Kyle Busch suffered from severe pneumonia that progressed into sepsis, “resulting in rapid and overwhelming associated complications,” the NASCAR driver’s family said in a statement Saturday.
The statement was based on a medical evaluation provided to the family, it said.
Busch died Thursday at age 41 after being hospitalized on Wednesday night, and the motorsports world has mourned the racing legend’s shocking loss in the days since.
The quick decline in his health followed a weeks-long illness through which Busch continued to race.
On May 10, Busch was competing at Watkins Glen International when he radioed his team asking for help after the race.
“Can somebody try to find Bill Heisel? He’s the Hendrick doctor guy,” Busch said.
When asked where Busch wanted to meet Heisel, a longtime sports physician’s assistant who has worked with NASCAR teams, the driver asked to do so at his motorhome.
“I’m gonna need a shot,” Busch said before he finished eighth in the race.
A memorial for Kyle Busch outside Daytona International Speedway. (Nadia Zomorodian / News-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
One week later, when The Athletic asked Busch last Saturday at Dover Motor Speedway whether he was feeling better from whatever was bothering him in the car at Watkins Glen, Busch motioned to his face.
“You can kind of hear it — I’m still not great,” he said. “But the cough was pretty substantial last week.”
Busch was doing well enough to win a NASCAR Truck Series race at Dover, then seemingly continued with his normal routine. He attended the grand opening of a karting center in Durham, N.C., on Tuesday. Then on Wednesday, Busch posed for pictures with fans at the Richard Childress Racing shop that were later posted to social media.
But by Wednesday evening, he suddenly took a turn for the worse.
On Friday, 911 audio obtained by The Athletic and other outlets requesting recordings related to Busch revealed that an unidentified caller on Wednesday asked that an ambulance be sent to the GM Charlotte Technical Center in Concord, N.C. Busch was at the racing simulator at that facility on Wednesday, according to a source briefed on the situation, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the subject.
The 911 caller said the individual, whose name was redacted in the released audio, was having shortness of breath, feeling very hot, thinking he was going to pass out and “coughing up some blood.” The caller told the dispatcher that the individual was awake and on a bathroom floor, and asked that responders turn their ambulance sirens off upon arrival.
NASCAR CEO Steve O’Donnell held a news conference Friday, but declined to comment on Busch’s health leading up to his death.
“We’re 24 hours from getting a phone call, and I don’t think — it’s out of respect for the family, and they’ve asked for privacy,” O’Donnell said. “I’m not going to address any of that. … You guys who know me know that transparency is something we all believe in. So in due time, I think everyone will be comfortable with where things stand.”
— Alex Andrejev contributed to this report.
