In the place where it all started, Kurt Busch is forced to announce his retirement from full time competition. The NASCAR world has been watching and waiting for updates from Kurt and his team since his wreck at Pocono. Announcements came through week by week initially, but as Kurt’s time away from the racetrack grew, the hope that he would return waned. Decisions for the races started coming in chunks after Kurt withdrew his medical waiver for the playoffs. Finally, as we enter the last month of racing, the announcement we started anticipating has been made official. In a scheduled press conference in Las Vegas, Kurt Busch read an emotional statement telling the NASCAR world that he will no longer be a full-time driver in the NASCAR Cup Series. Read his statement on Twitter here.
What led us to this point? Kurt’s announcement alluded to several factors but none were specified. He’s wrecked more than a few times, but none seemed to be as hard of an impact as Pocono this year, when he suffered a concussion with symptoms that are lingering still. The 44-year-old driver has been a strong competitor for over half his life, with a Daytona 500 win, a Cup series championship, and 34 victories under his belt while competing full-time. His last win came at the spring Kansas race, the same track that Bubba Wallace won at this fall, driving Busch’s car in an attempt to keep 23XI Racing in the race for the owner’s championship. Everyone expected Busch to be a strong competitor in the Playoffs this season, perhaps even capturing another Cup series championship. His essentially career-ending concussion crushed those hopes.
From previous comments, Busch referenced vestibular symptoms as the primary reason he was not cleared to return to competition yet. Vestibular symptoms include things like difficulty balancing, blurred vision, disorientation, nausea, anxiety, or changes in heart rhythm. These symptoms are common after a traumatic brain injury like the concussion he suffered. Traumatic brain injuries can also be caused by a compilation of multiple smaller injuries, though in his case, it’s plausible to consider that it’s a combination of repeated smaller injuries and the significant injury from the Pocono wreck that caused sufficient cumulative injury to Kurt’s brain to cause the lasting injuries.
Treatment for vestibular symptoms may include varying types of occupational therapy to address specific symptoms, surgery if there is a structural issue within the inner ear causing the symptoms, or diet and lifestyle changes. Kurt’s reported symptoms are primarily visual and heart rate related. A driver cannot be allowed behind the wheel of a Cup car (or any car, for that matter) when quick glances trigger increased heart rate, dizziness, and blurred vision. NASCAR racing is all about speed, so the quick movements required by a driver would be impossible to perform.
Chassis changes to the Next Gen car were announced in early October, to be put into place in 2023. In a change from typical procedure, NASCAR told teams that it would foot the bill for these changes. The primary factor for injury in the cases of both Kurt Busch and Alex Bowman was the rigidity of the rear of the car that caused the force of the impact to travel to the driver rather than be absorbed through the car. The stiff rear end was designed that way to protect the new transaxle with sequential shifting. The cost was the transfer of force to the driver due to lack of crumple zones. The changes proposed by NASCAR are specific to the rear bumper structure and its supports. Rear bumper struts will crumple better due to a change in thickness. Bars in the upper rear clip are being removed and lower rails are changing to angled compound mitered tubes from the current straight tubes. Other support bars and tubes will also be altered to give the rear of the car better crumple ability.
Photo source: twitter.com/bozitatrevic
Another question some fans may have is: who pays the earnings loss now that Kurt Busch is not able to race like he would have? Drivers are typically considered independent contractors and, in most circumstances, will be required to provide their own insurance coverage. Drivers with good advisors will have additional policies in place, including disability coverage that would provide a payout in this instance. Fortunately, Kurt has a strong relationship with his sponsors and his team and he has plenty of other income-producing options available to him. Some speculation has him coming into the booth as a commentator for one or more series. He has stated he plans to continue his partnership with Monster Energy as a brand ambassador and plans to support the 23XI Racing team in some capacity. He has worked as a commentator in the truck series to much acclaim, so fans would be excited to see him continue in the booth in the future.
Regardless of what the future holds, no one is happy to see a competitor go out of full time racing this way. Despite any comments or official statements to the contrary, fans will always blame the Next Gen car for forcing Kurt Busch to retire. Will this be the same story for Alex Bowman? Will the chassis changes (that won’t go in to effect until 2023 season) be enough to make the drivers relatively safe again? Unfortunately, we won’t know the answers to these questions until someone wrecks the same way Kurt Busch and Alex Bowman did this season.
