911 call reveals moments before Kyle Busch was rushed to hospital

CHARLOTTE — NASCAR driver Kyle Busch died Thursday at 41, three days before he was set to run the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Busch was testing in the Chevrolet racing simulator in Concord on Wednesday when he became unresponsive and was transported to a hospital in Charlotte.

911 call

Channel 9 obtained the 911 call made at about 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday from the General Motors Charlotte Technical Center off Speedway Boulevard, where the driving simulator is located.

“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.

The caller asked the dispatcher to tell emergency responders to turn off their sirens on arrival.

Channel 9 is not adding the audio from the 911 call to this article out of respect for the situation.

911 call reveals moments before paramedics rushed Kyle Busch to hospital

Busch died on Thursday.

At this point, the cause of death has not been released and details remain limited.

Busch was scheduled to race in Concord this weekend: Friday night in the Truck Series and in Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600.

Busch won the Truck Series last week at Dover.

“You never know when the last one is,” he said.

Truck Series race

Busch, at the heart of it, was the ultimate wheel man, Channel 9 sports director Phil Orban reported.

He would race anything with tires, and as polarizing as he was to fans, he always garnered respect for how hard he raced and how competitive he was.

It’s hard to imagine how any team in this tight-knit NASCAR community could race within 24 hours of such a tragedy. But what better way to honor Busch than by running hard in the Truck Series race? It’s fitting that it is the Truck Series drivers who have the first chance to honor Busch. He earned the title of NASCAR’s all-time winningest driver because he was the busiest every weekend.

He ran across all three series and drove plenty of fans to the track on Friday nights for the Truck Series race when most Cup Series regulars were taking the night off.

“He’s come down on Friday nights to race against these guys that had the dream to get to Sundays, and he was willing to come in and obviously wanted to beat them all,” said fan Brandon Bailey. “But he was willing to teach them if they had any questions for him, he’d be the first to give them an answer. It was cool to see the lasting impact he had on everybody.”

Kyle Busch’s car will lead the field at Friday night’s NASCAR Truck Series race. Corey Day will be behind the No. 7 Chevrolet.

NASCAR to honor Busch

NASCAR CEO Steve O’Donnell said at a Friday afternoon news conference that they had conversations early Friday morning about how to honor Busch.

They were on the phone with family, Cup drivers, and team owners to brainstorm.

They have several ideas in the works and will do what’s needed to honor his legacy throughout the weekend.

‘Really devastated’

NASCAR officials confirmed that the 400-lap race will continue as planned Sunday night at the 1 1/2-mile track at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

>>>Racing world reacts to death of 2-time NASCAR Cup Series champion

Earlier in the day, RCR had announced that Austin Hill would replace Busch in the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.

Kyle Busch's car to lead the field at tonight's Truck Series race

The jumbotron at Charlotte Motor Speedway honored the racing giant on Friday morning.

Fans around the campground flew the No. 8 flag.

People travel from all over the world for this race. Many of them are Busch fans.

Crew Wheeler, of Columbus, Georgia, told Channel 9’s Hunter Sáenz he had pulled for Busch since he was a young kid. Wheeler is now a teen.

“I met him one time, thankfully,” Crew Wheeler said. “He’s just a great dude.”

“We were just really devastated,” said Tim Wheeler, another fan at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. “We follow, or at least, I had followed Kyle Busch’s career ever since he came into NASCAR.”

Fans like Michael and Dana Peller came from Tennessee.

“He just had that arrogance about him, and he didn’t care if you liked him or not. That was the best thing about him,” Michael Peller said.

Dana Peller said she couldn’t stop thinking about Busch’s wife and the two children he left behind.

Busch’s 11-year-old son, Brexton, was into racing too.

Some of his fans hope one day they’ll wear the shirts of another Busch.

“My only hope is that Kurt will step in as that big uncle and take that role and help push Brexton where he can go with it,” Michael Peller said.

Fans like Michael and Dana Peller came from Tennessee.

“He just had that arrogance about him, and he didn’t care if you liked him or not. That was the best thing about him,” Michael Peller said.

Dana Peller said she couldn’t stop thinking about Busch’s wife and the two children he left behind.

Busch’s 11-year-old son, Brexton, was into racing too.

Some of his fans hope one day they’ll wear the shirts of another Busch.

“My only hope is that Kurt will step in as that big uncle and take that role and help push Brexton where he can go with it,” Michael Peller said.

Richard Childress Racing will retire the No. 8 car number indefinitely following the death of Kyle Busch. The team will instead run the No. 33 at Charlotte Motor Speedway and in future races.

On Thursday night, the Hickory Motor Speedway held a moment of silence for Busch and his family after his sudden death. Busch and his son, Brexton, were supposed to race each other at the track on Thursday night, and his son was in Hickory for a practice session just hours before his death.

Had Kyle Busch been ill?

Busch was thought to have had a sinus cold While racing May 10 at Watkins Glen, Busch radioed his team requesting a “shot” from a doctor after he finished. Per 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.

It’s unclear if that issue had something to do with his death.

Busch did race last weekend and won the Trucks Series race at Dover and finished 17th in the NASCAR All-Star race. That would be his final race.

Kyle Busch’s career

Busch won 234 races across NASCAR’s three national series — more than any driver in history. He won Cup season championships in 2015 and 2019 for Joe Gibbs Racing.

His first championship was particularly impressive. Busch missed the first 11 Cup races of the 2015 season after injuring his foot following a crash in the O’Reilly Auto Parts series opener in Daytona, but came back to win five races to qualify for the playoffs before capturing the title at Homestead.

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