Kyle Busch's family reveals cause of death

Kyle Busch died from severe pneumonia that progressed into sepsis, his family revealed on Saturday.

In a statement, the family said, “The medical evaluation provided to the Busch family concluded that severe pneumonia progressed into sepsis, resulting in rapid and overwhelming associated complications. The family asks for continued understanding and privacy during this difficult time.”

Busch, 41, unexpectedly died on Thursday. A few hours earlier, it had been announced on his social media channels that he was hospitalized with a severe illness and would not compete this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway, where he was entered in both the Craftsman Truck and Cup Series events.

The two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion had attended the opening of an indoor karting facility with Mario Andretti on Tuesday in Raleigh, North Carolina. On Wednesday, Busch became ill while at the Chevrolet technical center in Concord, North Carolina, working on the simulator, and was taken to the hospital.

A recently released 911 call from Wednesday reveals an unidentified voice tell the dispatcher, “I’ve got an individual that’s (got) shortness of breath, very hot, thinks he’s going to pass out, and is producing a little bit of blood. Coughing up some blood.” The individual said Busch was awake and lying on the bathroom floor and offered directions on how best to enter the building to reach him.

At Watkins Glen on May 10, Busch came over his Richard Childress Racing team radio during the Cup Series race and asked for a doctor to meet him at his motorhome for a shot. Mike Joy of the Fox Sports broadcast team noted that Busch had been dealing with sinus issues. A week later, Busch told the media at Dover Motor Speedway, when asked if he was feeling better, that “you can still hear it,” while motioning at his face that “I’m still not great. But the cough was pretty substantial last week.”

Busch’s comments came a day after he won the Craftsman Truck Series race at Dover, which was his final NASCAR victory. It was his 69th career win in the series, where he is the all-time wins leader.

Richard Childress Racing and the NASCAR industry continue to honor Busch as race weekend takes place at Charlotte. Busch’s car has been renumbered to the No. 33, and Austin Hill will drive it on Sunday night.

NASCAR allowed Busch’s team to be the first, and only, to unload their car in the garage on Saturday morning. It was a somber, ceremonial opening of the garage that brought many to the team’s hauler to pay their respects. The other Childress team, Austin Dillon’s, was the second to unload their car before the rest of the garage went through the process.

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