Before two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch died suddenly on May 21 due to complications from sepsis caused by presumed bacterial pneumonia, his brother Kurt visited him in the hospital.
In a recent interview with the morning show Today on NBC, Busch says he was at the hospital “all day” and “hoping for a turnaround” before his brother was pronounced dead. Busch said his father Tom didn’t visit Kyle in the hospital because he didn’t want to see his son in that condition.
“My dad wanted to remember him in the way that he wanted to remember him,” Busch said.
In the hospital room, Kurt says he told Kyle, “I got you man, come on. I got you. I got you, come on. Be strong.”
“It just wasn’t fair,” Busch said, wiping away tears.
Kurt Busch — who
was a Cup Series champion in 2004 and elected to the NASCAR Hall of Fame earlier this year — will race this weekend on the street course in Washington, D.C. designed for IndyCar’s Freedom 250 Grand Prix. Busch won’t be racing in the open-wheel discipline though, instead piloting an IROC car on Saturday in a race that will feature other NASCAR legends like Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte, Rusty Wallace and Bill Elliott.
Busch has been preparing himself to answer questions about his brother. His interview with NBC was the first time he has spoken on network television since Kyle died.
“There is no book, there is no outline on what we’re supposed to do right now,” Busch said. “There’s going to be a discussion when I see someone. It’s all right. We’ll get through it. Time heals.”
When asked by NBC if Kyle trying to race through his illness instead of taking time off to deal with it is part of racing culture, Busch said, “To be bluntly honest, yeah. We’re independent contractors. We don’t have a union.”
That culture was the subject of an ESPN story published earlier this week where drivers talked about the pressures to not give up their seat, no matter the circumstance. During the final moments of NASCAR’s race at Watkins Glen this year — 11 days before his death — Kyle Busch could be heard on the radio asking for a doctor. He finished eighth and then days later won the Truck Series race at Dover, marking his record 234th victory across NASCAR’s top three national touring circuits.
"From what I understand, he was seeking out and getting tested for whatever," reigning Cup Series champion Kyle Larson told ESPN. "I don't want people to think that he wasn't taking care of himself."
Kyle Busch’s plan was to continue racing in NASCAR until his son Brexton was old enough to join him on the track in the Truck Series. Currently, the 11-year-old is racing Legends Cars on pavement and sprint cars on dirt tracks.
Kurt Busch has taken the reins of mentoring Brexton.
“He’s a prodigy,” Kurt said of his nephew. “He was on the gas even before all this, right? He can be a big star in the world of motorsports. He’s 11, but he’s racing like an 18-year-old.”
In his uncle, Brexton has an incredibly accomplished coach. Kurt is the only driver in the history of the Cup Series to notch wins with four different manufacturers, taking checkered flags in Fords, Chevrolets, Toyotas and Dodges. He also won races with five different teams in his Cup Series career: Roush, Penske, Stewart-Haas, Chip Ganassi and 23XI.
Kurt Busch was also the Truck Series Rookie of the Year in 2000, the winner of the Coca-Cola 600 in 2010, the winner of the Daytona 500 in 2017 and was named one of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers in 2023. In the only open-wheel race of his career, he placed sixth in the 2014 Indy 500 in his lone attempt at The Double.
From 2005 through 2022, Kurt and Kyle shared a lot of moments on NASCAR tracks across the country as they became the winningest brothers in the sport’s history.
“On track, him and I were carbon copies of each other,” Busch said. “I just miss the on-track camaraderie. We could speak on track without saying a word. Pass me here, I’ll draft with you here. I miss the words we never spoke to each other and the vibe we had on track.”
Asked what he wants the world to remember about Kyle, Busch said, “It’s already out there.”
He added: “He’s the winningest driver in NASCAR history across all the series. The tenacity that he had, it was everyday, 24/7. To help people in the latter part of his career, to be a great father like he was, it’ll all shine as time puts different things in spotlights.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kurt Busch recalls visiting Kyle Busch in hospital before brother's death
