Kyle Busch has revealed that he was kept from entering a dream race by NASCAR Cup Series rival Kyle Larson.
Larson is currently in Indianapolis running practice sessions for this year's Indy 500, taking a second run at the Memorial Day Weekend Double of Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 after the weather denied him last year.
However, Busch revealed on Denny Hamlin's Actions Detrimental podcast that he'd been intending to step into the McLaren IndyCar for the 2024 edition at the Brickyard, before Larson swooped in.
It was the second time Busch was denied a run at one of the most famous races on the planet, revealing that a deal for him to drive in 2017 was 'all done' with M&Ms sponsoring him before his then-boss Joe Gibbs refused to let him run.
Busch: I had Indy 500 drive...but Larson took it
Speaking about his efforts to race at Indy last year, he revealed: "I had it signed, sealed and delivered again, and then Larson took it.
"I won’t release the sponsor, but I had a sponsor talking to Zak Brown. The deal was done, and we were about ready to go to contract, and Zak Brown told the sponsor 'Hey, I need you to buy the car.' And the sponsor was like, 'why do I want to buy the car? I don't need the car. I want to sponsor the car. I'm sponsoring Kyle [Busch] and he's going to drive the car.'"
He then explained that Brown had wanted the car buyout in case of a wreck which caused major damage, although Hamlin appeared baffled that the matter wasn't resolved with a crash clause in the deal.
Nevertheless, Busch said: "It wasn't two weeks later that I'm talking to this sponsor guy, and he was like, 'Yeah, we're too late anyway now. The opportunity is closed because Larson got it.'"