The weekend’s NASCAR stop in Las Vegas in the first since two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and Las Vegas native Kyle Busch passed away in May at the age of 41 from severe pneumonia and sepsis.
A hugely popular and beloved racer – especially here in his hometown – there have been several notable honors from re-naming of a street outside Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s Bullring to “Rowdy Road” – a nod to Busch’s nickname. It intersects with “Busch Brothers Drive” a little farther away.
Just outside the Bullring grandstands, a tribute marker to Busch was unveiled this week as part of the Kyle Busch Classic. His older brother Kurt will drive the pace car Sunday.
Kyle Larson’s No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet – the same number Busch drove for the team from 2003 to 2007 – is carrying a tribute point scheme reminiscent of the Kellogg’s colors Busch once drove for the team.
Busch’s signature will be prominently displayed above the passenger-side window and “Tiny Kyle,” a playful nickname Busch gave Larson will be on the opposite side.
Busch was formally inducted into the West Coast Stock Car Motorsports Hall of Fame this week at the South Point Hotel in Las Vegas. His wife, Samantha and son 11-year-old Brexton were there to accept the honor on his behalf. In an emotional speech Samantha reminded that Busch never allowed his immense talent “to be an excuse for not working hard.”
“Because he wanted the next generation to go further. .. and there are so many drivers racing today because Kyle believed in them,” she continued.
As she spoke about his great talent on the track, she smiled and recalled how people would think, “only Kyle Busch could do that,” – to which Brexton leaned into the microphone and declared with a smile, “only Kyle Busch would do that” as the room erupted in laughter and applause.
“Kyle’s legacy is in the people he made better,” Samantha added. “It’s in the drivers he mentored, the mark he left on the sport, the opportunities he created, the fans that still call themselves ‘Rowdy Nation.’ It’s in every young driver that says, ‘I want to be like Kyle Busch one day.’”
Looking into the audience Samantha reiterated how she wished Kyle could be the one there accepting this honor, but promised for their children Brexton and four-year-old Lennix, “I hope they will always know this, their dad did not just win races, he changed the sport.”
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