Kurt Busch’s Kansas Win Good for Team Morale

FORT WORTH, TEXAS - MAY 21: Kurt Busch, driver of the #45 Monster Energy Toyota, drives during practice for the NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway on May 21, 2022 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Last week’s Kansas Speedway race winner Kurt Busch said that victory for the second year 23XI Racing Toyota team was absolutely crucial for the organization’s competitive morale. The veteran scored the first ever win in the team’s first-year second car, the No. 45 Toyota, and was still smiling about it this weekend at Texas.

“A rush,” he said of the team’s atmosphere, “The hauler right now with all their crew members being here and the pit crew guys, I mean it was straight-up, like a football locker room or a college football locker room of just the morale, the track talk, the fun and the excitement – a different swagger.

“You have to have that after a win. And then you have to compartmentalize it into what can we do on track today with the cool procedures for the All-Star race and then we go for the million bucks.”

Busch will be looking to add another NASCAR All-Star Race trophy to his case to join the one he brought home in 2010 (Charlotte).