It took Kurt Busch and Stewart-Haas Racing quite some time to agree to a contract extension this offseason, and it turns out there was one hangup between the two sides.
Busch wanted to secure the rights to his No. 41 car that won the Daytona 500 last season, but the team didn't want to give up the rights to the car.
Busch said on the NASCAR on NBC podcast that the contract negotiations took longer than expected because of the dispute over who had the rights to the car.
There was an interesting sticking point for @KurtBusch in re-signing at @StewartHaasRcng https://t.co/g7nLarMCr5
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) February 13, 2018
Related: Kurt Busch is glad to have one aspect of 2017 behind him
"That was one my No. 1 objective," Busch said via Yahoo Sports. "They're like, 'No we're going to keep it.' Well, can I have visitation rights with it? Literally, that was a sticking point for a while, but we worked it all out."
The team won the debate, and the two sides negotiated a one-year deal.
"The team is the one that has the rights to the car," Busch said. "It will be pushed into the front lobby area of Stewart-Haas and go right along with (Kevin) Harvick and (Tony) Stewart's championship cars. It is special to have a car like that. We will see. Hopefully we will push another one in there next Monday."
The 2004 Cup Series champion will look to add another Daytona 500 win to his resume on Sunday. His future is unclear past the 2018 season, but if Busch has another successful year, the team could be inclined to re-sign him again.