BROOKLYN, Mich. (AP) — Richard Childress had hoped to announce a contract extension for Kyle Busch at Michigan International Speedway.
Instead, the longtime owner of Richard Childress Racing held a news conference Saturday at the track to publicly address the unexpected death of Kyle Busch for the first time since the two-time Cup Series champion died on May 21 after severe pneumonia progressed into sepsis.
For Childress, whose NASCAR team weathered the loss of seven-time champion Dale Earnhardt in a fatal crash at the 2001 Daytona 500, the ache was all too familiar.
“You lose two of the greatest drivers that’s ever driven a car in NASCAR and to have to go through it again,” Childress said. “I just feel so bad for the family and the employees and everybody. But yeah, I mean, I haven’t slept very good lately.”
Childress said he spoke to Busch the night before he was hospitalized after becoming unresponsive while testing in the Chevrolet racing simulator in Concord, North Carolina.
Busch, who was in a contract year, died the next day. His death certificate cited hemorrhagic shock and disseminated intravascular coagulation. The 41-year-old was in the midst of a 105-Cup race win drought.
But he had finished a season-best eighth at Watkins Glen after a crew chief change, and Childress said there were positive discussions about Busch returning to the No. 8 Chevrolet next year.
“He said, ‘You give me cars like you gave me the last three weeks, I will make The Chase this year,’” Childress said. “We were that confident.”
With RCR switching to the No. 33, Austin Hill has driven Busch’s car the past two races. Childress said Hill will remain in the ride the rest of the season.
“We don’t want to put a burden back on everybody trying to go from one driver to the other,” Childress said.
The team is safeguarding the No. 8 for the possible Cup career of 11-year-old Brexton Busch, even if Kyle’s son races for another team.
Kyle and Brexton Busch had been on hunting trips recently with Childress, who watched the father and son race at a dirt track in the Charlotte, North Carolina, area.
“Talking to Kyle at different times, knowing his plans and what he had in the future for Brexton and his family,” Childress said. “The many things that we all could have done together, that was probably the toughest part of this whole thing.”
Childress, 80, founded his team in 1969 and has been leaning on grandsons Austin and Ty Dillon to guide the organization along with RCR president Mike Verlander and team executive Mike Dillon, Childress’ son-in-law.
“It’s never easy,” Childress said. “They just gave me a little bit of time to get my head right.”
He believes Busch should go immediately into the NASCAR Hall of Fame, which elected its 2027 class last month.
“Kyle will go down in history as one of the greatest race drivers that’s ever been,” Childress said. “His legacy is that he was a man that a lot of people thought he was tough to deal with, and that he wouldn’t last long. He is a man that loves his sport. He loved it so much he wanted to see his family carry on in it. To see the enjoyment in Kyle’s eyes watching his son race was just unbelievable.”
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