Charlotte Motor Speedway (Concord, N.C.) — The Kyle Busch Celebration of Life included many stories about the fiery two-time Cup champion. While the stories and memories and tributes flowed, it was the people closest to Busch that helped celebrate him the most. His 11-year-old son, Brexton, ended the hour-long program by doing burnouts in one of his father’s Cup cars.
He then stood on the car’s roof, took a checkered flag from his mom, Samantha, and 4-year-old sister, Lennix, and did a signature Kyle Busch bow. Busch had performed that bow many times during his 234 career NASCAR national series victories — 63 in Cup, 102 in O’Reilly and 69 in trucks. His last win, which was in the trucks series, came less than a week before his death on May 21 from complications of pneumonia.
He was 41. "I don't want to feel like we're putting a period on this today," Samantha Busch told the thousands in the crowd during the public event that followed the truck race Friday at the Charlotte track. "This is not the end of Kyle's story.
His story continues every time we give a young racer a chance, share something he taught us or tell the next generation what made Rowdy unforgettable. "Years from now, I hope people remember Kyle as one of NASCAR's greatest drivers. He worked his entire life for that.
But I also hope they believe their life is better because Kyle was here. That's a legacy that no checkered flag can contain." Samantha told the crowd that while Kyle had not won in Cup since 2023, he wasn't frustrated with life when he died because he had so many quality moments with his children. "If there's one thing that I want you to take home today, it's this: Don't mistake the last chapter of Kyle's racing career for an unhappy chapter of his life," Samantha said.
"It wasn't. In so many ways, it was his happiest, and I thank God I got to share that life with him." The crowd cheered Samantha as she spoke on a stage that included 8 and 18, both of his cup numbers. It also had a drawing of him doing the bow and his nickname Rowdy.
The nickname came from the movie "Days of Thunder" and the Rowdy Burns character. Just a week before the celebration of life, with Brexton racing at a short track in Las Vegas, actor Michael Rooker, who played Rowdy Burns, spent time with the Busch family. In the five months since Busch’s death, moments like those with Brexton racing have helped Samantha on her healing journey.
"The races kept going, the cars kept circling the track, but our world had stopped," Samantha said. "I didn't know how we could find our way without him. But then all of you showed us.
You came to Brexton's races. You honored Kyle at every race track across the country and shared what he meant to you. "You made room for us in a place that suddenly felt so different, and you did something for our kids that I could never do alone: You showed them how loved their daddy was." Kyle Busch’s brother, 2004 Cup champion Kurt Busch, also spoke during the celebration of life, as did his former team owner Joe Gibbs and drivers Christopher Bell, Noah Gragson, Daniel Suárez, Kyle Larson and Austin Dillon.
Suárez remembered how Busch would take his calls every week as Busch mentored the new Joe Gibbs Racing driver who still spoke only a little bit of English after coming from Mexico. "I was just a kid from Mexico that could barely speak English," Suárez said. "I was nobody.
And he'd give me a hand when I needed it the most — with absolutely nothing in return. "That just tells you who he was." Busch certainly had his fans and those who loved to cheer against him. "Special thanks to all of you who booed, all of you who cheered — you are all Rowdy Nation," FOX’s Mike Joy, who hosted the event, said in opening of the ceremony.
Everyone was Rowdy Nation on Friday night. The scoring pylon had the No. 8 at the top.
And as Samantha noted, her husband would be remembered for more than just the wins. She closed her remarks, between the sobs, eloquently. "Kyle, babe, I wish you could see this," she said.
"I wish you could see how deeply you were loved, and I wish you knew how much all these fans out here appreciate you. I see your confidence in Brexton, your strong will and attitude in Lennix, and you left me with the strength I never imagined that I'd need to raise our children and keep building this life that we dreamed of. But I promise you, I promise our kids are going to have the childhood that we wanted for them.
"I'll take them to the track, cheer for their dreams, and make sure that they know that they were their daddy's greatest joy in this whole entire world. I'd give anything for you to be here to watch them grow and share the life we were supposed to have together. But I know they'll carry so much of you with them, and so will I.
And looking out at this speedway tonight, I know we're not the only ones. "We love you Kyle so much. And we will race on."
