Kyle Busch, NASCAR champion, dies at 41 after sudden illness
Kyle Busch, a two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, died Thursday at age 41 following hospitalization for a severe but undisclosed illness. NASCAR, the Busch family, and Richard Childress Racing confirmed the death Thursday evening without stating a cause.
Busch had competed in the Cup Series since 2004. He drove the No. 8 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing at the time of his death and leaves behind his wife, Samantha, and two children. He is the first active Cup Series driver to die since Dale Earnhardt in 2001.
Across his career, Busch recorded 762 Cup Series starts and 63 wins. He claimed championships in 2015 and 2019, and holds the all-time records for victories in both the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. His most recent win came the previous weekend in a Truck Series event at Dover.
Fellow drivers, including Ricky Stenhouse Jr., publicly mourned Busch's death. No immediate schedule changes for upcoming NASCAR events were announced.
