Race Weekend Central

Kyle Busch “100%” in the Car After Daytona Crash

It’s been five months since Kyle Busch‘s vicious crash at Daytona International Speedway, but his injuries still linger.

Busch, 30, was out of his car for three months while he recovered from a compound fracture of the right lower leg and a left mid-foot fracture. He returned to his Joe Gibbs Racing M&M’s No. 18 in the May 16 Sprint All-Star Race, and has gone on to win races in both the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in the seven weeks since.

Busch took the time to address his health in a press conference before Saturday’s Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway.

“Week to week, both driving Xfinity and driving Cup races for me, I feel pretty good,” said Busch. “Out there behind the wheel in the car I feel pretty good, and I don’t feel any issues there.”

“Getting up and walking around still kind of hurts a little bit, but it’s not terrible,” Busch continued. “It’s definitely tolerable. Each day, it continually gets a little better each day. Definitely there’s some bad days, and definitely there’s some good days. I’ve still gotta continue some therapy stuff to keep trying to get it better yet.

Busch, who recently welcomed his first child with wife Samantha Busch, looked into soothing the pain in his left foot.

“I [saw] the doctor last week and said ‘What can we do? I’ve got to fix this left-foot stuff,'” said Busch. “He goes get the plates out. I said, alright, let’s go, and said if you want to sit out for four more weeks, we’ll do it.’

“I’ve got to wait until the season’s over in order to get my stuff finished up and all of the plates taken out.”

Busch, who comes into this weekend’s race sitting 37th in series points, maintains that he’s fine inside of the car, though he still struggles outside of the cockpit.

“When I’m inside of the racecar, I feel like I’m 100%,” said Busch. “I feel like I’m fine for the things that I’ve gotta do and everything and the abilities that I have to drive a car. I feel like I’m 100%, but walking around here, they haven’t approved me to go running yet. If you say me being able to go running is 100%, I’m probably about 85.”

About the author

A graduate of Ball State, Aaron rejoins Frontstretch for his second season in 2016 following a successful year that included covering seven races and starting the popular "Two-Headed Monster" column in 2015. Now in his third year of covering motorsports, Aaron serves as an Assistant Editor for Frontstretch while also contributing to other popular sites including Speed51 and The Apex. He encourages you to come say hi when you see him at the track.

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