Sean Gardner/Getty Images
Kyle Busch at the NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race at Dover Motor Speedway on May 17. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
NASCAR driver Kyle Busch passed out in a Chevrolet racing simulator before he was transported to a North Carolina hospital where he died Thursday.
Multiple sources told the Associated Press that 41-year-old father or two became unresponsive while practicing for the upcoming weekend’s events at Charlotte Motor Speedway. That includes the Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 in which he was slated to compete.
He was reportedly rushed from Concord to Charlotte. His family said Thursday morning that Busch had experienced a “severe illness” and would spend the weekend recuperating while a replacement driver drove his number 8 car.
Busch’s family, racing team and NASCAR later released a joint statement confirming “a giant of the sport” had died. His cause of death hasn’t been made public.
Busch told his crew that he wanted to see a doctor after a May 10 race at Watkins Glen racetrack in the Finger Lakes area. An announcer calling that event said Busch had been suffering through a sinus cold all week.He told The Athletic last week that he was “still not great,” but indicated that he seemed to have gotten past a bad cough that was giving him trouble.
Busch and his wife Samantha were parents to an 11-year-old son and a 4-year-old daughter.
The racing community mourned the loss of a driver who’ll be remembered as a fierce competitor.
“Kyle was one of the greatest drivers in NASCAR history,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. posted on X. “No one can deny that.”
Bubba Wallace posted a tribute crediting Busch as a mentor.
“My eyes hurt from all the crying, my heart hurts from the pain,” he said on Instagram.
