Kurt Busch to compete in HSR 2026 NASCAR Classic at Le Mans

Kurt Busch will compete in the 2026 Historic Sportscar Racing (HSR) NASCAR Classic at Circuit de la Sarthe, near Le Mans, France. The event runs from July 2-5, and will celebrate 50 years since NASCAR’s first attempt in the 24-hour race.

Busch, who collected 34 victories throughout his NASCAR Cup Series career, including the 2017 Daytona 500 and the series championship in 2004, will drive the No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet in his HSR debut. The car, a former Chip Ganassi Racing chassis, was used when Busch won at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2020. Ganassi later gifted Busch the car as an additional trophy from the victory.

Since then, the car has received a fresh engine from Hendrick Motorsports and undergone a complete overhaul to prepare it for road-course competition rather than its original oval-track setup. The field is expected to include 40 entries.

“Having this opportunity to race at Le Mans is a dream come true,” Busch said. “There are only a few places in the world with the allure, prestige and pageantry of a motorsport venue like Le Mans. I’ve been fortunate to win the Daytona 500, compete in the Indianapolis 500, tour Nürburgring, experience Fuji Speedway, and now race at Le Mans. The kid racer in me gets to live out another dream.”

In preparation for the event, Busch participated in a shakedown session at Road Atlanta last month. Following the session, the car was loaded into a shipping container and transported to the Le Mans paddock ahead of the event.

The HSR NASCAR Classic will run over three days during the 2026 Le Mans Classic weekend. Serving as a support series.

“What makes this event even more special is that this is the 50th anniversary of NASCAR sending a car to compete at Le Mans,” said Busch. “This is a one-and-only opportunity to race on the historic track with my race-winning Monster Energy Chevrolet from Las Vegas in 2020.”