Kyle Busch, NASCAR’s Winningest Driver, Dead at 41
The sudden, unexpected loss of one of the sport’s giants has devastated the racing community.
Kyle Busch, the winningest driver in NASCAR history, has passed away after a sudden illness. He was 41 years old.
With 234 wins across NASCAR’s top three divisions – including his triumphant 69th Truck Series win just last weekend at Dover – Busch was, simply put, one of the greatest to ever do it. At one point in his career, he was able to lay claim to having won a race on every active NASCAR Cup Series track. He was the all-time wins leader in both the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series (102) and the Craftsman Truck Series (69). He is ranked ninth all-time for Cup Series victories (63), with two championships (2015 and 2019).
In a career spanning over two decades, Busch – nicknamed “Rowdy” after the antagonist in “Days of Thunder,” one of his favorite movies – spent the early years of his career racking up wins and controversy in equal measure. Like his older brother, Kurt, he was a notorious hothead, with little patience for the sanctioning body or the press. We loved him anyway.
Busch may have been outspoken in his distaste for officials and reporters at times, but he always loved his fans. There are countless stories posted online of Busch giving hugs to little kids and grandmas. When he departed the driver’s seat of his Joe Gibbs Racing #18 M&M’s Camry to drive the #8 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing – a man he once had a fistfight with – it seems that the rest of the fans began to love him, too. Boos gave way to cheers, and Busch turned from a villain to a beloved elder statesman of the sport.
Back in 2015, Busch sustained serious injuries to both of his legs in an awful crash during the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series opener ahead of the Daytona 500. He fought hard to recover, winning the race at Sonoma to lock himself into the playoffs before eventually winning the championship. More importantly, he also recovered in time to be there for the birth of his son.
Off the race track, he was a devoted husband to his wife, Samantha, and a doting father to their two children, Brexton and Lennix. Through their foundation, the Kyle and Samantha Busch Bundle of Joy Fund, they’ve helped numerous couples experience the joy of parenthood through IVF. Busch had stated on several occasions that he always intended to retire from full-time Cup series racing when his son, Brexton, was sixteen, and race a full season of Trucks with him. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family during this heartbreaking loss.
Just last Friday, during his front stretch interview after his Dover Truck series victory, Amanda Busick asked Busch why those moments never seemed to grow old. Kyle, who had just performed his trademark bow for the audience, replied, “Because you never know when the last one is.”
Image: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images