Kurt Busch, 23XI Racing deny Cup Series playoff waiver

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     23XI Racing and Kurt Busch informed NASCAR and the media on Thursday morning, August, 25th, 2022, that Kurt Busch would deny his Cup Series playoff waiver, and will not return to competition for the first race of the post-season. This scenario frees up one of the 16 playoff spots, and now leaves two open as the Cup Series hurdles into the final race of the regular season.

Kurt Busch was originally granted a waiver for the playoffs because the 44 year old driver had won a Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway, but suffered career pausing injuries during qualifying at Pocono Raceway. According to Kurt Busch and NASCAR’s medical professionals, following his impact in qualifying Busch has now suffered concussion-like symptoms.

Now as Kurt Busch continues to recover from his head trauma, he will also sit out for the first race of the playoffs at Bristol Motor Speedway. Kurt Busch will not attempt to hold on to his playoff waiver, though will instead open the spot up for another Cup Series contender.

This decision by Kurt Busch and the 23XI team vastly improves the playoff situation for many drivers, most notably his Toyota teammate Martin Truex Jr.. Coming out of the Michigan race weekend only one playoff spot remained open, and heavy contenders Ryan Blaney and Martin Truex Jr. were both trying to call it their own. Although neither driver won and snagged the spot, there were not any other new winners, therefore Blaney held the spot with a decent points lead over Truex. Now unless a new winner comes on Saturday (that isn’t Blaney or Truex) during the “Coke Zero Sugar” 400 at Daytona International Speedway, both Blaney and Truex will be able to sneak their way in on points or by a clutch victory. If a new winner does occur, whichever driver who has lesser points (currently Truex) will miss, and the driver with greater points (currently Blaney) will make it in.

Countless other drivers such as Erik Jones, Aric Almirola, Austin Dillon, Bubba Wallace, and more are on the outside looking in. Many of these drivers specialize in superspeedway racing, and could be in store for an upset win at Daytona.

Kurt Bush as he loses control of his No 45 McDonald's/Monster Energy Camry during a qualifying session at Ponoco Raceway. (Photo Credit: Tim Nwachukwu/ Getty Images

The incident that brings us to this situation is Kurt Busch’s qualifying wreck at Pocono. While footage a photos of the impact may make the incident look minor, medical professional’s report that the G-Forces inside of Busch’s No. 45 were exceedingly high. NASCAR fans and media members alike believe the Next Gen car may be to blame. NASCAR’s Next Gen car is designed to look more like a street car, drive more like a sports car, and be more cost effective to teams… more or less evening the playing field. One way that the Next Gen car is made more cost effective is it’s sturdiness. With composite bodies, and rigid chassis, these race cars can sustain impacts and brush ups with minor consequences to performance. Crush zones that were once prevalent in the Generation Seven car, are no longer substantial. In Kurt Busch’s instance this became an issue. 

Kurt Busch made contact with the wall, and his race car took very little impact. While the car may have been scratched up, and visibly damaged, the car was relatively unscathed and still sturdy. It is speculated that much of the impact was taken by Kurt Busch himself, which led to his head trauma and concussion-like symptoms.

NASCAR is well aware of these issue, and reportedly is attempting to solve it. Unfortunately, from my perspective I find that it will be a difficult issue to fix as NASCAR will have to find common ground between safety and sturdiness. A handful of other drivers have reported similar issues during hard impacts they sustained, but none quite as serious as Kurt Busch. Now, NASCAR will see this incessant continue to shape the 2022 season.