NASCAR superstar Kyle Busch issues Brad Keselowski Daytona 500 injury update

Daytona 500 News Wednesday, February 4, 2026 at 10:04 AM ET •By Graham Shaw

This was not on our bingo card for Wednesday morning - Kyle Busch providing the injury update on bitter NASCAR rival Brad Keselowski.

Busch and Keselowski have a storied and often heated past when it comes to Cup Series combat, but it appears the ice is at last thawing, quicker than the track at Bowman Gray Stadium.

NASCAR will finally hope to get its Clash season opener on track today (Wednesday) in Winston-Salem after two postponements due to a snowstorm in the area. Keselowski though will not be in action.

The 41-year-old RFK Racing star broke his leg in December and following surgery he is hoping to return for the Daytona 500 on February 15.

Busch - foot will be the big problem for Keselowski

Busch was asked about his great rival’s rehab timeline as he prepares to race on Wednesday, and he was upbeat as he compared it to injuries both men have suffered in the past.

He told PRN: “I think Brad probably had worse trauma from his ankle - his foot and ankle injury that he had back in 2011 I think it was. So when I broke my foot and broke my leg at Daytona in 2015, my foot was the worst problem.

“So when you break your leg, they put a rod in your leg and you’re standing up on it the next day and you’re going through rehab - you’re not jumping on a trampoline but the bone has got to fuze itself back together. So it’s just time, right?

“But the foot - like the broken pieces of the foot and the plate and the screws that you had in that - that was the worst part about it. So that’s what took me longer actually.
“So I feel like Brad’s gonna be fine, no big deal. Be lesser for him than what the ankle was.”

Former champions chasing past glories

Busch and Keselowski - both Cup Series champions in the past - are hoping to reclaim former glories as they begin their 2026 campaigns. They both struggled mightily in 2025 as they finished 21st and 20th respectively in the season standings.

Kyle - now aged 40 and seven years out from his second Cup Series title in 2019 - will have a new pit crew chief in 2026 with Jim Pohlman coming in to replace Randall Burnett.