Former NASCAR Ford Driver Kurt Busch Voted Into 2026 Hall Of Fame

Former NASCAR Ford driver Kurt Busch left the sport earlier than expected when head injuries forced him to step away before the end of the 2022 Cup Series season. But while Busch’s time on track was cut short, his legacy is cemented in the NASCAR Hall of Fame, where he was voted in as one of the members of the Class of 2026.

According to a report from NASCAR.com, Busch was the last member to be called in the voting session on May 20^th, 2025. He was voted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame alongside Harry Gant, Ray Hendrick, and Humpy Wheeler, a trio of influential characters from the sport’s long, storied history. While he was waiting for the announcement, Busch said he defaulted to “race mode” when nerves almost got the better of him.

“I had to put the emotional blinders on,” Busch said, adding, “For me, as just a blue-collar kid out of Vegas, I never would have imagined this. We were a family where it was just a hobby. It’s like a hobby to race, you know. It was just fun to go to the track as father and son.”

Before he knew it, Busch charged through the ranks and earned a ride in NASCAR’s highest echelon. He claimed the sport’s highest honors by winning the 2004 Cup Series championship and amassed 34 race wins before hanging up his helmet. He spent plenty of time behind the wheel of a NASCAR Ford race car and even brought The Blue Oval to Victory Lane in the 2017 Daytona 500. He also secured the 100^th overall victory for Ford Performance in the division, driving a NASCAR Ford Fusion race car at the time.

Busch drove a NASCAR Ford early in his career, and again in 2017 and 2018 when his team, Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), allied with The Blue Oval. After parting ways with SHR, Busch drove a Chevy for three seasons before swapping to a Toyota team in 2022. He earned his final Cup Series victory at Kansas that same year before stepping down.