INDIANAPOLIS — Kyle Busch made his way to the media center at World Wide Technology Raceway on June 4, 2023, surrounded by a throng of fans. Before he stepped inside, he signed autographs and merchandise, and posed for pictures.
Earlier in the day when he was introduced, there was noticeable boos from the fans in the stands, but it wasn’t universal jeering. There was a notable level of cheers for the driver of the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.
Fast-forward to May 15, 2026. Busch climbs out of his truck at Dover Motor Speedway after winning the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series ECOSAVE 200 to thunderous applause.
From his trajectory to becoming a fan favorite, how much further he could’ve climbed up the all-time wins list and what racing ventures he left on the table, Busch left behind a story that was incomplete.
The White Zone: Kyle Busch leaves behind an unfinished legacy
If you followed NASCAR since 2008, you understand how mind-blowing it is to contemplate that. After all, this is the same driver who, after dumping Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the closing laps at Richmond Raceway, needed police escorts in and out of the tracks that season, due to the number of death threats he received. For years after, he proudly wore the figurative black hat and embraced the role as NASCAR’s villain. After his every win, as most of the fans showered him with boos, he took the checkered flag in his right hand and bowed towards the crowd.
And don’t get me started on his tendency to lash out at his crew on the radio when he drove a lousy car.
Despite the chorus of boos he received most weekends, a sizable congregation of fans, known as “Rowdy Nation,” showed up every race to cheer on NASCAR’s most polarizing driver since Dale Earnhardt. They loved that he was among the greatest wheelmen to strap into a stock car. They loved that he displayed his personality to the public. They stood by him when his actions were arguably tasteless. Like when he smashed a Sam Bass guitar in victory lane at Nashville Superspeedway. Hell, they stood by him when his actions crossed the line. Like when he dumped Ron Hornaday under caution during a Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway in 2011. For which NASCAR parked him for the rest of the weekend.
In spite of the negative moments, Busch gave “Rowdy Nation” just as many positive moments. If not more.
In his rookie season, at the age of 20, he became the youngest driver to win a NASCAR Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway in 2005. He broke his leg in a wreck at Daytona International Speedway in 2015, missed 11 races, came back and won his first Cup Series championship. For several years after in victory lane, he tossed his son, Brexton Busch, up in the air to celebrate a win. He bested the other arguably greatest wheelman in NASCAR, Kyle Larson, in a last lap fight to the finish at Chicagoland Speedway in 2018.
Busch also gave everyone, not just his fans, moments that were objectively funny. In the 2011 Daytona 500, as the field set up for an overtime finish, he chimed in on the radio to say, “I told you. I told you! I told you all through Speedweeks. I said, ‘It don’t matter how hard you can push. Cause it’s gonna be a green-white-checker.'” Which got a chuckle out of the NASCAR on FOX booth crew. A week after Busch punched Joey Logano on pit road at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2017, he met with the media in a hauler scrum and answered every question, sarcastically, with, “Everything’s great.”
But as I mentioned at the top of this column, that race in Madison, Illinois, was the first time I noticed there wasn’t near universal jeering at Busch. Don’t get me wrong, there were still boos, but there were cheers from more than just those wearing his merch.
And I thought, “Why is that?”
Looking back on it now, maybe it happened due to his rate of winning dropped off after his second championship in 2019 (in the Cup Series, specifically). In 2020, he went the deepest he ever went into a season without winning (at that point), before he took the checkered flag at a Texas Motor Speedway race that took three days to run because of mist. He followed it with two wins in 2021. Then won just one race in 2022. Which he won, because Tyler Reddick and Chase Briscoe took each other out on the final lap on the dirt at Bristol Motor Speedway. In his first season at RCR in 2023, he scored three victories.
After that, nothing.
I witnessed the same phenomenon happen to Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and to an extent, his brother, Kurt Busch.
Maybe it’s because in the last 11 years, fatherhood and age dulled the edge of Kyle Busch’s blade. Not to the point he was toothless or wasn’t pissing off other drivers. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. fought him in the garage at North Wilkesboro Speedway in 2024, after an on-track encounter. And the fire didn’t flame out. After Denny Hamlin’s recent comments on how the NextGen car didn’t suit Busch’s driving style, he said he’d make Hamlin’s life a living hell. Which he did, when he held him up in the closing laps at Kansas Speedway. Though it didn’t alter the outcome as much as Cody Ware’s spin.
With that said, however, Busch didn’t act like a total jackass on the track, like in his early days. Such as the aforementioned Hornaday wreck. And dumping Kevin Harvick on-track at Darlington Raceway and on pit road, that same year.
Furthermore, he and his wife, Samantha Busch, opened up about their fertility battles which led to a miscarriage.
Maybe it’s a combination of these reasons.
The White Zone: Kyle Busch leaves behind an unfinished legacy
Much like his brother, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch’s career was cut short by medical problems. Unlike Kurt Busch, however, we don’t have Kyle Busch around to finish the story.
Busch sat atop the combined all-time wins list in NASCAR at 234. His 102 O’Reilly Auto Parts Series wins and 69 Craftsman Truck Series wins are both the most in those respective series, and his 63 Cup Series wins put him ninth on the all-time wins list.
Ultimately, we’ll never know how many more spots he could’ve climbed. We’ll never know if he won another race at RCR. Maybe his 10th-place finish at Talladega Superspeedway and an eighth at Watkins Glen International in the last three races were signs that he was turning the ship around.
Ultimately, we’ll never know.
Moreover, he stated on multiple occasions that he wanted to race with his son, Brexton Busch, in one of NASCAR’s national touring series. Now we’ll never know if that would’ve happened.
As I write this column in the deadline room at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, 33 NTT IndyCar Series drivers run on track for final practice before the Indianapolis 500. I bring this up, because according to former IndyCar president, Jay Frye, there was a deal in place for Busch to run the double (the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600), but his team owner, Joe Gibbs, vetoed it.
Could he have bested what his brother, Kurt Busch, did in 2014? Could he match or better Tony Stewart’s double results in 2001? Hell, could he win either or both races on the same day?
Ultimately, we’ll never know.
Speaking of crown jewels, Kyle Busch won multiple Southern 500s at Darlington Raceway, two Brickyard 400s at The Brickyard and won the Coca-Cola 600 in 2019. Missing from that list, however, was a Daytona 500. His best finish in NASCAR’s crown jewel race was second in 2019. And he won the pole for the 2026 edition.
Ultimately, we’ll never know if he joined his brother, Kurt Busch, in hoisting a Harley J. Earl trophy.
Finally, we’ll never know how big of a crowd pop Kyle Busch would get, if he won another race. But as the aforementioned race at World Wide Technology Raceway and Dover Motor Speedway showed, I’m willing to bet he would’ve received an insane level of cheers from the crowd.
Now to end this on a lighter note, here’s a funny anecdote. It was 2017 and I’m driving to Darlington Raceway. I pass a church and see on the sign, it says, “God has no favorite, but the sign lady does. Go Kyle Busch!”
That’s my view, for what it’s worth.
