NASCAR icon Kyle Busch has surprisingly withdrawn from the Adelaide 500, a major motorsport event in Australia, where he was scheduled to compete in both the Supercars and Super2 races.
Originally, Busch was going to be a highlight of the upcoming event organized by Triple Eight and Supercars, alongside the Adelaide event organizers. The announcement of his withdrawal, just days before the official event reveal this weekend, has saddened the community.
Fans had eagerly anticipated watching Busch challenge the competitive field of Supercars—a stark contrast to his usual NASCAR rivals.
The backstory of Kyle Busch’s involvement traces to last year’s Adelaide 500. The idea of him joining the league first came to light during discussions with his NASCAR team boss, Richard Childress, aiming to sharpen Busch’s skills on road courses.
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An initial collaboration with Erebus Motorsport began, intending to prepare him with drivers Brodie Kostecki and Will Brown.
However, complications arose, and the project with Erebus Motorsport failed to bear fruits. It was only revived in June by Triple Eight, following Will Brown’s NASCAR debut with RCR at Sonoma.
Busch’s reason for pulling out of the league was an unavoidable commitment in the United States, and this left Adelaide’s schedules and promotional activities in disarray.
The South Australian Motor Sport Board responded to the withdrawal with disappointment:
“Due to timing and commitments, having an international Supercars Wildcard at the VAILO Adelaide 500 is being explored for 2025,” they told Speedcafe.
“We look forward to sharing more international off track talent for the 2024 event soon, as we continue to build a motorsport mecca in the heart of Adelaide this November,” the board added.
Despite the setback of Busch’s absence, the Adelaide 500 organizers are still preparing for a successful event. This year, the race will introduce Sprintcar racing for the first time, adding something else for lovers of motorsport to get excited about.
2025 NASCAR Race Calendar
The race calendar for 2025 is yet to be finalised and confirmed. However, this is what we know so far, as reported by DailyDownforce.com:
- February 16th: Daytona 500
- May 18th: All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway
- May 25th: Coca-Cola 600
- June 28th: Atlanta
- July 6th: Chicago Street Race
- August 24th: Daytona Summer Race
The reported playoff calendar is as follows, as Newsweek previously reported:
Round 1
Aug. 31: Darlington Raceway
Sept. 7: World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway
Sept. 13: Bristol Motor Speedway
Round 2
Sept. 21: New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Sept. 28: Kansas Speedway
Oct. 5: Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval
Round 3
Oct. 12: Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Oct. 19: Talladega Superspeedway
Oct. 26: Martinsville Speedway
Championship
Nov. 2: Phoenix Raceway
