It was 2021 when Kurt Busch was offered to drive for 23XI Racing, after Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin joined forces to launch their new NASCAR operation.
By that time, Busch had 33 Cup victories and one Cup championship, and his future employers were banking on that same experience to elevate the new team’s efforts. Yet the thing that pushed Busch over the edge was something Jordan told him early on, as opposed to being hired by one of the world’s biggest sporting icons.
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While Hamlin was quite optimistic about Busch joining the team, noting that Kurt would bring a wealth of knowledge and championship spirit that could make the team stronger and more competitive every week, Jordan’s approach was different. In a recent NASCAR video, as Busch reflected on the defining moments of his career leading up to his 2026 NASCAR Hall of Fame induction, he recalled what MJ told him shortly after signing.
Busch said: “MJ is so cool. There’s only a few people in the world who have that aura. When I first signed up to run for him, I was a little nervous. Holy shit, here he is. And when he shook my hand, it was like three hand sizes. I’m like, ‘Whoa!'”
Busch also remembers Jordan telling him: “Why do we want to hire you to start that second car at 23XI because you run like I’m playing basketball. You run with your heart.” Busch then added, “I almost melted. It defined my 30 years on the racetrack. It’s who I am. I raced from here,” while pointing towards his chest.
Busch ultimately made 20 starts for 23XI Racing and earned a win for the team at Kansas, and finished five races in the top five at Phoenix, Atlanta, Gateway and Nashville Superspeedway during the 2022 season. However, at Pocono, he was not medically cleared after a crash in qualifying and missed the rest of the year.
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From that point on, he never returned to a NASCAR cockpit. In October 2022, he announced that he would step away from full-time racing in 2023 with the possibility of appearing part-time.
Although he no longer competes, Busch has remained connected to 23XI Racing to some extent. In October 2025, as the organization celebrated its fifth anniversary, Busch sent a message to the team expressing pride in having helped build the No. 45 program and offering encouragement with the phrase “let’s continue” as the team was still in the midst of the legal dispute with NASCAR at the time.
The position ‘I About Melted’: Kurt Busch Remembers How Michael Jordan Summed Up His NASCAR Career In One Line appeared first on The rush to sport.
