NASCAR Cup Series

Reigning Sprint Cup Series champ Kyle Busch undergoes surgery on foot, leg

Published Dec. 17, 2015 2:46 p.m. ET

Jared Turner

Recently crowned 2015 Sprint Cup Series champion Kyle Busch underwent two surgeries Thursday morning to remove two metal plates in his left foot and a metal rod and screws in his right leg.

The surgeries were done to take out the plates, rod and screws used to help stabilize the Joe Gibbs Racing after suffering a compound fracture of his lower right leg and a mid-foot fracture of his left foot in the NASCAR XFINITY Series opener at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 21.

As a result of the injuries, Busch missed the following day's Daytona 500 and 10 more Sprint Cup Series points races before returning for the Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in mid-May.

He went on to win five races, capped by last month's 2015 Sprint Cup finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway where he claimed his first top series NASCAR title over fellow Championship 4 drivers Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon and Martin Truex Jr.

Busch, whose surgeries on Thursday were performed by Charlotte, North Carolina-based physicians Robert Anderson of OrthoCarolina and Stephen Sims of Carolinas Healthcare System, respectively, is expected to make a full recovery in time for the 2016 Sprint Cup season that begins in February.