When you’ve been in motorsports journalism long enough, there is a certain understanding at play unique from most other sports of the discipline.
There is extremely little chance that in, say, baseball, that there will be a death on the field. In the 150 years since the intial formation of the National League, there’s been exactly one death during a professional baseball game. In 106 years of the NFL, there’s still only been one on-field death.
Although the number of deaths in motorsports has dramatically fallen from the 1960s, there is still a very real chance of it or serious injury. We had a tire fly out of the speedway during the Indianapolis 500 just a couple of years ago, and thankfully, nobody was hurt.
So, as media, we must accept this reality. In my own time, I’ve seen three go in major racing series I watch or cover. Dan Wheldon, Jules Bianchi and Justin Wilson were all great men taken far too soon. Their deaths were tragedies.
Even with that understanding, it’s never easy to take.
But then, a situation like this occurs, and it feels like your heart was just ripped out of you.
We do not know exactly what happened to Kyle Busch, and to speculate is to go against the wishes of the family at this time.
Here’s a dirty secret: when I was a teenager, before I became a journalist, Busch was my favorite driver.
NASCAR has always been full of characters. Even when the moonshiners who helped build it, like Curtis Turner, began to leave the picture, their mantle was passed on to new, larger-than-life characters.
Dale Earnhardt was one of them. The 1990s were defined by the battle between Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon. The old thrillseeker against the new corporate, Madison Avenue-friendly kid.
When Earnhardt died in 2001, that spirit seemed to go with him. As the years went on and more of that old guard moved on, it seemed like Tony Stewart may well be the final genuine article in NASCAR.
Then came 2008.
Busch began his career at Hendrick Motorsports, where he was seen as more of a little brother to teammates Gordon and Jimmie Johnson. Busch was already the little brother to Kurt Busch, himself a Cup champion.
Kyle Busch instead joined JGR in 2008, won eight races, and became the latest iteration of that Earnhardt spirit. It was officially the start of The Kyle Busch Show.
It didn’t matter the series or the race. If Busch entered it, he was probably going to win or at least be a contender for it, and he entered so many of them. If there’s one other thing Busch loved in life besides his family and winning races, it was just competing in races.
He relished being the bad guy, even going so far as to literally wear the black hat for a NASCAR Illustrated cover in the absolute epitome of that old Earnhardt adage of “as long as they’re making noise.” He’d flip off NASCAR officials and wreck Dale Earnhardt Jr. just to try to win a race.
But he was also always just the best for his fans, the Rowdy Nation. Stories are abound all over the internet in this aftermath about Busch making sure to support the people supporting him.
Plenty of people thought he was an asshole. And don’t get me wrong, he seemed prickly if he wasn’t in the mood. But above all else, Busch cared so much about whatever he was doing.
Sure, he’d get out of a NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series car and say, “I’m so happy we finished second” with the sarcasm usually reserved for finishing 32nd, but winning just meant so, so much to him. He couldn’t just put on a happy face.
I’m sure most drivers do like to keep track of when they win in different series and tracks, but not to the level Busch did. I remember a rumor at one point that he was going to enter an ARCA Menards Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Why would he do this? Well, Silly, because he hadn’t won there when he was coming up through the ranks and needed to cross that off.
It seems incredibly cruel that the biggest completionist in NASCAR will not get a few more shots at that final cross-off to finish his Cup career. Unlike other mainstays like Terry Labonte who raced for years in the Daytona 500 but never really came close to winning it, Busch came close on so many different occasions. But in 21 attempts, he didn’t get that last trophy he needed.
Busch talked often about racing long enough to race in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series against his son, Brexton.
Above is the final social media post Busch made prior to the day he died.
Somehow, it makes the Daytona failure seem like just a silly tidbit in comparison.
The fact that Busch never got the chance to race against his son in the Truck competition is horrible. The fact that he won’t be able to watch him or his daughter Lennix grow up is even worse. Samantha Busch will now have to do it without her husband at her side.
Please spare a thought for Kurt Busch as well, who has just had blow after blow after blow in his life these last few years. He now has to grapple with this struggle. I think the entire NASCAR community at this point wants nothing less than the best for Kurt.
It’s all just unfair.
When Kyle Busch was first coming up at Hendrick, one of his closest friends was Ricky Hendrick. Ricky actually owned and managed the NOAPS team Busch drove for back then.
Hendrick died in his own tragedy at 24 years old in 2004. Over the years, whenever a Hendrick driver does well, it’s not uncommon for them to turn their cap backward to honor the memory of Ricky, who would often do the same.
This year, when Busch ran in the Truck Series for Spire Motorsports, he ran in the now-iconic Hendrick Cars scheme that was first run by Ricky. When he won his first race of the year at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Busch turned the cap to honor his friend in the corresponding FOX interview.
After winning his second and final NASCAR race in the same truck at Dover Motor Speedway last week, Busch didn’t turn the cap for Ricky. There’s been a lot of talk in the aftermath of his death of his prophetic words, but not much on the cap.
Why didn’t he? We may never know now.
I am sure, however, his old friend gave him some grief for it when he got up there.
Michael has watched NASCAR for over 25 years and has covered it on-and-off for 14.
In addition to Frontstretch he also writes sporadically for his own websites GrandPrixFocus.com and StockCarFocus.com.