{"id":688114,"date":"2026-05-23T07:43:29","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T07:43:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/688114\/"},"modified":"2026-05-23T07:43:29","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T07:43:29","slug":"las-vegas-mourns-the-loss-of-nascar-legend-kyle-busch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/688114\/","title":{"rendered":"Las Vegas mourns the loss of NASCAR legend Kyle Busch"},"content":{"rendered":"

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) \u2014 Racing fans across the Las Vegas Valley are mourning the loss of Kyle Busch<\/a>, a Las Vegas native who grew from a young local racer into one of NASCAR’s most iconic figures.<\/p>\n

A memorial at Las Vegas Motor Speedway continued to grow throughout the day as fans came to pay their respects to the late driver.<\/p>\n

WATCH | Las Vegas mourns the loss of NASCAR legend Kyle Busch<\/p>\n

Remembering Kyle Busch: Las Vegas mourns the loss of one of NASCAR’s most iconic drivers<\/p>\n

Jeff Motley, a former vice president of Las Vegas Motor Speedway, said Busch’s legacy extends far beyond the racetrack.<\/p>\n

“I think Kyle Busch probably goes on the Mount Rushmore of, of sports or athletes or whatever out of Las Vegas. For this city,” Motley said.<\/p>\n

\"Las<\/p>\n

KTNV<\/p>\n

For many Las Vegas racing fans, their introduction to Busch came at the Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where a number of them became lifelong supporters.<\/p>\n

A fan named Jerry recalled how he became a Busch fan before Busch even reached NASCAR’s top level.<\/p>\n

\"Las<\/p>\n

KTNV<\/p>\n

“You know, his brother, who my twin brother was just a big fan of Kurt Busch. And him saying that his, his little brother is gonna, is better than him and all that. And so I instantly, I was a fan before he even made it up there,” Jerry said.<\/p>\n

Despite earning 2 NASCAR series championships and 234 victories across NASCAR’s 3 national touring series \u2014 more than any driver in history \u2014 Busch never forgot his Las Vegas roots.<\/p>\n

\"Las<\/p>\n

KTNV<\/p>\n

“He was a great friend to Las Vegas… anytime I ever said, Kyle, can you help us out to do some media? Can you help us out to do an appearance? In 26 plus years I was there, I don’t remember him ever saying no,” Motley said.<\/p>\n

Beyond his wins, Busch was known for his tenacious personality, earning the nicknames “Rowdy” and “Wild Thing.” That competitive drive was evident from the very beginning of his career.<\/p>\n

\"Las<\/p>\n

KTNV<\/p>\n

“It just was like this steeliness inside of him that like, don’t challenge me. I might be 16 years old, but once I get my hands on the steering wheel and I get buckled in that seat, I’m as good as anybody on this racetrack,” Motley said.<\/p>\n

Fans remembered that intensity as a defining part of who Busch was.<\/p>\n

\"Las<\/p>\n

KTNV<\/p>\n

“It’s a sport for everyone and, and I think Kyle with his bright colors and his harsh attitude, I think exemplified that better than anyone ever possibly could,” said a fan named Gabriel.<\/p>\n

“He was, um, could he be a polarizing figure sometimes? Absolutely, um, but part of that’s part of what made him great,” Motley said.<\/p>\n

“Every part of Kyle was so raw. And emmotive,” Gabriel said.<\/p>\n

“Win or nothing, I loved it. The winning, that’s all that mattered to him. That’s all that mattered to him. I hope his kid carries it on,” Jerry said.<\/p>\n

\"Las<\/p>\n

KTNV<\/p>\n

Busch was the driver of the No. 8 car. Richard Childress Racing announced Friday that the No. 8 will be reserved for his son Brexton, an up-and-coming driver in the racing world.<\/p>\n

Busch is survived by his wife, two children, and his brother, legendary NASCAR driver Kurt Busch.<\/p>\n

WATCH | NASCAR speaks about the loss of Kyle Busch<\/p>\n

NASCAR speaks about the loss of Kyle Busch (Courtesy of ABC)<\/p>\n

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LAS VEGAS (KTNV) \u2014 Racing fans across the Las Vegas Valley are mourning the loss of Kyle Busch,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":688115,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[45655,45656,49,48,101640,219294,634,82,219295,865,93600,219296],"class_list":["post-688114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-13-action-news","tag-abc-13","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-las-vegas-sports","tag-las-vegas-sports-teams","tag-nascar","tag-sports","tag-sports-in-vegas","tag-sports-news","tag-sports-stories","tag-vegas-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/688114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=688114"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/688114\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/688115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=688114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=688114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=688114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}