By Luis Torres, Staff Writer/Photographer
A day removed from the passing of Kyle Busch, NASCAR CEO Steve O’Donnell spoke with the press at Charlotte Motor Speedway Friday where he looked back at the legacy Busch left behind.
In a time of grieving in the garage area, the fans at the track or at home, the press on-location or remote, O’Donnell’s opening remarks can be best described as a weekly family reunion.
No matter the trials and tribulations, agreement and disagreements, family is everything and the sport of NASCAR is no exception.
“Folks will often ask me when I’m around what’s NASCAR like? My best description of NASCAR is it’s like a family reunion every week. And those of you who have gone to family reunions, you know that from time-to-time families don’t get along, but at the end of the day, everybody knows that they’re all part of the family,” O’Donnell explained.
“If you look at our drivers, but just as equally when you think about family, that includes everybody in this room: media, team owners, drivers, sponsors. We’re all part of that group when we think about that family reunion. And when you think about drivers in particular, you get to watch drivers come into the sport — young, hungry, hopefully you see them win, and you see them grow up and you see them learn.
“You also get a chance when you’re in some of our positions to watch drivers off the track. You get to see them maybe find a friend, a girlfriend becomes a wife, they become fathers, they have kids, they start families. And you celebrate all that together because each and every weekend we are together, and we’re there to celebrate it,” O’Donnell continued.
“And that’s what this sport is, and Kyle Busch lived just about every chapter of what you can do in NASCAR. What most people saw: Rowdy, fierce, he’s competitive, always good for a great quote.
“My favorite interview Kyle Busch ever gave — and I wish I could do it every weekend, and I know most of you probably hated it, but everything is great, and he just kept saying it over and over and over again. That’s Kyle.”
Despite the battles O’Donnell has had with Busch over the year, one thing was certain – he epitomized the commodity of family in the sport.
“I think personally about Kyle Busch and NASCAR, and to me Kyle Busch just defines what it means to be a racer in NASCAR,” said O’Donnell. “Everything about it — the fire, the greatness, the heart that sometimes you rarely saw. The sport was truly lucky to have him.
“I believe I can speak for everybody in the sport, and I’ll just say this: For me personally, the family reunions week to week are just not going to be the same without him, but we’re going to do our damn best to continue his legacy and support his family.”
One of the final conversations O’Donnell had with Busch was Tuesday, days removed from his 234th and final NASCAR national touring victory at Dover Motor Speedway.
The conversation focused on Busch wanting to implement a rule for racers who are over 40 years old, an opportunity to compete full-time in lower divisions. Notably, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, the division where Busch scored his final win last Friday.
Nothing builds confidence like winning. 🏁 pic.twitter.com/yOeJ7OTwJ2
— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) May 15, 2026
At 41 years old, Busch wanted the rule to be made so he could run the entire Truck Series schedule, something that’s been out publicly of wanting to do so he could become the only man to win all three national touring titles down the road.
O’Donnell’s response was the current race limit rule that’s implement for Cup guys running in lower divisions was made because of drivers like Busch winning often. A day later, he thought different and recognized the idea as a way of Busch wanting to grow the sport.
“I look back on is a text from Kyle Tuesday, as only Kyle could do — and I keep looking at it — and he said: ‘Hey, man, what do you think about an over-40 rule to be able to compete in all the Truck Series races next year?’
“I said, ‘You know, we put that rule in place because you were winning so much,’ said O’Donnell.
“But when we looked about it and had a meeting Wednesday internally, we thought, damn, that’s actually good. We need Kyle in the Truck Series.
“It was twofold. He knew he could help the series, but I think one day had a dream to race against his son in a national series event. That was Kyle, always thinking about the sport and going forward.”
With the Coca-Cola 600 being the first Cup race after Busch’s death coming up Sunday (6:00 p.m. ET on Amazon Prime), tributes are imminent.
Among those already are Richard Childress Racing discontinuing the use of the No. 8 and switched to the No. 33 with the intention of reserving Busch’s number for his son Brexton. The 1.5-mile circuit have also spray painted Busch’s number and signature on the infield turf. Finally, Spire Motorsports’ tribute include adding Kyle Busch Motorsports decals on its trucks, including the No. 7 Chevrolet, Busch’s ride, will roll off first with Corey Day behind the wheel Friday.
Continuing our success on the foundation he built. pic.twitter.com/LDa444z81J
— Spire Motorsports (@SpireMotorsport) May 22, 2026
O’Donnell said there are plans for it to take place Sunday, but it’ll go beyond Charlotte as there’ll be plenty tributes expected to be done as the season moves forward.
However, O’Donnell alluded that it’s his and the sport’s responsibility to check with the Busch family and Richard Childress Racing, Busch’s team he drove in the final four years of his career, under these circumstances and see how comfortable they’ll be.
“Our responsibility is to make sure that Kyle’s family is okay with what we may or may not want to do and then the folks at RCR. We have had some of those conversations early this morning,” O’Donnell commented.
“Then as our industry does really well, we got on the phone with all of our Cup drivers, all of the owners, the racetrack, our broadcast partners, and threw out some ideas for them to react to. We got some great ideas from the drivers as well. Some will probably do some individual things, which is fantastic because they all look up to Kyle.
“We have a number of items that are in the works that our fans will be able to look at, celebrate Kyle. It won’t just be this weekend. He’s going to be part of our sport forever. But I think this industry will do what’s needed to honor his legacy throughout the weekend.”
Racing with heavy hearts this weekend. pic.twitter.com/h92BHcKb9h
— Charlotte Motor Speedway (@CLTMotorSpdwy) May 22, 2026
If there was one thing O’Donnell said about the legacy of Busch’s career, he was a badass racer in a sport that epitomizes badass.
“This sport is a badass sport. Kyle Busch to me is an American badass,” said O’Donnell. “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.
“We’re not always going to agree. If we did, I think people would be really bored. We certainly had our battles, right? But I’d give a lot of money to have a few more battles going forward.”
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