Kurt Busch highlights the leadership issue that’s ‘hurting’ NASCAR
Kurt Busch announced his retirement from the Cup series, ending his career that lasted over two decades.
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Kurt Busch (Via IMAGO)
2004 Cup series champion Kurt Busch believes the presence of a little bit too many individuals at the top of the NASCAR hierarchy making critical decisions. He feels a void at the top needs to be filled by someone with an iron fist who can make the ultimate call. NASCAR was built into what it is by Jim France Senior and Junior, who had the ultimate control over the sport.
The 23XI Racing CFO thinks that the sport needs people at the top who can make the final call when necessary. He believes despite the France family still having a significant role in the day-to-day running of the sport, the board of directors and certain committees have a huge role in decision-making as well, which sometimes hurts the sport.
“Now what I see with NASCAR, there is the France family, but there’s such a board of directors and others and all these categories and all these things going on that it’s a committee, and it hurts itself sometimes. There still needs to be that one go-to like; we’re going in this direction type of person. That’s what I’d like to see with our sport,” Busch said via Kenny Wallace conversation.
For a sport like NASCAR, as Busch suggested, having that one figure whose decision will be respected and acknowledged by everyone around the sport regardless of whether it is against or in their favor is essential. This will help maintain consistency, reduce the speed of decision-making, and make it more efficient. But not having the right person at the top might backfire as well.
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Kurt Busch insists that NASCAR is still the big boy to IndyCar in the US
Busch discussed with Kenny Wallace about the long-lasting fight between IndyCar and NASCAR about being the big dog in the US Motorsports scene. He pointed out that in NASCAR, about 25 teams have a shot at winning the race, while in IndyCar, it’s about the top teams. He also pointed out that despite NASCAR not having the Indy 500-type race attendance, on average, attendance at NASCAR is better.
“There’s 25 teams that show up over here with a chance to win; IndyCar doesn’t have that many. Our budget is probably six times the amount of money per car as an IndyCar…We go and travel 36 races, and we’ve got minimum 70,000 people that are at our events every week,” he said.
There will be a NASCAR and IndyCar crossover this year, with 2021 Cup champion Kyle Larson being the bridge. He is set to drive in the Indy 500 for Arrow McLaren with help from his team, Hendrick Motorsports. He will drive in the Coco-Cola 600 and Indy 500 the same week. Bush is the last NASCAR driver to have pulled off double duty.
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Justin P Joy
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