Here’s what’s happening this week Inside The Garage: Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Speedway, Ind.) — Alex Palou left Indianapolis Motor Speedway without another Borg Warner Trophy but still remains the INDYCAR points leader. His lead could have been more, though, as Palou was docked five points for a postrace technical infraction following Sunday’s Indianapolis 500. It was another punch on a day when the defending race winner wound up in seventh place despite leading a race-high 59 laps. The Chip Ganassi driver, who has four series titles (including the last three) still has a 37-point lead in the standings over David Malukas, who finished second Sunday to winner Felix Rosenqvist by 0.0233 seconds in the closest finish in race history. That lead could have been 42 points but after the race, technical inspectors found Palou’s front wing violated the rule that says it must not measure less than 8.3 inches when set at any angle. The team was fined $10,000. “INDYCAR Officiating has determined that the non-compliance was the result of an assembly error and not an intentional modification,” the INDYCAR Officiating Board said in a statement. Chip Ganassi Racing said it would not appeal the penalty and it had no intention of trying to gain an advantage. “During technical inspection following Sunday’s Indianapolis 500, a part failure was discovered in the front wing assembly of the No. 10 car,” the CGR statement said. “The failure caused the wing to fall out of compliance with INDYCAR’s technical parameters.” It isn’t rare for racing teams to potentially design a part to meet inspection parameters before an event but then it fails in a way to give them a performance advantage. Racing series typically won’t take intent into account if it is a competitive advantage. [INDY 500 TAKEAWAYS: Wild, Historic Final Lap Of Felix Rosenqvist’s Win] Palou told me and other reporters after his seventh-place finish that he didn’t have the track position (based on strategy) nor the speed at the end to make a run at the leaders. “This place, you know the only important lap is lap 200,” Palou said. “I knew that although we were leading so much at the beginning of the race, the race was going to be at the end. “It was a little bit of a shame that we were not on the optimal strategy, but I’m super happy for the month we had.” With 11 races left in the 18-race schedule, there is plenty of time for the championship to be decided. Currently, there are six drivers within 100 points of Palou — Malukas (37 points behind), Kyle Kirkwood (minus-49), Christian Lundgaard (minus-78), Pato O’Ward (minus-85), Scott McLaughlin (minus-92), and Indy 500 winner Felix Rosenqvist (minus-97). Another Shot At Indy 500 Glory? Helio Castroneves (Meyer Shank), Takuma Sato (Rahal Letterman Lanigan) and Ryan Hunter-Reay (Arrow McLaren) all did one-off rides for the 2026 Indy 500 looking for another Borg Warner Trophy to add to their collection. Castroneves already owns four wins, Sato two and Hunter-Reay one. Sato finished 10th Sunday, Castroneves 25th and Hunter-Reay 32nd. The one driver who certainly would want another shot is Hunter-Reay, whose car spun out from underneath him just 17 laps into the race. “I re-evaluate the situation every year,” Hunter-Reay told me and other reporters outside the care center. “I’m only 15 minutes after I got out of the car. I’ll absolutely want another shot at it, but we’ll reassess that at the right time.” Castroneves had a quick reply: “Who knows? We’ll see.” In The News –NASCAR has made its damaged vehicle policy in the O’Reilly and truck series the same as Cup, where teams will have a designated work area in the garage. Once they go back to the track, they get three laps to meet minimum speed. — Dayton International Speedway is replacing its lighting system with new lights that should make the oval much brighter and also the road course brighter. It will be the first time Musco (lighting company) has used these bulbs/technology in the United States; they have used it in Saudi Arabia. It won’t be ready for August but will be done before January. Not Just A Road Course Guy Shane van Gisbergen had an 11th-place finish at Charlotte on Sunday, lifting him to 14th in the Cup standings. He’s currently the only Trackhouse driver in the top 16 of the standings. Big Day On The Big Day Romain Grosjean is outside the top 20 in the INDYCAR standings, but he was top-10 on Sunday with a ninth-place finish in the Indianapolis 500. Social Spotlight They Said It “Kyle Busch, to me, is an American badass” — NASCAR CEO Steve O’Donnell. In Inside The Garage, Bob Pockrass takes us behind the scenes of the motorsports world the way only he can. Read More

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The NASCAR industry rallied behind the Busch family and then tried to bring some normalcy to its weekend by running the traditional 600-mile race Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Daniel Suarez, who has credited Kyle Busch with helping him in his early days moving from NASCAR’s Mexico series to the United States, won on a late strategy call that put him out front. He held off the field for a few laps, the rains came and the race ended 27 laps before the scheduled distance. It was an emotional win for Spire Motorsports, which is housed in the former Kyle Busch Motorsports shop. Team co-owner Jeff Dickerson was once a spotter and agent for Busch, who died suddenly Thursday from complications of pneumonia and sepsis. “When the rain first started falling, you just find yourself thinking, you’re just like, man, you know you’re going to get some text from him like ‘You lucky a—hole,’” Dickerson said in his post-race news conference. Here are my takeaways: 1. Suarez Takes His Bow It was a big win for Suarez, who now has three wins in 336 career starts. It was his first on a traditional oval, with his other wins on a road course and a drafting track (Atlanta). Even if it took some strategy and rain to do it, Suarez did have to hold off the field. He now sits 10th in the standings, showing that he has had a season worthy of a victory. Suarez is in his first year at Spire, and many had considered this a short-term plan for Spire until it could land someone who had won more consistently. Suarez has driven for Joe Gibbs Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing and Trackhouse Racing, among others, during his Cup career. “It’s no secret I was bouncing a lot in between teams, and at one point I thought my career was going to be over,” Suarez said in his post-race news conference. “But I never stopped believing in myself. I never stopped believing in the person and the driver that I can be.” 2. Great Win for Spire The victory gave Spire two wins this year, as Hocevar won at Talladega last month. The organization previously had just one win, which came in a rain-shortened race at Daytona in 2019. Dickerson last year sold majority ownership of Spire to TWG Motorsports, which also owns Cadillac F1, Andretti Global and several other racing teams. That influx of capital has allowed the organization the ability to compete for employees when it comes to salaries, while also building more depth. Spire drivers are ninth (Carson Hocevar), 10th (Suarez) and 20th (Michael McDowell) in the standings. “I’m glad we’re getting trophies,” Dickerson said. “Our goal was to put two in the playoffs and get three wins this year. Those guys ninth and 10th in points. Still a long ways to go. I don’t want to fumble it.” 3. What If … For Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin, they saw a winning opportunity slip away with the rain. They were on four fresh tires (as opposed to Suarez’s two) but didn’t have enough time to catch him. Bell hates to lose, and he hasn’t won this year. It would have been big for Bell, who’s a former KBM driver. His crew chief, Adam Stevens, was the crew chief for both of Busch’s championships. “I honestly think they made the right call,” Bell said in a broadcast interview after the race. “It is really late, but it is a bummer. It is 2026 for us.” 4. Rough Night For Many There were several hard crashes in the event, ending the day for Austin Cindric, Connor Zilisch, Chase Elliott, Ross Chastain, Ryan Preece and Chase Briscoe. Several of those drivers had bad points days at a pivotal time. Now halfway through the regular season, Briscoe, Preece and Cindric are 15th, 16th and 17th in the standings (16 drivers make the Chase field). Chastain dropped to 23rd, 65 points behind the current cutoff. Preece, who was collected in someone else’s mistake just a week after his own mistake ended his day earlier, tried to be philosophical. “I stepped on it last week [and now] somebody else did,” Preece said in a Ford news release. “I can’t get too mad, I guess.” 4 ½. What’s Next The Cup Series heads to Nashville Superspeedway, a 1.33-mile concrete oval. Read More

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Tributes to the late Kyle Busch were abundant throughout NASCAR’s weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway, especially at Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600. Before the green flag, NASCAR had a special tribute moment to Busch, who died suddenly Thursday as the result of pneumonia complications. He was 41. Busch’s wife, Samantha, and their two children, Brexton and Lennix, were in attendance, along with Busch’s older brother, NASCAR Hall of Famer Kurt Busch. The stylized No. 8 of Busch’s Richard Childress Racing Cheverolet was painted on the CMS infield. As the NASCAR field and others in attendance faced the painted infield, NASCAR CEO Steve O’Donnell delivered a brief tribute to the two-time NASCAR champion. “He competed like he had something to prove every single race, when, in reality, he had already proven everything,” O’Donnell said, standing in front of Samantha, Brexton and Richard Childress. “What I think we’ll miss the most isn’t the wins. It’s the guy who quietly wanted to help a teammate or give some advice. It was the husband, the father or the guy who quietly did things for others when no one was watching.” When O’Donnell was done, everyone shared a moment of silence to honor Busch ahead of the race. Kurt also walked onto the infield and laid eight white roses across the No. 8 in the grass. Austin Hill replaced Busch for Richard Childress Racing but behind the wheel of the No. 33 Chevrolet. Childress said the No. 8 car will remain vacant, waiting for 11-year-old Brexton if he advances to the Cup Series someday. Additionally, NASCAR teams, drivers, the broadcast and the fans in the grandstands were silent during Lap 8 of the race to further emphasize the tremendous impact one of the greatest drivers had on the sport and its community. [PUSHING THE LIMIT: Kevin Harvick Reflects On Kyle Busch Relationship] Other tributes throughout the weekend included drivers wearing Kyle Busch apparel, sharing their favorite stories and memories and winners bowing with the checkered flag, Busch’s signature victorious move. Cars also raced with No. 8 decals, and fans wrote messages on the grid before the Coca-Cola 600. The motorsports world has also honored Busch throughout the weekend, including INDYCAR’s Indianapolis 500 on Sunday. Read More

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Kyle Busch’s iconic No. 18 will be on the track at the 2026 INDY 500. Romain Grosjean will be driving his usual No. 18 car in the INDY 500, but it will have a different look. The No. 18 font will be that which Busch used for 15 years in NASCAR. The idea came from FOX Sports commentator Townsend Bell. From there, Joe Gibbs Racing helped finish the job to make it happen. Busch, a two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and 63-time winner, passed away suddenly on Thursday. His loss was felt in Charlotte, where the Coca-Cola 600 will take place on Sunday, as well as in Indianapolis, where drivers paid tribute to the extremely competitive Busch. “He was an extreme racer, one of the best you’d ever see on track, and I’m just speaking about his skill set,” two-time INDY 500 winner Josef Newgarden told reporters on Friday. “I’m sure that the toughest part about it is just what he leaves behind with his kids and what they have to go through. Seven-time NASCAR Cup champion Jimmie Johnson was in Indianapolis in the week leading up to the race and paid tribute to Busch, as well. “The bravery, just natural skill, and then being able to tie that all back to the engineering process and communicating what he’s feeling, and expanding on that, and understanding cars, and the build [of the cars],” Johnson told our Bob Pockrass and another reporter. “Technically, in [knowing] the build of a car, he’s one of the best. He had that old school know-how and understanding, but could relate to the engineers — which is very special on its own. “And then he had all this bravery and skill to match it up.” Read More

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The 2026 INDYCAR season has already delivered stellar moments, even before “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” That highly anticipated race happens on Sunday, May 24, with the 110th Running of the Indianapolis 500. Coverage for the Indy 500 begins at 10 a.m. ET. You can watch the Indy 500 pre-race and race broadcasts on FOX and stream on FOX One. Ahead of all the action, we’ve rounded up the best drivers to grace the course. Here are the 10 best Indianapolis 500 drivers of all time. 10 Best Indy 500 Drivers Of All Time 10. Dario Franchitti Although he had one of the shorter Indy 500 careers on this list, Franchitti managed to compile some impressive results. He earned three victories at the track between 2007-2012. Moreover, he added three other top-10 finishes to his name despite participating in just 10 races. His best stretch was when he claimed six top-seven finishes in seven attempts from 2005 and 2012. 9. Arie Luyendyk Luyendyk won the Indy 500 twice, but it was a mixed bag overall. He raced in the event every year from 1985 to 2002 and withdrew in 2003, but he finished outside the top 10 in 10 different races. Still, few can match the success he found, with seven top-10 finishes at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. 8. Louis Meyer The first three-time winner in the race’s history, Meyer is one of the top drivers who isn’t talked about nearly enough. He had a truly remarkable race in 1936, becoming just the second racer in history — and last — to win the Indy 500 from a starting position of 28th or lower. Meyer grabbed first and second, respectively, in his first two tries in Indianapolis. 7. Bobby Unser It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. Never has that been more true than with Unser, who had just one top-10 finish in his first four tries at Indy. However, Unser would eventually win the Indy 500 three times (1968, 1975 and 1981). In his last four starts, he had three top-six finishes, including winning the event on his last time at the track at age 47. 6. Johnny Rutherford Another three-time Indy 500 winner, Rutherford claimed his victories between 1974 and 1980. Rutherford had a bit of a slow start to this race, finishing 18th or lower in each of his first nine times at the track. He then turned in four straight top-10 finishes, including winning in 1974 and 1976 and grabbing second in 1975. 5. Wilbur Shaw As good as Rutherford’s three-year stretch was, Shaw one-ups him with his bonkers four-year run. From 1937 to 1940, Shaw placed first, second, first and first. A run like that automatically vaults you into the top five in the history of the Indy 500. Before that, it had been an up-and-down race for Shaw, but you cannot overlook just how dominant he was overall, with three victories and seven top-five finishes. 4. Helio Castroneves Castroneves is the first of four drivers on this list tied for the most wins (four) at the Indy 500. He earned his most recent victory in 2021, while his previous three wins came between 2001 and 2009. He’s also one of just six drivers to claim back-to-back Indy 500 victories, doing so in 2001 and 2002. Perhaps the most remarkable part of his driving career at IMS is the fact that he owns the record for the longest span between his first and last win — 20 years. 3. Al Unser Sr. Unser isn’t just tied for the most Indy 500 wins, claiming his four in 1970, 1971, 1978 and 1987. He’s also the oldest winner ever at 47 years, 360 days old, slightly edging out his brother, Bobby. In his second-to-last race at IMS in 1992, Unser finished in third, while his son, Al Unser Jr., was the winner. 2. A.J. Foyt Foyt is undoubtedly deserving of one of the top spots on this list as the first four-time winner in the race’s history, finishing in first place in 1961, 1964, 1967 and 1977. Most impressive about his career in Indy, though, is that Foyt has the most starts there of any driver (35), including racing in every single one from 1958 to 1992. 1. Rick Mears The other driver tied for the most wins at IMS, Mears dominated in Indy. He started 11 times on the front row, with six of those times coming consecutively from 1986 to 1991 — both of which are records at the track. He has also claimed a record six pole positions at the event and is one of just 12 racers to earn back-to-back pole positions. Check out all of our Daily Rankers. Read More

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As Kyle Busch was remembered and honored by those at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday, why he died suddenly Thursday was also revealed. The Busch family released a short statement Saturday morning: “The medical evaluation provided to the Busch Family concluded that severe pneumonia progressed into sepsis, resulting in rapid and overwhelming associated complications.” A 9-1-1 call at 5:32 p.m. ET on Wednesday from the Chevrolet motorsports center that houses its racing simulator reported that the 41-year-old Busch was on the bathroom floor, still conscious but overheated and coughing up blood. His death was announced about 24 hours later, following a Thursday morning news release that Busch was suffering from a severe illness. Richard Childress Racing has Austin Hill in the Cup Series car this weekend at CMS, and the team changed the car number from No. 8 to No. 33, planning to reserve the No. 8 until Busch’s 11-year-old son, Brexton, can use it if he competes in NASCAR. When the Cup garage opened Saturday morning, Busch’s car and that of teammate Austin Dillon were unloaded first in a silent garage. There are expected to be tributes throughout the race weekend, with the annual Memorial Day weekend Coca-Cola 600 scheduled for Sunday night. His competitors talked about him somberly Saturday morning. Joe Gibbs, with whom Busch won two Cup titles with over 15 years at Joe Gibbs Racing, echoed the industry sentiment of thoughts for the family, Busch’s wife, Samantha, and children, Brexton and Lennix. “Honestly, it’s the worst thing that can happen in life,” Gibbs, who has survived the death of both of his sons when they each died at age 49, said in a news conference Saturday. “We just want to encourage [the family].” Gibbs told a story about Busch finishing second in a race, and after talking to the press, he went up to Gibbs and said: “Your cars suck.” The NFL and NASCAR Hall of Famer laughed at the memory. “That guy had great courage,” Gibbs said. “He was not afraid of almost anything, and he had a burning desire to race. It was just inside of him.” Several drivers in the last couple of days have talked about their interactions with Busch, how he made them the drivers they are and how he was one of the icons of the sport, where he owns the record for most national series wins (234), including ninth on the list of Cup wins (63). Brad Keselowski, one of Busch’s most bitter rivals, said he would do one of Busch’s signature bows if he wins the race Sunday. “The sport won’t be the same with Kyle,” Keselowski said. Read More

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Richard Childress Racing won’t race the No. 8 again. At least not until Kyle Busch’s son, Brexton, wants to use it. The two-time Cup champion Kyle Busch, 41, died suddenly Thursday, and RCR will renumber the No. 8 car to the No. 33. “Kyle Busch was instrumental in the design of RCR’s stylized No. 8, and it has become synonymous with Kyle and an important symbol for his fans and the NASCAR industry,” RCR said in a statement. “No one can carry it forward to the level that he did. The No. 8 is reserved and ready for Brexton Busch when he is ready to go NASCAR racing.” Brexton Busch, 11, is an aspiring NASCAR driver, and Kyle had hoped to race against him in NASCAR’s truck series when he became eligible to return to some tracks at age 16. When RCR driver Dale Earnhardt died in 2001, RCR suspended its use of the No. 3 car until Childress’ grandson, Austin Dillon, began using it in his career, including his first Cup season in 2014. NASCAR assigns numbers on an annual basis, but NASCAR typically allows organizations to ask for a number even if they do not intend to use it under special circumstances. NASCAR’s current rules state that a Cup driver must be 18 years old. Austin Hill will drive the No. 33 Cup car this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The No. 33 is what RCR has used for its part-time Cup car in recent seasons. Read More

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Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Speedway, Ind.) — Kyle Kirkwood remembers first meeting Kyle Busch. It was just the second professional motorsports race he had ever attended. He believes it was at the age of 7. And he wanted to get the hat signed. That hat remains part of his racing trophy and memorabilia collection. The Andretti INDYCAR driver calls it a pivotal moment in his racing career. “That was like one of the first moments that I got around professional cars,” Kirkwood said at a post-Indianapolis 500 practice news conference Friday. “In a way, he turned me on to motor racing and wanting to move forward from karting.” Busch died suddenly Thursday at age 41, a day after being taken to the hospital for having trouble breathing and coughing up blood following a session in the Chevrolet racing simulator. The motorsports world is mourning the loss of the two-time Cup champion. Kirkwood said he met Busch at Texas Motor Speedway. “That was the first professional racer that I think I met from all forms of motorsports,” Kirkwood said. “I remember I got that signature, and for many years — still to this day, I still have that hat. I still have it with my trophies at my house. “But I remember that moment kind of really turned me on to racing. It was one of those moments where I’m never going to wash my hand again, you know? I think I was probably 7 years old or something like that. I fell in love with motorsports kind of after that and then meeting a few other guys and falling in love with INDYCAR.” Seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, also a former Indy 500 driver, was in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway garage taking in practice. He was also watching some of his Legacy Motor Club pit crew members who are on the pit crew of the Arrow McLaren car of Ryan Hunter-Reay. He said he recently talked to Busch. Busch, like Johnson experienced late in his Cup career, was mired in a long winless streak. They talked about feeling they could still win amid the slump. Johnson told me and another reporter that he will remember Busch for his bravery, among other things. “The bravery, just natural skill, and then being able to tie that all back to the engineering process and communicating what he’s feeling, and expanding on that, and understanding cars, and the build [of the cars],” Johnson said. “Technically, in [knowing] the build of a car, he’s one of the best. He had that old school know-how and understanding, but could relate to the engineers — which is very special on its own. “And then he had all this bravery and skill to match it up.” NASCAR Cup Series driver Carson Hocevar and Busch didn’t have a strong relationship but were teammates when they both raced trucks for Spire Motorsports, which bought the Kyle Busch Motorsports trucks program a few years ago. “Whether he disliked me or not on Sundays, when it came to … at Spire, we were teammates,” Hocevar said on the FOX telecast of INDYCAR’s Carb Day practice Friday. “That said a lot about him.” Katherine Legge, who is attempting to do both the Indy 500 and the NASCAR Coke 600 on Sunday, said Busch and his wife, Samantha, welcomed her into the NASCAR garage. “A lot of the drivers don’t even say hi, but they took the time to get to know me and give me some help and advice, and I would class them as friends,” Legge said at Friday’s post-practice news conference. “So it’s desperately sad. … Racing has lost one of the greatest drivers, in my opinion, of all time.” Busch won more NASCAR national series races (234) than any other driver in series history and ranked ninth all-time in Cup wins with 63. Josef Newgarden, a two-time INDYCAR series champion, went to one of Busch’s two Cup championship parties. He considered them acquaintances and reacted to Busch’s death in the view of them both being parents. Newgarden has two young sons; Busch was the father of two children — an 11-year-old son (Brexton) and a 4-year-old daughter (Lennix). “He was an extreme racer, one of the best you’d ever see on track, and I’m just speaking about his skill set,” Newgarden said at his post-practice news conference. “I’m sure that the toughest part about it is just what he leaves behind with his kids and what they have to go through. “Incredibly sad for everybody. I didn’t even know Kyle very well. Just when I look at from afar, how can it not break your heart when you think about his kids?” Read More

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Kevin Harvick remembered Kyle Busch as one of his fiercest competitors. And he also credited Busch, who died suddenly on Thursday at age 41, as one of the sport’s most influential figures. “NASCAR lost one of its true giants, whose impact is almost beyond measure,” Harvick wrote in a post on social media. Harvick, now a FOX Sports analyst, and Busch had much in common, both growing up on the West Coast (Harvick in Bakersfield, Calif., and Busch in Las Vegas) and carrying the competitive desire that nothing else mattered but winning. The two nearly came to blows in a confrontation at Darlington Raceway in 2011. Harvick got out of his car after the race, went over to Busch’s car and took a swing at the window net while Busch drove away and hit Harvick’s car in the process. Busch and Harvick waged fierce battles over the years. Busch had to beat Harvick (as well as two other Champ 4 finalists) in both the 2015 and 2019 championship races, with Harvick finishing just 1.5 seconds behind Busch in 2015. They competed against each other over 20 Cup seasons. Busch sits ninth on the all-time wins list at 63; Harvick is 11th at 60. “Kyle Busch and I spent years pushing each other to the limit,” Harvick wrote. “We raced hard, traded paint and fought for every inch because all either of us wanted to do was beat the other. “What people may not realize is how much that rivalry drove us both. Kyle made me better because you had to be at your absolute best to beat him. Over time, that fierce competition turned into a mutual respect.” They both shared a passion for the sport that went beyond driving. Harvick and Busch both owned teams that raced in NASCAR’s national series. Kevin’s son, Keelan, is a few years older than Busch’s son, Brexton. Both Keelan and Brexton are aspiring NASCAR drivers. “As our careers evolved, so did our conversations,” Harvick wrote. “We talked over building race teams, life beyond the racetrack, and our families, especially raising young sons who want to be racers themselves.” The NASCAR industry mourns the loss of Busch, who is survived by his wife, Samantha, and their children, Brexton and Lennix. “I’m deeply saddened for Samantha, Brexton and Lennix,” Harvick wrote. “There’s nothing that can replace a husband or a father.” Read More

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Kyle Busch loved to race and compete. He loved to make moves that no one else would dare to make. He loved being brash, whether with the car or with his tongue. But most of all, Rowdy loved to win. Man, did he love winning. He also hated losing. And those two attributes provided a combination on the track that turned Busch into one of the greatest talents ever to hold a NASCAR steering wheel. The 41-year-old Busch died Thursday, a day after being hospitalized overnight for a severe illness. The Busch family, NASCAR and Richard Childress Racing released a joint statement Thursday, calling Busch “a giant of the sport.” “His sharp wit and competitive spirit sparked a deep emotional connection with race fans of every age, creating the proud and loyal ‘Rowdy Nation,'” the statement said. The stat sheets will say he won more national series races (234) than any other driver. He ranks ninth in all-time Cup Series wins at 63 and first in wins in the Craftsman Truck Series (69) and the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series (102). Stats don’t tell the entire story of the Las Vegas kid just trying to follow in the footsteps of his older brother, Kurt Busch, to NASCAR. He literally got there too soon, having to leave his truck seat in 2001 at age 16, when it was determined that as long as Winston sponsored the Cup Series, he couldn’t compete with the cigarette company branding on track property. One of the sport’s brightest stars would have to wait a couple of years to return to full-time NASCAR racing, and when he finally came on the scene, he was aggressive and brash and determined to make up for lost time in becoming one of the NASCAR greats who will for sure join his brother in the NASCAR Hall of Fame. He won throughout his 24-plus years in the sport, all the way to the end. His most recent victory came in a truck just last week at Dover Motor Speedway, where he competed in both the truck race and the NASCAR All-Star Race. Busch earned his best Cup finish of the season in the most recent points race on May 10, when he placed eighth at Watkins Glen International. During the event, he asked for a doctor to meet him after the race, but the reason was unclear. Busch indicated last weekend at Dover that he was still feeling a little under the weather. His family announced Thursday morning that he had been hospitalized with a “severe illness.” Even with the serious tone of the announcement, it was hard to believe that someone fans had just seen race, someone they had seen battle for a win, could be gone. Many in the sport accept that tragedies could happen on the track. But off the track? Not to Rowdy. Not to the guy who loved to needle the media and loved to needle other competitors when in the right mood. Not the one who everyone was still hoping to rattle off some wins at any moment and help lift RCR to greater heights. RCR was the third Cup organization Busch had driven for, and one that seemed to fit his hard-nosed racing mold. He started his Cup career at Hendrick Motorsports in 2004, but when he found out he would be without a ride in 2008, he landed at Joe Gibbs Racing. Busch spent 15 years at JGR, where he won 56 Cup races as well as Cup titles in 2015 and 2019. He moved to RCR in 2023. He won three races with the team, the last one in June 2023 at World Wide Technology Raceway outside of St. Louis. Busch also owned a race team that primarily competed in the truck series. Kyle Busch Motorsports won 100 truck races over 14 years with two driver championships (Erik Jones and Christopher Bell) and seven owners championships. His ownership of race teams connected him with hundreds of industry personnel, who have him to thank, at least in part, for helping mold their careers. But the 2015 Cup title might be one of his greatest accomplishments. The comeback from an accident at Daytona International Speedway where he broke his right leg and left ankle required an intense rehab that had him working hours on end to regain the strength to be able to compete. He missed 11 races, won soon thereafter – and captured the title. For those who didn’t think he should be the champion after missing 11 races? He didn’t think twice. Don’t hate the player, hate the game. And Busch often played the game. [NASCAR MOURNS: Tributes Pour In For Kyle Busch] Among his other accomplishments? The building of his family with wife Samantha and their two children, Brexton (11) and Lennix (4). Samantha and Kyle had trouble conceiving, and had Brexton through in vitro fertilization. When they discovered the high costs of the procedure, they dedicated their charitable efforts to raising funds so those who could not afford the price would still have a chance at becoming parents. Kyle raced against Brexton for the first time in micro sprints last year in March at a small dirt track in North Carolina. Kyle finished a little bit better and quipped with a laugh: “I’ve got bragging rights for the next couple of weeks.” That was Kyle Busch. Competitive even against his son. But also seeing the humor in such a statement. Busch could see the humor in racing in the moments he wasn’t seeing red amid the anger of losing. He would make fun of himself and others, especially those he felt had done him wrong. He would say things with a smirk or dripping with sarcasm, especially if he felt he was being unfairly singled out or treated unfairly. He could even find humor while seething. One of the funniest lines he ever delivered was in the aftermath of a fight a couple of years ago with Ricky Stenhouse Jr., when Stenhouse told Busch he would wreck him. Busch replied: “Bring it. … I suck just as bad as you.” He carried that brutal honesty whether he was glum with the way he was running or elated with wins. Whenever Busch would win a race, he would deliver his signature bow. An act of confidence and an act that implied: “Yes, I’ve got a lot of these wins, come try to get you some.” Fans would cheer. Fans would boo. Some lived to see him win. Some lived to see him lose. But he made them all feel alive. And, because of that, many will remember Kyle Busch as one of the greatest of all time. Read More

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The post Kyle Busch Loved To Win, Hated To Lose — And Fans Reveled Watching It All appeared first on YO! 107.1.