{"id":814115,"date":"2026-05-22T07:52:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T07:52:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/814115\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T07:52:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T07:52:19","slug":"kyle-busch-dead-legendary-nascar-driver-was-41","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/814115\/","title":{"rendered":"Kyle Busch dead: Legendary NASCAR driver was 41"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Kyle Busch<\/a>, a two-time champion of the NASCAR Cup Series and the association\u2019s winningest driver in history, has died at age 41.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are saddened and heartbroken to share the news of the passing of Kyle Busch, a two-time Cup champion and one of our sport\u2019s greatest and fiercest drivers,\u201d NASCAR said<\/a> in a statement Thursday afternoon. \u201cWe extend our deepest condolences to the Busch family, Richard Childress Racing and the entire motorsports community.\u201d<\/p>\n

No cause of death has been disclosed.<\/p>\n

Earlier on Thursday, Busch\u2019s family posted a statement<\/a> on the driver\u2019s X account saying that Busch had been hospitalized with a \u201csevere illness\u201d and would not be participating in this weekend\u2019s NASCAR events at Charlotte Motor Speedway \u2014 including the Coca-Cola 600, a race Busch won in 2018.<\/p>\n

During a Cup Series race on May 10 at Watkins Glen International in Dix, N.Y., Busch told his crew on the radio that he would need medical aid and a shot after the race. The TV broadcast mentioned that Busch had been dealing with a sinus cold all week. He ended up finishing in eighth place, his best Cup Series finish of the season.<\/p>\n

Last week at Dover Motor Speedway in Delaware, Busch finished 17th in the Cup Series exhibition All-Star race but won his second Truck Series race of the year.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbsolutely cannot comprehend this news,\u201d Denny Hamlin, NASCAR driver and former Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, posted on social media. \u201cWe just need to think of his family during this time. We love you KB.\u201d<\/p>\n

Busch raced in NASCAR\u2019s top division for 22 full-time seasons, winning the Cup Series championship in 2015 and 2019 and the series regular-season championship in 2018 and 2019. He won 63 Cup Series races, 69 in the Truck Series and 102 in the XFinity Series, making him the winningest driver in NASCAR\u2019s top three series combined.<\/p>\n

The last time Busch missed a Cup Series race was in 2015, when he was recovering from a compound leg fracture and broken foot and was unable to take part in the first 11 events that season.<\/p>\n

\u201cA future Hall of Famer, Kyle was a rare talent, one who comes along once in a generation,\u201d NASCAR said in a separate statement released Thursday, also on behalf of the Busch family and Richard Childress Racing. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe was fierce, he was passionate, he was immensely skilled and he cared deeply about the sport and fans. Throughout a career that spanned more than two decades, Kyle set records in national series wins, won championships at NASCAR\u2019s highest level and fostered the next generation of drivers as an owner in the Truck Series. <\/p>\n

\u201cHis sharp wit and competitive spirit sparked a deep emotional connection with race fans of every age, creating the proud and loyal \u2018Rowdy Nation.\u2019 … NASCAR lost a giant of the sport today, far too soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Born May 2, 1985, in Las Vegas, Busch was surrounded by racing. His father, Tom, was a mechanic and local racer who had relocated from Illinois with his wife, Gaye. Busch\u2019s brother, Kurt, was seven years older and an eventual Cup Series champion (2004) and NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee.<\/p>\n

Working his way up from go-karts in cul-de-sacs and parking lots to full-bodied Late Model competition, Busch earned the respect of his older brother early on.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou think I\u2019m a pretty good race car driver?\u201d Kurt Busch said in 2001, four years before his younger sibling\u2019s rookie season. \u201cWait until you see my brother. He\u2019s the best driver in the family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Busch made his O\u2019Reilly Series debut for Hendrick Motorsports on May 24, 2003, with a second-place finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Entering the series as a full-time driver the next year, Busch won five races and finished second overall to Martin Truex Jr.<\/p>\n

Around that time, Busch started what would become his signature celebration, a showman\u2019s bow after each win.<\/p>\n

Known as \u201cRowdy\u201d and \u201cWild Thing\u201d for his post-race fights and feuds with other drivers, Busch first reached the Cup Series in 2004 before his full-fledge rookie campaign the following season. The 2005 rookie of the year, Busch became the series\u2019 youngest winner in his 31st start, one of four wins during his three full seasons at Hendrick.<\/p>\n

Busch joined the Gibbs team in 2008 and remained there until switching to Childress and taking over the No. 8 Chevrolet in 2023.<\/p>\n

After his win at Dover this month, Busch was asked how many races he wanted to win before he stopped racing.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou take whatever you can get, man,\u201d Busch said. \u201cYou never know when the last one is going to be, so cherish them all \u2014 trust me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Busch is survived by his wife Samantha, son Brexton, 10, and daughter Lennix, 4.<\/p>\n

The Associated Press contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kyle Busch, a two-time champion of the NASCAR Cup Series and the association\u2019s winningest driver in history, has…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":814116,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2],"tags":[330602,330603,330604,51,22238,1406,1459,330606,50,330607,44899,5950,330605,1926,11004,2450,52,2452],"class_list":["post-814115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-busch-family","tag-cup-series-race","tag-fierce-driver","tag-headlines","tag-kyle-busch","tag-nascar","tag-nascar-cup-series","tag-nascar-event","tag-news","tag-race-busch","tag-richard-childress-racing","tag-season","tag-second-truck-series-race","tag-sport","tag-statement","tag-thursday","tag-top-stories","tag-week"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116617147017697765","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=814115"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814115\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/814116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=814115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=814115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=814115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}