Michael Jordan saw himself in NASCAR Hall of Famer Kurt Busch

NBA legend Michael Jordan saw a little bit of himself in Kurt Busch. 

When 23XI Racing, the Cup Series organization that Jordan co-owns, expanded to two full-time cars in 2022, he had a significant role in luring Busch to the team. 

On Friday, Busch, who ran his final race in 2022 after a qualifying crash at Pocono led to his eventual retirement, was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame after a career that saw him win 34 Cup races and the 2004 Cup Series title.

"I honestly had my mind made up in 2021 that I was complete, that I was fulfilled," Busch said during his speech at the Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Friday. "But the phone kept ringing.

"When I met Michael Jordan for the first time, he asked me, 'Do you know why I want to hire you to start the second car for 23XI?'"

Busch didn't have an answer.

"He said, 'You race the same way I played the game of basketball. You race from your heart.' That's how I did it."

That's how Busch raced in 1994, when he ran his first competitive race of any kind. That's how he raced during his rookie campaign in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2000, when he won four races and finished runner-up in the championship. 

And while that heart of Busch's sometimes led to fiery outbursts and poor decisions, it also led to the Las Vegas native mellowing in his final years of competition to become a mentor to those in the garage, including those who now drive for 23XI in Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace. 

Busch, who won the final race of his career with 23XI at Kansas Speedway in 2022, got emotional watching Reddick earn his first win with 23XI at Circuit of the Americas in 2023. 

Kurt Busch a worthy HOF inductee

Consistency was both prevalent in Busch's career while eluding him at the same time. He drove for seven different teams in the Cup Series and worked with 14 different Cup Series crew chiefs. 

But Busch always made every team he drove for better, and it was almost guaranteed that he'd take your organization to Victory Lane. In 19 of his final 21 seasons, Busch won at least one race. In 2013, he took Furniture Row Racing, then still a relatively young organization lacking for success, to the Chase. 

And while Busch's character evolved over the years, his hard-nosed driving style and undeniable racing acumen stayed the same. 

It's fitting that Busch will now join Jordan in his respective sport's Hall of Fame — a commonality not just shared between a team owner and his driver, but between two athletes who always performed from their hearts.