{"id":691615,"date":"2026-05-25T00:38:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T00:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/691615\/"},"modified":"2026-05-25T00:38:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T00:38:08","slug":"nascar-pays-tribute-to-kyle-busch-at-coca-cola-600-with-his-widow-samantha-children-parents-and-brother-kurt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/691615\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR pays tribute to Kyle Busch at Coca-Cola 600 with his widow, Samantha, children, parents and brother, Kurt"},"content":{"rendered":"

As NASCAR prepared to drop the green flag on one of its crown jewel races Sunday, it paid tribute to driving great Kyle Busch, who died suddenly and unexpectedly Thursday<\/a> at 41 years old.<\/p>\n

Busch, a two-time NASCAR Cup series champion, was hospitalized on Wednesday after he became unresponsive while training in Charlotte for Sunday\u2019s Coca-Cola 600. His family announced early Thursday that he was withdrawing from the race due to \u201csevere illness<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

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It was announced later Thursday that Busch had died. Busch\u2019s family revealed on Saturday<\/a> that he had developed severe pneumonia that progressed into sepsis, a condition in which the body overreacts to an infection that can lead to organ failure.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, Busch\u2019s family was at Charlotte Motor Speedway and took part in a pre-race tribute in the infield led by NASCAR CEO Steve O\u2019Donnell.<\/p>\n

\u2018He competed like he had something to prove\u2019<\/p>\n

Busch\u2019s parents, Tom and Gaye Busch, stood alongside his brother, Kurt, a retired former NASCAR Cup series champion who won 34 races, including the 2010 Coca-Cola 600.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one ever feels fully prepared to speak at a moment like this, and I think we can all agree this was Kyle Busch\u2019s home,\u201d O\u2019Donnell said. \u201cEvery race track was Kyle Busch\u2019s home.<\/p>\n

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\u201cHe competed like he had something to prove every single race, when in reality, he had already proven everything. What I think what we\u2019ll miss most isn\u2019t the wins. It\u2019s 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. \u201c<\/p>\n

O\u2019Donnell then addressed Busch\u2019s widow, Samantha and their two young children, Brexton and Lennix, who were alongside him.<\/p>\n

\u201cSamantha, I want you to know that this sport stands with you and that you and your children are NASCAR family forever,\u201d O\u2019Donnell continued. \u201cAnd Brexton and Lennix, you\u2019re dad loved you with all his heart.<\/p>\n

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\u201cEveryone gathered here, everyone behind you, everybody watching on TV and all those people up in that grandstand are your family. And we\u2019ve got you.<\/p>\n

\u201cKyle Busch is NASCAR. He was one of a kind. And there will never be another.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 95,000-plus fans at soldout CMS then took a moment of silence before three bagpipers played \u201cAmazing Grace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kyle Busch tributes carry on to race track<\/p>\n

After the pre-race ceremonies, drivers took the field with No. 8 decals on their cars in honor of Busch and his No. 8 car that he drove for Richard Childress Racing. RCR announced previously that it is retiring No. 8 until and unless Brexton, 11, advances to NASCAR<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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They took the track with the missing man formation on their pre-race pace laps, leaving the pole position open in honor of Busch.<\/p>\n

When the race went into the eighth lap, the Amazon Prime broadcast went silent, and fans in the stands around the track held up eight fingers.<\/p>\n

Dale Earnhardt Jr. honors Kyle Busch<\/p>\n

The pre-race broadcast featured a tribute video from analyst and former NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr.<\/p>\n

Busch was NASCAR\u2019s all-time winner across the sport\u2019s top three series with 234 victories combined in the Cup, Xfinity and Craftsman Truck Series. He\u2019s ninth all time with 63 Cup Series wins and was a Cup Series champion in 2015 and 2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As NASCAR prepared to drop the green flag on one of its crown jewel races Sunday, it paid…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":691616,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,133558,252768,8661,634,97600,82],"class_list":["post-691615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-coca-cola-600","tag-gaye-busch","tag-kyle-busch","tag-nascar","tag-nascar-cup-series-champion","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/691615","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=691615"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/691615\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/691616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=691615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=691615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=691615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}