Kurt Busch announced Tuesday that he will drive the No. 1 for Chip Ganassi Racing in 2019, a move long expected. The Associated Press reported it is a one-year deal. Monster Energy is moving with Busch to Ganassi.
The announcement comes two days after the 2004 Cup champion announced he would not return to Stewart-Haas Racing after five seasons there.
“This is a tremendous opportunity to go out and win races and have a shot at the championship,” Busch said in a conference call with reporters Tuesday. The 40-year-old replaces Jamie McMurray in the No. 1 car with Ganassi’s team. Busch has won at least one race in 15 Cup seasons. He has 30 career Cup victories.
“It’s not oftentimes that a NASCAR champion, a Daytona 500 winner becomes available and I think when you got a guy that is a racer like Kurt ... I think somebody like that comes along, you’ve got to take a serious look at him,” car owner Chip Ganassi said on the conference call Tuesday. “It didn’t take me long to say yes when he became available.”
Busch said he has considered that 2019 could be his last season in Cup.
“For me, I know right now I’m all in, no matter what it’s going to be, whether it’s going to be 36 races and a championship run or as a pact like Chip and I have talked about, along with Monster, that if we come out of the gate like gangbusters and have five wins by July Daytona, let’s talk about 2020,” Busch said.
“For me, the way everything has panned out from my switch to SHR to Ganassi Racing, I had always talked about 2019 and that being my 20th full-time year. That’s a number I have in my mind. Any time you get an opportunity like this and now seeing everybody on the shop floor this morning, you don’t know what’s around the next corner as far as motivation and challenges. For right now I see it as all in, and we’ll see how it goes from there.”
Busch said that Matt McCall, who has been the No. 1 team’s crew chief, will remain in that role with him. With the move, Busch will be a teammate to Kyle Larson.
Busch said the deal was done earlier, but he held off announcing until now.
“Why I wanted a small delay in the announcement was really strictly me being selfish and wanting a really cool introduction, the smoke show that Monster brings, the glitz, the glamour and the fun,” Busch said. “It also dovetailed a fantastic 2018 season that I had at SHR. That group knew midsummer that we weren’t going to be together. I have to commend Greg Zipadelli and Tony Stewart in the way they approached the playoff races. When Chip and I struck our deal and Monster confirmed, Chip and I looked at each other, and said ‘You know what? As long as you’re championship eligible ... we’ll just delay the announcement.’ It just worked out perfect. My final day was the final day of November for SHR, and here it is December 4, and I wish today was February 4. I wish we were going to Daytona next week. I’m all pumped up to get going and get to the track.”
Ganassi said an announcement will be coming on McMurray. He has been offered a ride in the Daytona 500 in a third Ganassi car and then move into a position with the team.
“I do expect Jamie to stick around,” Ganassi said.
Ganassi also said that sponsors McDonald’s and Cessna will remain.
— Kurt Busch (@KurtBusch) December 4, 2018
Excited to have @KurtBusch as a teammate. I’ve always believed he’s one of the most talented drivers on this planet. Going to be fun!
— Kyle Larson (@KyleLarsonRacin) December 4, 2018