NASCAR chief Steve O'Donnell has revealed the last-ever text message he received from Kyle Busch just days before the driver's shock death at the age of 41. Busch, a two-time Cup Series champion and father of two, died of complications after suffering with severe pneumonia that progressed into sepsis on Thursday, shortly after being hospitalized.
O'Donnell has revealed he got a message from Busch on Tuesday, 24 hours before he fell ill while driving in a Chevrolet simulator ahead of this weekend's Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte.
'What I look back on is a text from Kyle Tuesday, as only Kyle could do - and I keep looking at it - and he said, "Hey, man, what do you think about an over-40 rule to be able to compete in all the Truck Series races next year?"' O'Donnell recalled. 'I said, you know, we put that rule in place because you were winning so much, but when we looked about it and had a meeting Wednesday internally, we thought, "Damn, that's actually good. We need Kyle in the Truck Series".'
Busch, who had a NASCAR record 243 victories, wanted a change to the rule to exclude drivers over 40. O'Donnell believes he had one eye on the future and maybe dreamed about competing against his 11-year-old son Brexton.
'It was twofold,' O'Donnell continued. 'He knew he could help the series, but I think, one day, he had a dream to race against his son in a national series event. That was Kyle, always thinking about the sport and going forward.'
Unofficially known as the 'Kyle Busch Rule', NASCAR put a limit on how many truck races a Cup Series driver with three or more years experience can enter in a season back in 2017.
A somber atmosphere descended on the NASCAR garage on Saturday as Busch's race car was unloaded onto the track two days after his sudden death. In the wake of the heartbreaking news, the Coca-Cola 600 race is set to go ahead on Sunday as scheduled, O'Donnell confirmed.
As teams arrived at the Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday morning ahead of Sunday's race, Busch's blue and white Chevrolet, whose number has been changed from Busch's 8 to 33 in honor of the late racing legend, was rolled onto the track. Richard Childress Racing announced on Friday that it would be temporarily retiring the No 8 until Busch's 11-year-old son Brexton follows in his father's footsteps.
Silence and sadness overtook the garage as the vehicle arrived on the track in a video shared to social media by NASCAR. Drivers, teams and racing officials were captured overwhelmed with emotion, with many in the crowd even seen wiping their teary eyes and embracing one another in support through the somber moment.
Busch is survived by his wife, Samantha, and their two children, Brexton, 11, and Lennix, four. Busch had radioed in to his crew requesting medical aid during a race on May 10.
'Putting the new numbers on this car was the hardest thing I've ever done,' Dalton Good, a graphic installer at Richard Childress Racing, said, according to USA Today.
Busch reportedly become unresponsive while using a racing simulator in Concord, North Carolina on Wednesday and was even seen coughing up blood, according to a 911 call released by TMZ. He was hospitalized on Thursday before NASCAR announced his passing later that evening in a statement shared on behalf of his family.
Busch, who competed in more than 760 races during a storied 24-year career, is survived by his wife, Samantha, and their two children, Brexton, 11, and Lennix, four. It has since emerged that Busch was struggling with something in his final weeks.
He radioed for medical assistance from his car in the middle of one of his final NASCAR races on May 10 in upstate New York, just days before his death. Another eerie clip emerged from May 16 of Busch being asked if he had recovered from what he thought was simply a nasty cough.
'I had a pretty - you can kind of still hear it, I'm still not great,' Busch said, waving his hand to his face as he spoke to Jeff Gluck of The Athletic. 'But er, the cough was pretty substantial.'
An in memoriam photo of Busch was shown on the video board at Charlotte Motor Speedway. A flag is raised in honor of Busch at the track where this week's Coca-Cola 600 will take place.
In a clip from Busch's May 10 race, he was asking for a doctor to urgently meet him to give him 'a shot'. With 38 laps to go in the NASCAR Cup Series game, Busch told his team over the radio: 'Can somebody try to find Bill Heisel? He's the kindred doctor guy. Tell him I need him after the race, please.' He was then asked whether he needed the doctor at his car or his bus, to which he replied: 'Uh, bus. I'm going to need a shot.'
According to the TV broadcast, Busch had been struggling with a sinus cold that was exacerbated by the intense G-forces and elevation changes at the New York road course. Busch went on to claim his record fifth NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series trophy that day, despite clearly still struggling with illness.
