"We’re in a bad place right now" - Kyle Busch's NASCAR future appears even bleaker after top Toyota official's statement

Two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch is in the final year of his contract deal and his extension with Joe Gibbs Racing is yet to take place. Just this week, after the team's president and owner remarked about Busch’s future, the situation took a new turn when a Toyota official said that they were contingency planning and gave more clarity on the topic.

Speaking with NBC Sports, Toyota Racing Department president David Wilson stated that if they are unable to find a sponsor for Busch, then they have to come up with something that can bridge it. He went on to say that JGR has to come up with a contingency plan to address the contract situation.

Wilson said:

“If there’s not sponsorship there, maybe we can create a bridge somewhere. We have to have contingency plans. Rest assured, we’re thinking about every way this can go.”

When asked about the certainty of Busch’s contract extension and whether this might be his last year, Wilson said:

“I wish I could handicap it for you…but I just can’t. We’re in a bad place right now…we’ve got some tremendously heavy lifting in front of us.”

In recent weeks, Toyota has made two big signings for next season. Martin Truex Jr. will continue driving the #18 car with the JGR team in 2023 and 23XI Racing signed Tyler Reddick on July 12, 2022, for the 2024 season.

Despite the efforts of the team to secure a new sponsor for Busch, if JGR does not get a new sponsorship deal, it might be difficult for the two-time Cup Series champion to return to his 14-year-old team.

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Joe Gibbs on Kyle Busch's contract deal with JGR

During last week’s post-race conference, Joe Gibbs acknowledged that it has been hard to learn about Kyle Busch being approached by other teams as they have been working hard to get a deal done. He later added that he was surprised to learn that the deal with Busch had not been completed yet.

Gibbs said:

“Yeah, I am, in a way. It’s been hard. We’re working really hard to try and get things done, and it is hard, though. You’ve got to put a lot in place to make things work out, and we’re working as hard as we can. We’re going after it (in) a number of different directions. So yeah, I’m surprised at this point that we haven’t been able to get that finished.”

If Kyle Busch does not get the deal, Ty Gibbs is high on the list of drivers that could fill the #18 seat.