Kyle Busch says he’ll race on Saturday after three-month pit stop

Kyle Busch made it official on Tuesday morning, that he’s returning to NASCAR sooner than expected after suffering a compound fracture to his right leg and breaking his left foot during a grinding crash the day before the Daytona 500 in February.

Provided the only knocks and pings are from under the hood of his racecar — and not from under the hood of his wife, Samantha — he plans to race in Saturday night’s stock car all-star race in Charlotte, N.C.

But should Samantha Busch start to knock and ping, Kyle may have to put his comeback on hold.

They are expecting their first child; she’s not due until May 22. But if Baby Busch turns out to be as impatient as his old man while running in second place, it could throw a monkey wrench into dad’s return.

“Yeah, if she goes into labor, my plan has always been to be there for the birth,” the Las Vegas leadfoot said during a 33-minute conference call with auto racing reporters. “The good thing about Charlotte is we have more flexibility being here than if we were on the other side of the country.”

The racer and his wife live in a 13,000-square-foot home on a lake outside of Charlotte. So it’s conceivable Busch could be there for the birth of his son and still make it back for the later segments of the all-star race, should Mrs. Busch go into labor and time it just right.

Not that he’s thinking in those terms.

“We’ll see what happens the next few days,” Busch said. “Her due date is actually the 22nd — not till next Thursday. She’s been great. She’s healthy. He’s healthy. We’re definitely ready for Baby Busch to enter the world.

“It could be any hour that he decides he wants to be here.”

When a New York Times reporter asked if the crash and his recovery and impending fatherhood had changed him as a person, Busch said: “I don’t know. Was I a bad one to begin with?”

Then he said he was only joking, that those events gave him time to think about the gravity of such matters.

“I know where you’re coming from,” he said of changing one’s perspective. “I think so. I definitely believe it’s added some growth. Beforehand, every racecar driver thinks they’re invincible. In this regard, certainly, it took that away.

“It shows you maybe there’s a bigger picture going to life than just driving racecars.”

Notice he said “maybe” there’s more to life than driving racecars.

Not definitely. Maybe.

Still, I’ll bet Tony Stewart calls him on it.

“There’s no doubt I ever thought about getting back in, being able to go back to Victory Lane and win championships,” said Busch, who is 29 and has 29 Sprint Cup wins, with 112 additional victories in the Infinity (70 wins) and Truck Series (42 wins). He also may have beaten older brother Kurt a time or two on their Big Wheels.

He said he would focus on the Sprint Cup, though, until he’s 100 percent convinced he’s fully recovered from his injuries. For now, he’s just 99 percent convinced.

Based on a couple of test drives in a late model stock car, everything feels fine, like normal, when he’s inside the car, despite him having missed the first 11 Cup races of 2015.

Maybe he’s a little rusty, he said, and maybe he’s not familiar with this new aero package, but he doesn’t plan to wear a brace or extra safety equipment.

Busch probably will have to average about a 14th-place finish in the remaining races before the NASCAR playoffs to be eligible for the championship. Should he win a race, NASCAR could give him a special dispensation, allowing him to race for the title.

When somebody asked what most worried him abpit coming back, Busch took a nanosecond to think about it.

“Nothing, really, to be honest with you.

“I think the thing if I had to say what would concern me the most — it would only be a 2 factor on a 1 to 10 — is the amount of walking I would have to do between the hauler to the car or pit road, whatever, for qualifying.

“This week the all‑star qualifying is in the garage area; you pull out, you go for your laps around the track. Not that big a deal this week.”

During the teleconference, Busch mentioned the name of his sponsor three times, and the names of his doctors four times. So perhaps he really is seeing a bigger picture.

He said Erik Jones, one of four drivers who subbed for him during his recuperation, would be standing by this weekend, just in case.

Just in case his leg and foot start to hurt, and just in case Samantha Busch starts to knock and ping.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ron Kantowski can be reached at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow him on Twitter: @ronkantowski.