The two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion died on Thursday, US time, aged 41, after being hospitalised with a “severe illness”.
Associated Press reported that Busch had been testing in the Chevrolet racing simulator on Wednesday when he became unresponsive and was taken to hospital.
Busch was one of NASCAR racing’s biggest stars and won more races than any other driver across its top three divisions.
He was a passionate and polarising figure, embracing the villain role in the NASCAR pantomime – well and truly living up to his self-styled ‘Rowdy’ persona.
Busch’s fame extended to Australia, where Supercars and Adelaide 500 organisers had just two years ago made a bid to have him race at the season finale.
Busch ultimately opted out of the project, which was to have had him race a Triple Eight Camaro backed by Peter Adderton’s MobileX.
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Busch did, however, drive a Supercar on multiple occasions, doing so during a road course training program in the US in 2023.
The car was a Walkinshaw Racing-built Holden Commodore VF that was loaned to Richard Childress Racing by its owner Terry Wyhoon.
Busch drove the car at multiple US venues – Virginia, Watkins Glen and the Circuit of the Americas – in a bid to boost his NASCAR road course form.
It was part of a tie-up between RCR, Image and Erebus Motorsport, which included its then drivers Brodie Kostecki and Will Brown tutoring Busch and teammate Austin Dillon.
“The first time I experienced him was at Watkins Glen and he was just what you see on TV,” Erebus boss Barry Ryan reflected to Speedcafe on Friday.
“It was intense. All he focussed on was how he could drive faster, how a car can be faster. That was the day after a [NASCAR] race and he still had that intensity.
“He was just a passionate racer and all he wanted to do was race cars and win. He learned a bit off Brodie and he learned a bit off Will.”
Busch commented on the Virginia test in July of 2023, which took place before Kostecki raced an RCR Camaro in the Cup race at Indianapolis.
“[Kostecki] was there when we first went out and I think he had me covered by about two seconds a lap,” Busch said of driving the Holden.
“By the end of the day, we actually ran times that were really comparable and right on top of his.
“It took me a while to get used to those cars and what they are and how you can really attack corners.”
Kostecki on Friday described it as a privilege to have worked with Busch during that season.
“He was a top guy and was really, really dedicated,” Kostecki reflected.
“It just goes to show that life is precious.
“I feel for his whole family and it’s great to see the racing community come together.”
Kyle Busch remembered as powerful and polarising NASCAR icon
The Adelaide wildcard plan was hatched off the back of Childress visiting the 2023 Adelaide 500 as a guest of Erebus.
Ryan and Will Brown travelled to COTA the following weekend, where Busch again tested the Commodore and then raced alongside Brown in a World Racing League enduro.
“The last thing I remember of seeing [Busch] was when a few of us in team shirts were walking back from the tower and he was driving out,” Ryan said.
“He’d gotten a penalty for turning someone around. He had his fist out the window and was yelling, ‘I got screwed, I got screwed’.
“You could see that passion even as he was driving out the gate!”
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