waved his hand to motion toward his face<\/a>.<\/p>\n\u201cYou can kind of hear it \u2014 I\u2019m still not great,\u201d he said. \u201cThe cough was pretty substantial last week.\u201d<\/p>\n
Earlier Thursday, a post on his social media account announced that Busch would miss this weekend\u2019s Coca-Cola 600 as he was undergoing treatment for a \u201csevere illness.\u201d Richard Childress Racing said that Busch\u2019s health was \u201cour utmost priority and he and his family have the full resources of RCR behind them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Busch, knowing his talent and potential, always carried the grandest of ambitions and was public about his desire to be known as the best.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first thing they\u2019ll remember me by,\u201d he once said, \u201cwill be my on-track success.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the second thing, he added, was how he grew up in the limelight. He struggled to adapt to scrutiny as an unrefined and brash teenager.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ll see the whole transition of my life and how I made it through \u2014 and it was all under skeptics\u2019 (eyes),\u201d he said in 2011, when he was 26. \u201cCertainly, I know I wasn\u2019t the best coming in and I\u2019m not now; we\u2019ll see how it turns out when I\u2019m 40.\u201d<\/p>\n
That 40-year-old was a far different Busch. Fatherhood gave him a different perspective, and the lack of regular wins in later years seemed to mellow him.<\/p>\n
Remarkably, Busch kept winning all the way up until his final race weekend. On May 15 at Dover Motor Speedway, even as he was still dealing with what he thought were the remnants of an illness, Busch had a classic Rowdy performance in NASCAR\u2019s Truck Series \u2014 he was fastest in practice, won the pole, led the most laps and won the race.<\/p>\n
Busch rocketed on the scene a year after older brother Kurt won the 2004 Cup championship, winning two races and earning Rookie of the Year honors. And much like Kurt, Kyle had a confidence that bordered on cockiness while repeatedly showcasing ability behind the wheel to back up his bravado.<\/p>\n
After winning a 2007 race at Bristol, he remarked in victory lane that the newly designed car he was driving \u201csucked.\u201d This is one of several public jabs Busch would make, be it at NASCAR, a competitor or even his own team. Often mercurial, he held those around him \u2014 and himself \u2014 to a high standard.<\/p>\n
But Busch\u2019s attitude did not endear himself to everyone, including his then-team, Hendrick Motorsports. Facing a roster crunch, Hendrick decided to move on from Busch following the 2007 season, setting off a frenzy to sign a driver who had all the appearances of being a future Cup champion.<\/p>\n
Joe Gibbs Racing won the bidding war, forming a partnership that would become one of the most dominant in NASCAR\u2019s modern era.<\/p>\n
In their 15 years together, Busch drove Gibbs-owned cars to two championships and a series-best 56 wins, six more than second-place Jimmie Johnson. The prolific winning, combined with an eye-catching sponsor in M&M\u2019s, vaulted Busch to superstardom. And while Busch\u2019s brashness earned him many detractors, he didn\u2019t care, even playing into it by making a crying gesture when he\u2019d win a race, accepting the checkered flag amid a barrage of boos.<\/p>\n
It seemed the Busch-Gibbs dynasty would never slow down, but when the two sides couldn\u2019t agree to a contract extension in 2023, Busch left to join Richard Childress Racing. Although RCR was one of NASCAR\u2019s iconic teams \u2014 it was the team the legendary Dale Earnhardt drove for in six of his seven championship seasons \u2014 the team signing Busch surprised many in the garage, as he and team owner Richard Childress had a physical confrontation some years before.<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, Childress viewed Busch as the driver who could restore RCR to its past glory. If there is one thing Childress appreciates above all else, it is a talented driver who loathes losing, a characteristic that defined Busch throughout his career.<\/p>\n
And just as Childress expected, Busch delivered. His first Cup win with RCR occurred in just his second start, the first of three that season. His last occurred in June 2023 at World Wide Technology Raceway, just outside St. Louis, Mo., the final Cup win of his career.<\/p>\n