Forced Into Retirement, Kurt Busch Emotionally Reveals Unexpected Support From Richard Petty’s Forgotten Star: “Son, You’ve Hit Your Head Enough”

Kurt Busch will be remembered for many things by NASCAR fans. A champion, a brother, for some, a hero for others, a villain, but most importantly, a great personality and an extremely talented racecar driver. After he announced his retirement at Daytona in the regular season’s finale, memories of him dominating the sport in his prime gushed into everyone’s minds.

As he embarks on the next phase of his life, Kurt looks back at a wonderful career filled with wins, battles to the finish line, and much more. Reminiscing about the love he received when he hung up his boots, he is reminded of a legendary crew chief’s words of wisdom.

Who all reached out to Kurt Busch and left him overwhelmed?

Bristol Motor Speedway was host to a conclave of stars. Racing stars from the past and present and even eminent personalities from different fields of life entertained the fans at an interactive session of Trackside Live. Moments that stole the show were when the spotlight fell on the glittering career of Busch on a stage graced by a lineup of Joey Logano, Kurt Busch, Kenny Wallace, and John Roberts.

Former NASCAR broadcaster Roberts tried to understand the emotions that went through Kurt’s mind on seeing the community unite for the single reason of his departing from being a driver in the sport. He questioned, “Kurt when you have the accolades that your peers gave you, the other drivers when you announced your retirement the way they came out of the woodwork, the tributes, how satisfying is that?”

Following a wreck at Pocono in 2022’s summer race, Busch continued to feel the aftershocks of the crash with recurring concussions. This forced him to take a break from racing as a form of precaution, despite still staying on the 23XI Racing roster, which was a sign of good faith from team owner Denny Hamlin.

“It’s been incredible. Again, it’s been a journey since last summer when I had the accident and to have some things taken away from me but other things put in perspective, and to have veteran drivers, old crew chiefs that I’ve never even met…” claimed Busch.

Read More: NASCAR Community Comes Together to Say Goodbye to Cup Series Champ Kurt Busch

To bid adieu to the sport amid such circumstances must have been a difficult decision for Kurt. A former crew member of ‘The King’, Richard Petty, helped him take the major step back, as Busch revealed next.

Kurt’s conversation with Hall of Famer, Dale Inman

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In the sport’s history, there have been few crew chiefs to challenge the aura and stature of Dale Inman when it comes to crew chiefs. With 193 wins and 8 championships, he has been the most successful crew chief in history. Guiding Richard Petty and another legend Terry Labonte to championship wins underlines his credentials as a mastermind behind the scenes.

When Kurt Busch decided to call it quits, he received an unexpected call from Inman that took him by surprise. Revealing his conversation with the motorsports icon, he said, “Dale Inman, Richard Petty’s old crew chief got my phone number and he said, son, you’ve hit your head enough. I’ve watched Richard hit his head and have problems.”

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“A lot of legends, drivers, crew chiefs, owners have really helped me through this process, and the race fans, you guys have been incredible as well. This was a decision I needed to make and I’m happy. All is good.”

Now that Kurt has waved goodbye to arguably the greatest phase of his life, it is highly probable that he will return to NASCAR in the role of an analyst or maybe something that allows him more freedom around the tracks. However, whatever he chooses to do, the community will stand behind him, no matter what.