When recalling his interactions with Kyle Busch, NASCAR CEO summed up the driver’s talent and personality in a single telling phrase.
“Kyle Busch to me is an American badass,” O’Donnell said during a question-and-answer session with reporters on Friday afternoon at Charlotte Motor Speedway. “Behind the wheel, who you want to be.
“And I think, when you look back at all those things, that’s part of being a race car driver. That’s part of representing the sport.”
A sudden, severe illness took Busch’s life on Thursday, throwing the entire NASCAR community into shock and sadness.
O’Donnell said a variety of possibilities are under consideration to commemorate Busch’s achievement on and off the race track. One idea is to include Busch, whose NASCAR Hall of Fame credentials are impeccable, in the recently named Hall of Fame Class of 2027 that includes drivers Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton and Larry Phillips.
“I know that we put that on the list of ideas that we want to look at,” O’Donnell said. “I think… I said earlier there’s things we want to do this weekend, and then we have a little bit more time to think about what we could do as well in the future. Who knows, that could be something we look at.”
Driver Brad Keselowski weighed in on the subject on Saturday.
“I understand there’s a lot of things to work through on that, but it’s very clear that Kyle is a first-ballot Hall of Famer, and I don’t know why that needs to wait another year,” Keselowski said in endorsing the idea.
