Kurt Busch, a former NASCAR Champion and still a great driver is going to have a big decision to make at the end of the 2021 season. Busch currently drives for Chip Ganassi Racing in the #1 car. Busch also serves the team as somewhat of a veteran leader for the younger Ross Chastain to help him grow and develop as a driver.
Last month, rumors of Kurt Busch switching over to Toyota and driving for 23XI started to gain traction and pick up steam. This got a lot of people talking about whether Kurt should stay or leave. There are pros and cons to each of these choices. For starters Kurt is far and away the better driver at CGR and is out driving his equipment. Kurt also seems to be enjoying his time on the team and they seem to enjoy having Busch on their team, but they have not openly at least given Busch an extension. The pros of 23XI seem to be better than the pros of staying where he is. While 23XI is not super competitive right now, Hamlin and Jordan seem to be pushing to make their team more competitive and have higher standards as a team overall. This could push Kurt back into a driver who we see inside the top 5 again with the next gen cars coming next year. This could reignite Kurts competitive spirit as his career winds down.
The only real big con for Kurt leaving is leaving Ross and not having a replacement for him when he leaves. This is less of a con for Kurt then it is for his team because it has shown that having Kurt to bounce data and tips off of has been crucial for improving as a driver and it is finally starting to show in the stats and race finishes.
Kurt Busch is going into next season as one of the bigger name free agents and is already rumored with one of the teams that is looking to compete for titles in the future. This could be a huge year as his career winds down and comes to an end and this move could mean a lot for how it ends.
The Slow Restart 