LOUDON, NH (AP) — Joe Gibbs said he is surprised his eponymous race team has not yet signed two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch to a 2023 contract.
Busch faced an uncertain future after M&M Mars announced it would stop its marketing spending at the end of this season. The company has sponsored Busch since he joined Joe Gibbs Racing in 2008.
The search for a new sponsor drags on and Busch is clearly annoyed that he doesn’t have a new deal. Busch said on Saturday that a new contract “sooner rather than later would be nice”.
Busch gave no details, but said he has shopped himself with other teams, although championship-class rides are scarce.
“It’s been difficult,” Gibbs said at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday. “We’ve worked really hard to get things done. It is difficult. You have to put a lot in place for things to work. We work as hard as we can. We’re going in a number of different directions. So yeah, I’m surprised at this point that we didn’t manage to do that.”
The 37-year-old Busch has racked up 222 wins in NASCAR’s three national series and is the only active Cup driver with multiple championships. Busch has only had one win this season, finishing 12th Sunday in New Hampshire.
Joe Gibbs Racing president Dave Alpern had previously said he plans to have Busch back next year. David Wilson, president of Toyota Racing Development, said last week that the manufacturer was working “diligently and hand in hand” to keep Busch in the JGR fold.
“But honestly, it doesn’t matter how fast or late it’s done,” Busch said on Saturday. “Until there is an announcement that someone else is driving the 18 car, I feel like I still have a seat.”
JGR driver Christopher Bell won the race on Sunday to earn a spot in the NASCAR playoffs.
____
More AP car racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
