The NASCAR world suffered a devastating, shocking loss on Thursday with the sudden death of 41-year-old legendary stock car racing driver Kyle Busch. While the cause of death was initially unknown, Busch’s family released a statement on Saturday announcing that he died from severe pneumonia that progressed into sepsis.
Tributes have poured in for Busch from the NASCAR world, and Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway was full of emotional tributes.
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One such tribute came before the race broadcast on Prime Video, with NASCAR on Prime analyst Dale Earnhardt Jr. narrating a heartfelt video montage remembering his friend.
“In 2001, Kurt Busch said, ‘You think I’m a pretty good race car driver? Wait until you see my brother.’ He was right. Kyle was born into racing,” Earnhardt said. “He drove go-karts before he could reach the pedals. His dad working the gas as Kyle sped around the homemade course. About 10 years old, he was the crew chief of Kurt’s team. And at 13, his own racing career began.
“65 wins and two titles in Legends cars at the Las Vegas Bullring. Then, late models, and his truck debut, at 16, where he finished ninth for Roush Racing. About the only thing that could stop him was the rule change that raised the minimum age in trucks to 18. And then, 23 years ago this weekend, he made his O’Reilly Auto Parts Series debut at Charlotte, finishing second. It wasn’t before he went from Kurt’s little brother ‘Shrub’ to ‘Rowdy.’
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“And man, did it fit. A generational talent with swagger for days, and that signature bow that his fans loved, and his critics hated. Skilled, fierce, and competitive as hell. There was some hard racing, and some hard feelings. But beneath it all, he had a simple approach. You win, in order to go race again next weekend. And boy, did he win. More than anyone else. Ever. 63 Cup Series victories. 102 O’Reilly Auto Parts Series wins. 69 Craftsman Truck Series wins. And a record 19 straight Cup seasons visiting victory lane. Four crown jewels, including the 2018 Coca-Cola 600. And of course, two Cup Series titles.
“Along the way, as he evolved, the boos gave way to cheers. And rivalries, they became friendships.
“Some time ago, Kyle was asked how he wanted to be thought of when he retired. His answer: ‘The first thing they’ll remember me by are my on-track success.’ And then he added, ‘The second thing would be how I grew up in the limelight. I started this when I was 18 years old, and now, I’m 26. And when I retire, I’ll be 40. And they’ll see the whole transition of my life, and how I made it through. And it was all under the skeptics’ eye. Certainly, I know wasn’t the best coming in, and I’m not now. But we’ll see how it turns out when I’m 40.’ It turned out to be legendary.”
“I’ll always remember him as a guy who hated to lose more than anybody,” Earnhardt explained. “He won more races across the top-three NASCAR series than any driver in history, with win No. 234 coming in the Truck Series just last weekend at Dover.”
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Earnhardt and Carl Edwards shared more memories about Busch from the NASCAR on Prime desk.
“There were two things that were interesting to me about Kyle,” Earnhardt said. “He strived to try to win every single race he wanted to run. We saw how badly he hated to lose. And he did that because he wanted to be considered one of the greatest, if not the greatest, race car driver in NASCAR. He strived and worked toward that goal every day. The other thing that I see about Kyle, and I’ve learned about Kyle over the last several years, is how badly he wanted to be appreciated. And I hope wherever he is, that he is seeing all of the great things that everybody has been saying about him over the last couple of days. People have made comments like, ‘He’s a hero of mine.’ ‘I want to emulate him.’ ‘I wanted to be like him.’ That is all Kyle Busch ever really wanted, was to have that type of impact on the younger drivers coming up through the series.”
Busch and Earnhardt used to be on-track rivals, and Earnhardt made the following post on X on Thursday after the news of Busch’s death emerged:
“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. We did some media together also to laugh through some of the things we put each other through many years ago. Most recently we had even been discussing him running my Late Model at Wilkesboro this summer. He seemed extremely happy and we had planned to meet up next Thursday to get his seat to the shop. He laughed over the idea of his fans and JRM fans having to cheer in unison during that race.
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“Kyle was one of the greatest drivers in NASCAR history. No one can deny that. But he was also a father, a husband, brother, son, and a friend to many. My heart is broken for the Busch family. I will never be able to make sense of this loss but I am thankful that we had found a way to become friends.”
The post Dale Earnhardt Jr. remembers Kyle Busch in tribute on Prime Video appeared first on Awful Announcing.
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