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NASCAR drivers keeping Kyle Busch’s memory alive nearly two months after death

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HAMPTON, GA — Bubba Wallace couldn’t help but laugh while speaking to reporters Saturday, July 11 inside the media center at EchoPark Speedway.

One of the major storylines of the weekend heading into Sunday’s Quaker State 400 at the racetrack just south of Atlanta are the rivalries between two pairs of drivers – Austin Hill and Shane van Gisbergen, and Carson Hocevar and Zane Smith – and how incidents at Chicagoland Speedway last weekend got them called into the NASCAR hauler. Drivers having closed-door meetings with NASCAR’s brass is akin to a student being summoned to the principal’s office.

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Asked if he had ever been called to the hauler for clashing with another driver, Wallace said, “Oh yeah. Me and Kyle Busch had one after Watkins Glen in 2019. That one was interesting…

“Makes me miss Kyle.”

During that race at the road course, Busch and Wallace had battled side-by-side for a while before Busch shoved his way ahead. Wallace then nudged Busch’s bumper heading into a turn, sending his No. 18 Toyota spinning. After the race, Wallace gave a very Busch-esque response when asked about the run-in, saying, “I won’t put up with no (expletive). So I flat out wrecked his ass back.”

Seven years later – and now nearly two months since Busch’s shocking death – Wallace chuckles when remembering how it all went down and how the two were called into the NASCAR hauler.

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“We both agreed to disagree, and I remember he was like, ‘Dude, why don’t you just come up and talk to me after the race?’ I said, ‘That wouldn’t have been good for either of us,’” Wallace said Saturday. “He just looked at me like, ‘Okay.’ Typical Kyle. But yeah, me and KB had a meeting. It was fun.”

Busch’s presence still lingers over the top level of stockcar racing. At EchoPark Speedway, it’s hard to go anywhere without being reminded of the two-time Cup Series champion.

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See the most heartfelt moments with Kyle Busch and his family.

Kyle Busch’s career left a lasting mark on NASCAR, with achievements and moments that defined his time in the sport.

Above, Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 7 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, celebrates with daughter, Lennix Busch son, Brexton Busch and wife, Samantha Busch in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Fr8 Racing 208 at Echo Park Speedway on Feb. 21, 2026, in Hampton, Georgia.

(Sean Gardner, Getty Images)

Fans are still wearing Busch hats and T-shirts. A grassy area near the track has his black No. 8 printed on it. The hauler that carries his renumbered car – No. 33, now being driven by Hill – still has a big No. 8 on its door. Televisions around the speedway and inside the media center are playing Busch highlights, like when he won a 2007 Truck Series race here after being blackflagged for his window net falling down, leading Busch to drive one-handed at about 180 mph for a bit.

And then there’s Wallace’s No. 23 Toyota, which still has Busch’s nickname, “Rowdy,” on his namerail above his driver’s side window. Busch gave Wallace his first big break in NASCAR, giving Wallace a full-time ride with his Truck Series team in 2013.

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“I think it’s special just to continue to honor him in any way we can,” Wallace said.

Busch died at the age of 41 on May 21 due to hemorrhagic shock and disseminated intravascular coagulation, complications arising from sepsis caused by presumed bacterial pneumonia, which he had been dealing with for “days to weeks,” according to his death certificate. His passing shocked the racing community and tributes have continued to pour in.

Undoubtedly a future first-ballot NASCAR Hall of Famer, Busch owns wins records for the Truck Series and the second-tier O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, and is NASCAR’s all-time winningest driver across its top three national touring circuits with 234 combined victories. He also owns the Cup Series record for most consecutive seasons with at least one win, taking checkered flags at the top level from 2005 through 2023.

His expert skill as a driver – and unabashed, fearless, aggressive and unapologetic style of racing – are well remembered. Like that 2007 black-flag truck race, fans won’t forget his run-ins with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kevin Harvick, his battles with Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski, his taunts to the crowds and celebratory bows after victories, and triumphs like his 2015 championship season where he went on to win the Cup Series title after breaking his leg at Daytona.

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But drivers like Daniel Suarez are trying to ensure that people don’t forget that Busch was more than just one of the best wheelmen the sport has ever seen.

“A lot of people knew Kyle as a racing driver. A lot of fans either love him or hate him, but not many people knew him as a person, and I feel like that’s a beautiful part,” Suarez said. “He was such a good person. He helped so many people, including myself. Kyle the racing driver, we all know that one, but the person one, the thoughtful one, the kind of heart that he had, that’s the one that I also want to make sure that people remember.”

1 / 24

See the most heartfelt moments with Kyle Busch and his family.

Kyle Busch, driver of the #7 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, celebrates with daughter, Lennix Busch son, Brexton Busch and wife, Samantha Busch in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Fr8 Racing 208 at Echo Park Speedway on February 21, 2026, in Hampton, Georgia.

(Sean Gardner, Getty Images)

Suarez won the first race held after Busch’s death, a weather-shortened Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. After that race and many times since, Suarez has told the story about when he moved to the U.S. in 2015 to race full-time in the O’Reilly Series for Joe Gibbs Racing. The native of Monterrey, Mexico is a product of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program, but came to the U.S. not knowing much about the country.

Busch, unprompted, called Suarez every week, offering him advice on racing and how to adapt to life in a new country. Suarez went on to win the championship in the O’Reilly Series the next year before moving up to the Cup Series, where he now races for Spire Motorsports. Spire operates out of what used to be the facilities of Kyle Busch Motorsports, his former Truck Series team.

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“I think about how fortunate I was not just to have him as a friend, but also as a mentor and as a competitor, and how much he actually made me better,” Suarez said. “He definitely left us way way too soon, but legends live forever. You know, he’s the kind of guy that he will never leave for real. We’re gonna be thinking about him forever.”

NASCAR fans will likely be thinking about Busch next weekend too. At North Wilkesboro, Chase Elliott is set to fill in for two races that Busch was originally set to compete in. Elliott will drive the No. 8 late-model for JR Motorsports in Friday’s CARS Tour event, then drive the No. 7 Chevrolet truck for Spire Motorsports on Saturday.

The No. 7 truck is the last machine that Busch won in, taking the checkered flag at Dover just six days before his death.

“It definitely will be special,” Elliott said. “I would love to go and get a win in honor of him and his career, and just the friend that he was to me over the years. I don’t know how my name got drawn or asked or what it was, but I appreciate (JR Motorsports and Spire Motorsports) for thinking of me and letting me have that honor to go run those races.”

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NASCAR announced last week that it will host a Celebration of Life for Busch on Oct. 9 at Charlotte Motor Speedway after the Truck Series race. The service will be free to the public.

“Doing it after the Charlotte truck race, that’s right up Kyle’s alley,” said Carson Hocevar, Busch’s Truck Series teammate at Spire.

Wallace, who said that he’ll run the “Rowdy” namerail on his car for the rest of the year, was happy to see that NASCAR is going to host an event for Busch, but he doesn’t want that to be the end of the sport remembering him.

“I think it’ll be – I don’t want to say closure, because for me I don’t ever want that chapter to close,” Wallace said. “More so for the fans, I think it’s more for them to have a little bit of closure with Kyle not being here.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NASCAR drivers keeping Kyle Busch’s memory alive nearly two months after death

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