24H Le Mans Bid “On the Radar” for Kyle Busch

Photo: Lexus Racing/Sideline Sports Photography

Kyle Busch revealed that competing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans has been “on the radar” although scheduling conflicts will prevent the NASCAR star from taking part in this year’s French endurance classic.

The two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, who is making his Rolex 24 at Daytona debut in an AIM Vasser Sullivan-run Lexus RC F GT3 later this month, told reporters during last weekend’s Roar Before the 24 that he’s had thoughts on contesting the race.

However, a clash with the Cup Series round at Sonoma Raceway has prevented that from happening this year, following a change in the NASCAR schedule for 2020 that has removed an off-weekend that had coincided with Le Mans in recent years.

Kyle’s brother, Chip Ganassi Racing NASCAR driver Kurt Busch, visited Le Mans in 2019, sparking rumors of a potential Monster Energy-sponsored, CGR-run Ford GT entry in the future.

“Trying to do Le Mans was kind of on the radar,” Kyle Busch said. “But there’s too many driver restrictions and now schedule restrictions that I can’t go run that [this year].

“It’s very complicated. I don’t understand why things have to be so complicated.”

When asked if he would be open to sports car racing classes, Busch indicated it would likely be dependent on future programs by Lexus or Toyota. 

“It certainly would be nice,” he said. “I’d love to give anything a shot at least once or twice. Where Lexus is and my relationship with Toyota, obviously, [the Rolex 24] was kind of the first step with that.

“What happens after this, whether or not they stay in GTD or go to GTLM or maybe they go to a DPi car, who knows what the future holds.

“They’ve got a huge program at Le Mans that seems to be pretty dominant these days and those cars aren’t even close to what the DPis are. 

“If there’s somewhere where they can maybe fit that in to where a Toyota ‘Lexus’ would be in DPi, certainly that would open some doors up.

“You never know, we’ll see what happens.”

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John