Kurt Busch sustained a concussion over a month ago during the NASCAR Cup Series weekend at Pocono. The injury occurred when his No.45 23XI Racing Toyota slammed into the wall going backwards, overall a very harmless looking crash it would turn out as anything but that. Since the crash Kurt Busch has been sidelined due to NASCAR’s concussion protocol as he is not cleared by doctors to race. The 23XI Racing team owned by Cup driver Denny Hamlin and NBA legend Michael Jordan, had a playoff wavier for Busch that would allow him to compete in the Cup Series playoffs if cleared by doctors. Busch has a lone win this season which would have him locked in the playoffs despite not competing in all 26 regular season races due to the wavier.
The team announced early Thursday morning that they will not use the wavier for Busch, with that a spot was then opened up on the playoff grid for Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. As of now there will be two drivers who are in the playoffs based off of points: Ryan Blaney and Martin Truex Jr., as we enter the final regular season race at Daytona.
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