Andretti, 30, pilots the No. 27 Dallara-Honda for his family’s Andretti Autosport.

He also shares a close friendship with Busch’s NASCAR team owner and former Indy Racing League champion Tony Stewart. Busch grew closer to Andretti when they were teammates in IndyCar.

“I always joked around with him about it,” Busch said. “Then Stewart got injured last season, and they put (Brian) Vickers in the car, I said, ‘Yeah, that’s a good move for SHR,’ but I think it would have been fun to throw Marco in the car.

“That’s when it grabbed second gear, and yeah, it’s just sitting there between second and third gear with Marco. But you’d have to talk to him.”

Andretti's past interest NASCAR

When Michael Andretti was considering expanding into NASCAR with Dodge several years ago, Marco had been mentioned as a possible driver candidate. Certainly, with the limited 17-race IndyCar schedule, there would be plenty of opportunity for the third-generation racer to test the waters.

“With the way our charters are structured, he wouldn’t necessarily have a guaranteed spot in the field,” Busch said. "But I think it would work in many different ways if it ever came together between a manufacturer, a sponsor and the help that Stewart-Haas Racing could provide — or any team in this series could provide.”

“Marco is a talented kid. I love his enthusiasm and his knowledge of the sport. It’s hard to not have as much knowledge as he does when you’re an Andretti. He can do whatever he wants to do. I kept telling him, from what I saw when I was at Indy, and what he saw in me and just us talking, and how well Indy went for me, I think he has the same ability if he was to come to NASCAR and run Daytona.”

Marco's legendary grandfather Mario is a champion of the Daytona 500, having won the race in 1967 with Holman-Moody.