Nascar Driver Kyle Busch Dies at 41

Longtime teammates, former rivals and others around the sports world have joined the wave of condolences over the sudden death of Nascar driver Kyle Busch on Thursday.

Busch, a two-time Cup Series champion who was the winningest driver across the sport’s three series in history, died at 41 after being hospitalized earlier Thursday with a severe illness. No cause of death has been announced.

“Absolutely cannot comprehend this news,” Denny Hamlin, a 22-year Nascar veteran and Busch’s former teammate, said on social media. “We just need to think of his family during this time. We love you KB.”

“There aren’t really words for today. I’ve raced against Kyle for a long time, and anyone who’s lined up next to him knows exactly what made him special, he gave you everything he had, every single lap, and he made all of us better for it,” driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr said in a post. “But more than the wins and the records, I keep thinking about Samantha, Brexton, and Lennix, and the entire Busch family right now. That’s where my heart is. Rest easy, Rowdy. The sport won’t be the same without you.”

Busch was in his fourth season at Richard Childress Racing. He ranked 24th in the Cup Series standings, with two top-10 finishes in 12 races this season, and had been the Cup Series champion in 2015 and 2019 with Joe Gibbs Racing.

He won a Nascar Truck Series race at Dover International Speedway last week and was slated to compete in this weekend’s Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte, North Carolina, before his family announced on Thursday he had been hospitalized.

A polarizing figure known as “Rowdy” and “Wild Thing” for his feuds with other drivers, the Las Vegas native – whose brother Kurt was also a successful Nascar driver – stormed on the Cup Series scene in 2005 by winning rookie of the year.

Dale Earnhardt Jr, an on-track rival after he took over Busch’s car after he departed Hendrick Motorsports in 2007 who later became a friend, called Busch one of the “greatest drivers in Nascar history”.

“Kyle and I had a really challenging existence for many years. But we luckily took the time to figure out our differences and that was something he instigated with a conversation in his bus around how we each managed our racing teams. I was super eager for us to get on better terms. But it was he who made the effort for that to be possible,” Earnhardt said. “I will never be able to make sense of this loss but I am thankful that we had found a way to become friends.”

“Kyle was a fierce competitor who demanded the very best from himself each time he put on the helmet,” said Hall of Fame driver Jeff Gordon. “As teammates, I saw first-hand the passion and intensity he brought to the sport every single day. He was a champion and prolific racer who made a tremendous impact on Nascar and was a lifelong advocate for all forms of motor sports.

One of Busch’s famous feuds was with fellow Nascar veteran Joey Logano. In 2017, the two were involved in a post-race, pit-road brawl that left Busch with a bloodied face. In a Thursday interview with a Charlotte news station, Logano praised Busch’s legacy.

“Kyle and I have been tough competitors. We didn’t see eye to eye on everything, but there was a mutual respect for each other’s talent and what’s he’s been able to do in our sport,” he said. “The bottom line is he is one of the best drivers to ever sit in a race car, and he impacted our sport in so many ways. Such a huge personality. It’s a really big reminder of how fragile life is.”

The NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes honored Busch with a video tribute and a moment of silence before Thursday night’s Eastern Conference finals opener against the Montreal Canadiens.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which will stage the annual Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, lit up its scoring pylon with Busch’s image. He won the Brickyard 500 at Indianapolis in 2015 and 2016.

A foundation created by Busch and his wife to support couples seeking fertility treatments collected hundreds of dollars in new donations on Thursday night.