‘Kyle Busch is an American badass’: NASCAR star will loom even larger in death
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- NASCAR star driver Kyle Busch died suddenly on Thursday, at age 41, after severe illness.
- NASCAR CEO Steve O’Donnell called Busch "an American badass"; sport plans tributes.
- RCR will suspend use of Busch’s No. 8 on Cup car; number will be reserved for Brexton.
There is much we still don’t know about the exact circumstances of Kyle Busch’s shocking death Thursday. But we do know one thing for certain:
The NASCAR star’s legend isn’t going anywhere.
In fact, I believe Busch will loom even larger in death, much like the late Dale Earnhardt Sr. has for 25 years.
As it should, Busch’s passing will dominate the news all weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway in what is always their biggest month of the year. No matter who wins the Coke 600 and no matter what happens, we already know the story that everyone will remember about this week in 20 years:
This was the week Kyle Busch died, at age 41.
I do hope whoever does win the Coke 600 in Charlotte mimics the grand, sweeping bow Busch would do after most of his victories, emerging out of a plume of scorching burnout smoke the way the magicians in his Las Vegas hometown often did. That would be a fitting tribute, and one that could be carried on throughout the NASCAR season and beyond, in much the way Alan Kulwicki’s reverse victory lap has long threaded its way through the sport.
NASCAR CEO Steve O’Donnell spoke to the media and the sport’s fans Friday afternoon, roughly 24 hours since Busch’s death was announced (the exact cause and timetable of Busch’s death remains unclear, although O’Donnell promised that it would be understood “in due time.”)
I thought O’Donnell encapsulated Busch’s legacy as well as anyone has with a single quote.
“Kyle Busch, to me, is an American badass,” he said.
There was even talk in Charlotte that the races might be postponed, in recognition of this seismic turn of events. But O’Donnell squashed that notion, saying: “Kyle Busch would probably be pretty pissed off if we didn’t race. So we’re going to honor his memory and make sure people know what he was all about.”
‘Even the haters will miss Kyle’
What was Kyle Busch about?
Much like Earnhardt, Busch had his rough edges. It would be a disservice to his memory to sand all of those away and make a Hallmark card version of his life: The guy’s nickname was “Rowdy,” after all. He stirred things up. He got in scuffles, both verbal and physical.
As his former racing teammate Tony Stewart wrote Friday on social media: “Kyle was one of a kind. Whether it was to see him win or to see someone beat him, you watched. Even the haters will miss Kyle.”
That’s exactly right. As any movie director knows, you need a good villain for a film to succeed. Busch was happy to play that role, especially early in his career. Like a pro wrestling heel, he embraced the boos, gesturing to fans in pre-race introductions to bring them on.
But Busch had softened in recent years, particularly around his wife Samantha and their children — son Brexton and daughter Lennix. The Samantha and Kyle Busch Bundle of Joy fund, inspired by their own journey with infertility and Brexton’s eventual birth, has helped hundreds of families with the financial and emotional challenges of IVF. Donations have been pouring in since Kyle Busch’s death, and that’s a fine place to start if you want to remember the racer.
Another Busch in NASCAR?
Brexton, at age 11, is an aspiring racer himself, just like his father and his uncle Kurt (also a NASCAR champion and a hall of famer). O’Donnell said Friday that he knew that Kyle “had a dream to race against his son in a national series event.”
That will never happen now, but I would bet that Brexton is going to be a NASCAR driver himself one day. Richard Childress Racing announced Friday that the organization would suspend use of Busch’s No. 8 and instead run the No. 33 at Charlotte Motor Speedway this weekend and beyond.
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Busch, a two-time NASCAR Cup winner in 2015 and 2019, had helped design the stylized No. 8 for RCR and driven with it on the side of his Cup car in recent years. Now, RCR said in its statement: “The No. 8 is reserved and ready for Brexton Busch when he is ready to go NASCAR racing.”
So there is that — the son planning to enter the same field, just as Dale Earnhardt Jr. did. There will be Kyle Busch’s NASCAR hall of fame induction in Charlotte. He will certainly be a first-ballot hall of famer — the guy won an astounding 234 races in NASCAR’s top three series — and the only real question is if the hall of fame will change its rules for a year and allow Busch to go in, posthumously, with the class that was just announced.
“Who knows? That could be something we look at,” O’Donnell said.
As for Sunday’s Coke 600, race and NASCAR organizers will need to walk a tricky line. It can’t be all about Busch; after all, the race always contains numerous Memorial Day tributes and it’s also a competition that needs to keep fans engaged for four-plus hours of race time.
But his death will hover over all of it, with tributes from his fellow drivers and from Charlotte Motor Speedway. “Some will probably do some individual things,” O’Donnell said of the drivers, “which is fantastic because they all look up to Kyle.
We have a number of items that are in the works that our fans will be able to look at, to celebrate Kyle. It won’t just be this weekend. He’s going to be part of our sport forever.”
