Kyle Busch experienced shortness of breath and was coughing up blood the day before his death, according to a 911 call obtained Friday by USA Today.
Busch, a two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion considered one of the best drivers of all time, died on Thursday. He was 41.
The Busch family, Richard Childress Racing and NASCAR confirmed his death hours after announcing that Busch had been hospitalized this week and would miss Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
No cause of death has been revealed, and NASCAR CEO Steve O’Donnell said Friday it was too soon to have that discussion.
“We’re 24 hours from getting a phone call,” O’Donnell said during a press conference at Charlotte Motor Speedway. “Out of respect for the family, and they asked for privacy, I’m not going to address any of that.”
Emergency responders were called to a General Motors facility on Wednesday in Concord, N.C.
In the 911 call, a man tells a dispatcher that Busch was on the bathroom floor in distress. The unidentified caller asked that emergency responders turn off their sirens on arrival.
“I’ve got an individual that’s (experiencing) shortness of breath, very hot and thinks he’s going to pass out and he’s producing a little bit of blood, coughing up some blood,” the caller told the dispatcher.
Busch was transported to a hospital in Charlotte and died the following day, stunning the entire industry and the millions of NASCAR fans.
“I feel the same exact way that they probably do,” O’Donnell said of the fans. “Shock. Sad. Wondering what you can do to help out. The best thing I can personally do is talk about his legacy.”
The outspoken Busch had disputes with other drivers and other tense experiences at the track. Also, he had occasional tense run-ins with O’Donnell, who said he knew the champion driver for 25 years dating back to when Busch was a teenager who burst on to the scene in 2001.
“Kyle Busch to me is an American badass behind the wheel, who you want to be,” O’Donnell said. “When you look back at those things, that’s part of being a race car driver. We’re not always going to agree, we certainly had our battles. But I’d give a lot of money to have a few more battles going forward.”
O’Donnell said there will be race-day tributes Sunday for Busch but there was no thought of postponing the race due to the tragedy.
“Kyle Busch would probably be pretty pissed off if we didn’t race, so we’re going to honor his memory and ensure people know what he was all about,” O’Donnell said.
Busch is survived by his wife Samantha, 11-year-old son Brexton and 4-year-old daughter Lennix. He was also the younger brother of NASCAR Hall of Famer Kurt Busch, 47.
Busch accrued 234 wins across NASCAR’s top three series: 63 in the Cup Series, 102 in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and 69 in the Craftsman Truck Series. He won the trucks race at Dover on Friday, six days before his death.
The Las Vegas native was the NASCAR Cup Series champion in 2015 and 2019. He never won the Daytona 500 but claimed the pole for the first time this year before finishing 15th.
Among Busch’s big wins were the 2008 Southern 500, the 2015 and 2016 Brickyard 400 and 2019 Coca-Cola 600.
O’Donnell indicated there will likely be a discussion about adding Busch to the 2027 NASCAR Hall of Fame class. Drivers Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton and Larry Phillips were chosen to that class on Tuesday.
“To me, Kyle Busch defines what it means to be a racer in NASCAR,” O’Donnell said. “The sport was truly lucky to have him.”
–Field Level Media
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