Kyle Busch heads home following second surgery

Following successful foot surgery Wednesday night, Kyle Busch is heading home for the first time since an accident last Saturday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series opener at Daytona International Speedway knocked him out of his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Sprint Cup ride for the Daytona 500 and an undetermined number of races going forward.

The team said that the surgery on Busch’s left mid-foot fracture was performed by Dr. Robert Anderson of OrthoCarolina. The driver remained hospitalized for observation until Friday morning when his wife, Samantha, tweeted about his release.

A JGR team rep at Atlanta Motor Speedway, site of the second Sprint Cup race of the season Sunday, confirmed Busch’s release from the hospital.

In the accident, Busch also suffered a compound fracture of his right lower leg in a crash and underwent surgery last Saturday night at Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach, Florida before being transported to a Charlotte hospital on Tuesday.

The team announced Tuesday that David Ragan will serve as interim driver in place of injured Busch for the next several weeks beginning this weekend at Atlanta in Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 (1 p.m. ET, FOX). Erik Jones will sub for Busch in JGR’s No. 54 car in the XFINITY Series’ Hisense 250 (Saturday, 2 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1).

Joe Gibbs Racing and sponsor M&M/Mars are remembering their driver on the back of the No. 18 ride as seen in the garage at Atlanta.

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