INDIANAPOLIS — Kyle Busch said he had a deal in place to run in this year’s Indianapolis 500 before he was denied by “a boss that said no.’’
“I had it done … sold and everything, ready to go and I’ve got a boss that said no,’’ Busch said Friday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, referencing Cup car owner Joe Gibbs.
“I thought I had a great opportunity,” Busch said. “I’m kind glad it didn’t come together because (Fernando) Alonso kind of stole the headlines. There may be more in the future of guys coming over to run that race. I may have to split the limelight, if you will, with somebody else that wants to do that race.’’
Alonso skipped Formula One’s Monaco Grand Prix to compete in this year’s Indianapolis 500. Alonso won rookie of the year honors for the 500.
Busch still would like to run the race.
“It would be a unique opportunity,’’ he said.“I think the biggest thing that scares my boss is that I’ve never driven those cars. A Cup car, or an Xfinity car, a truck or something like that, I know what to feel. When something bad starts to happen, I can straighten it out, or normally I can try to fix it. So I think that’s probably the biggest fear is just not knowing what those cars do when you get in a bad situation.’’
The only drivers to run in both the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 in the same day are: John Andretti (1994), Tony Stewart (1999, 2001 ), Robby Gordon (2000 and 2002-04) and Kurt Busch (2014).
Kurt Busch was selected rookie of the year for the 2014 race.