Kyle Busch hints Joe Gibbs said no to Indy 500 run

Kyle Busch really wants to do the Indianapolis 500/Coca-Cola 600 double, but first he has to convince the man who writes his checks to let him do it.

Kyle Busch had every intention of competing in the Indianapolis 500 this year. To hear him tell it, he had a ride lined up and a sponsor who was interested. In other words, the difficult parts were taken care of.

You might have noticed that Busch was not, in fact, in this year’s Indy 500 field. So what happened?

Conveniently addressing the topic at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Busch told ESPN Friday that he wasn’t allowed to enter the race. And while he didn’t name names, it’s pretty obvious who he might be talking about.

"“I had it done last [time], sold and everything ready to go, and I’ve got a boss that said, ‘No,'”"

His boss, at least in NASCAR terms, is Joe Gibbs, owner of Joe Gibbs Racing. Busch expanded on why he might be forbidden from entering the Indy 500, explaining that fear of him getting into a situation he couldn’t drive his way out of was the likely motivation.

"The biggest thing that scares my boss is that I’ve never driven those cars. A Cup car or an Xfinity car or a truck or something like that, I know what to feel and how to feel and when something bad starts to happen, I can straighten it out or normally I can try to fix it."

Next: Less XFINITY Series races for Busch, other Cup Series regulars?

It’s understandable that Gibbs would want to protect JGR’s investment in Busch, the team’s top gun (sorry Denny Hamlin, but it’s true). There are a lot of unknowns in an IndyCar ride, even for a driver as talented as Busch.

Still, one gets the feeling that Kyle will keep working on persuading his boss that it’s an alright idea to let him do the Indianapolis 500/Coca-Cola 600 double. Maybe next year …