor racing activities. 

“The IROC group and what Ray Evernham has done to get everybody back together is excellent,” Busch said. “There are going to be two historical races this year. One is going to be at Charlotte at the Ten Tenths Motor Club, and then back to Laguna Seca in the summer with everyone out there. I mean Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte, Mark Martin, Ken Shrader, and one of my favorites, Scott Pruett. It’s really cool to run elbows with the gang in IROC. When I was able to win an IROC championship back in the day, it puts you in a cool fraternity.

“I’ve also been watching my little nephew, Brexton Busch. I mean, he on the gas and he’s going to be in his first Late Model race later on this summer. The kid is not even 11 years old yet and he’s jumping in a big-time car. He’s been amazing to watch and I’m so very proud of him. One key thing Brexton is applying with his racecraft is that he brings the car home without a scratch on it. That’s that racer sense that he’s got inside him he definitely has that swagger. The amount of laps he has as a 10 year old is more than I had as an 18 year old. He’s doing really well.”

Busch’s take on the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series field?

“I’d like to see 23XI Racing rebound a little bit,” he said. “Tyler Reddick didn’t win last year, but he had some good consistency. Bubba wining Indianapolis, that was huge. But we all want more, right? And Riley Herbst is now past his rookie year. So we want to see him cracking into those top 10 finishes here and there and improving at all the different tracks.”