LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — In the hours since the shocking news that NASCAR legend Kyle Busch died at 41 Thursday, a memorial is growing outside the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where Busch had great success over the course of his career.
MORE ON FOX5: Las Vegas-born NASCAR champion Kyle Busch dead at 41
Busch’s career started in Las Vegas, where he and his brother Kurt were born and raised. He cut his teeth at the Bullring at the Speedway and eventually became the youngest driver ever to win a NASCAR Cup race there. Busch also finished second in Las Vegas as a rookie in 2005, which is still the best finish a rookie has ever produced at the track.
Beyond the NASCAR Cup Series, Busch was dominant at other levels of the sport in his hometown. He holds the record for the fastest laps in Las Vegas in both the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and the Craftsman Truck Series. His older brother Kurt holds the same record for the NASCAR Cup Series.
Kyle Busch’s dominance stretched far beyond Las Vegas. His 69 Craftsman Truck Series victories are far and away the most of all-time, and his 102 O’Reilly Auto Parts Series wins are more than double the second-place figure. His combined wins across all three levels of NASCAR outpace every driver in the history of the sport.
Fans mourn racing legend
“I was born and raised in Las Vegas,” Adam Kapadia, a fan of Busch’s, told FOX5 as he left flowers and M&M’s at the growing memorial to symbolize Busch’s iconic #18 M&M’s-sponsored car. “The first race I ever watched was the 2009, actually, Las Vegas Cup race… from that moment on, I was totally captivated.”
Kapadia described why, beyond Busch’s success, he was driven to root for him.
“He was the fastest. He was from Las Vegas. He was M&M’s. He was yellow, my favorite color,” he explained. “And he was brash. He really thought that he was the best.”
Kapadia described Busch as this generation’s Dale Earnhardt. Like Earnhardt, Busch is gone far too soon.
“I’m not sure if I could ever watch a race again,” Kapadia said tearfully.
Kyle Busch’s Impact on NASCAR
FOX5 also spoke with FOX Sports Reporter Jamie Little, who reported on much of Busch’s career.
“Love him, hate him, he was polarizing and he made me better at my job,” Little said. “He tested all of us, especially the media. You never wondered where you stood with Kyle. You knew what he thought about everything in that moment. He wore his heart on his sleeve. What a tremendous competitor.”
Little said she has known the Busch brothers since she was a girl growing up in Las Vegas. She started covering the NASCAR Cup Series in 2007 and met Kyle Busch before that.
Little said Busch never declined an interview, though reporters never knew what he would say.
“There were moments, you know, he was fined and we were all at the back of the NASCAR hauler the next week,” Little said. “We all kept asking him a question and he had the same response every time or one time there was a reporter asked him a question. He said, duh. And then he asked him another question. He said, duh.”
Little said Busch won a Truck Series race one week before his death, his 69th Truck Series win.
“The most by any driver, by a lot,” Little said.
Little said she saw Busch before the race at Watkins Glen and he was joking around with Bubba Wallace and seemed fine. Busch then radioed that he needed a doctor to meet him at his bus.
“Drivers deal with a lot of stuff,” Little said. “They’re not going to get out of the car. And they’re not going to let us know in the media that something’s wrong.”
Little said Busch raced in the All-Star race on Sunday, was busy with his son’s birthday on Monday, was making appearances and was in the simulator on Wednesday.
“It all looks like things weren’t that bad,” Little said. “But obviously, he was battling something, some illness that got to a point where it just made him collapse.”
Little said NASCAR is meeting with drivers to discuss plans to honor Busch this weekend at Indianapolis.
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