NASCAR fans are awaiting details of a public memorial for Kyle Busch after the two-time Cup Series champion was honored Tuesday at a private funeral attended by family, close friends and members of the racing community.
While the funeral was held behind closed doors near Charlotte, tributes from across NASCAR continued to pour in. With plans for a public celebration of Busch’s life yet to be finalized, fans must now wait their turn to say goodbye to one of the sport’s most accomplished and influential figures.
Kyle Busch Private Funeral Draws NASCAR Circle
Fox Sports reporter Bob Pockrass confirmed the memorial had taken place, posting on social media that a public event in Charlotte to celebrate Busch’s life is in the works. A date had not been set as of Wednesday afternoon.
NASCAR spotter Eddie D’Hondt, who previously worked on Busch’s team, posted a tribute after the service.
“Today, we paid tribute to a friend,” D’Hondt wrote, sending his best to Busch’s wife Samantha, son Brexton, 11, and daughter Lennix, 4, and the entire Busch family. “May God put his hand on them all and bring them some sort of peace. KFB â Food, Fun, Faith, Fashionista, but most of all ‘Family.’ See you on the other side Champ. Rest easy.”
Driver Kyle Larson, after winning a dirt-track race at Davenport Speedway in Iowa on Monday evening, announced he would donate his prize money to Bundle of Joy, the fund Busch and Samantha started to help families struggling with infertility.
“We all know how much the Busch family means to all of us, and we greatly miss Kyle,” Larson said, according to a report by the USA Today Network. “We get to celebrate his life tomorrow, and I’m looking forward to doing that.”
Larson also performed Busch’s signature bow after taking the checkered flag, a tribute multiple drivers have repeated in Victory Lane since his death.
Busch Death Certificate Confirms Important Detail
Busch’s death certificate, obtained by Us Weekly, confirmed he was cremated in Mooresville, North Carolina, roughly 35 miles north of Charlotte. The certificate listed the manner of death as natural.
According to the document, Busch had been carrying bacterial pneumonia for days to weeks before his condition deteriorated. The illness advanced to sepsis, which the medical examiner estimated had taken hold for approximately one day, triggering complications including disseminated intravascular coagulation and hemorrhagic shock.
On May 20, a 911 caller reported that Busch was on the bathroom floor of a Concord, North Carolina, facility where he had been testing on a racing simulator, overheated, struggling to breathe and coughing up blood. He was rushed to a Charlotte-area hospital and died the following afternoon at 4:37 p.m.
Busch had been pushing through the illness to keep racing. After his final victory, a Truck Series win at Dover Motor Speedway on May 15, he told reporters he had not fully recovered from a sickness that surfaced the prior week at Watkins Glen. Six days later, he was gone.
His 234 combined victories across NASCAR’s three national touring series remain the most in the sport’s history. Richard Childress Racing has retired his No. 8 Chevrolet, holding it in reserve for Brexton Busch if he one day joins the Cup ranks.
Hours after Tuesday’s service, Brexton Busch was back at a racetrack, running practice laps at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the CookOut Summer Shootout Legend Car Series, carrying the family name forward.
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