'I'll have Kyle Busch stories forever' - Gibbs

Joe Gibbs did not have to, nor was he obligated to, put himself in front of a microphone Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

But the NASCAR Hall of Fame team owner made a visit to the media center to share his thoughts on and memories of one of his former drivers, the late Kyle Busch. Gibbs spent half an hour doing so, and 15 minutes of that were just the opening remarks Gibbs wanted to make about the Busch family, Richard Childress, and then going into stories about Kyle.

Busch unexpectedly died on Thursday due to severe pneumonia that progressed into sepsis. He drove for Joe Gibbs from 2008 through 2022. It was a partnership that made Busch a future NASCAR Hall of Famer with 37 victories and two championships.

“It’s just a terrible time, obviously, for all of us in the NASCAR family,” Gibbs said. “A few thoughts I had, and the first was just for Sam, Brexton, and Lennix, Tom, and Gaye, just for that family. Our focus is going to be for the future for them because we’re going to be there, so whatever they need, we want to be a part of that. We just try and encourage Sam and everything she’s going to go through. Our family has kind of gone through this, and it’s honestly the worst thing to happen in life, so we just want to encourage them.”

Samantha and Kyle married in 2010. Brexton turned 11 years old on May 18; Lennix turned 4 years old on May 10.

“Secondly, I just want to say that for Richard [Childress] and RCR, we just want to work in concert with them,” Gibbs continued. “I reached out to Richard and told him that we just want to be together on this. We feel so, so much hurt for him and RCR. Just a terrible thing to happen to them, and what’s happened to him also in the past. So, we just really want to do anything we can to encourage RCR, and we want to work together as we go forward with this with them.”

There were multiple stories that Gibbs shared about Busch, the first being the first time he ever heard about him. It came from one of his late sons, Coy, who had been racing trucks at the time. Gibbs called Coy to ask how practice had gone for whatever race they were preparing to run when Coy mentioned a 16-year-old kid who was two seconds faster than anyone else.

Coy wanted Busch kicked out. Busch was indeed kicked out for, as Gibbs recalled, being too young to be there. In 2001, Busch made six starts in the Truck Series, and NASCAR would go on to change the age requirement for drivers, setting it at 18 before drivers were eligible to compete.

Busch was 23 when he was signed by Gibbs. At the time, Busch thought his career was over after being released by Hendrick Motorsports, but Gibbs heavily recruited him.

The first championship came in 2015 after Busch was sidelined because of significant injuries he suffered in the season opener at Daytona for the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. The night of the wreck, Gibbs visited Busch at the hospital, and that recalled another story about Busch and his determination.

“At that point, he was on a gurney, and the doctor was there, Sam was there, everybody was kind of there, and Kyle was [ranting] at the doctor,” Gibbs said. “He was going, ‘Get me in there, fix this, I want to get back to racing.’ I don’t know if he was drugged up some or not, but that was his approach.”

On a home visit to see Busch during his recovery, Gibbs again found the driver pushing himself forward.

“I walk into the house, and he already had a trampoline type deal, and he’s doing pull-ups on this thing,” Gibbs said. “So, I’m standing there talking to him. Then he goes, ‘Watch this,’ and he started wiggling his toes at the end of the cast, and I went like this, I went, ‘Hey! Are you supposed to be doing that?’ He goes, ‘No, they told me not to do that.’”

Busch was someone of great courage, unafraid of anything. He also had a burning desire to race.

“It was just inside of him,” said Gibbs.

Another story told was from a New Hampshire race. Busch finished second, and Gibbs figured he must be OK and happy because he handled his media interviews well. But after he was done, he walked over to Gibbs and pointed at him as he said, “Your. Cars. Suck.”

There was much more from Gibbs, who mentioned how Busch was always game for anything. In their organization, Christmas parties and skits are a big thing, and Busch always participated.

But there were also plenty of ups and downs for Busch in his career, and Gibbs had to handle them. It was a part of who Busch was and his passion.

Busch left the Gibbs organization after the 2022 season. The beginning of the end of the partnership came with the departure of his longtime sponsor M&M’s, and Busch chose to sign with Richard Childress Racing.

“I’ll have Kyle Busch stories forever,” said Gibbs. “This was somebody that we all kind of admired. The great athletes, they can do things that all of the rest of us, you envision yourself [doing].”