Kyle Busch planned to race with son Brexton in NASCAR before his death, make history in the process

Family is as intrinsic to the story of NASCAR racing as moonshine and the beaches of Daytona. 

As long as there has been a NASCAR, there have been iconic families bearing the weight of the sport. The France family founded NASCAR and continues to run it to this day. Four Flock siblings — Tim, Fonty, Bob and Ethel — raced in the July 10, 1949 Cup Series race at the Daytona Beach and Road Course. And of course, the Pettys, Earnhardts, Allisons, Labontes, Elliotts and Waltrips, among other, have staked their respective claims to history. 

The Busch family, made famous by Hall of Famer Kurt Busch and his soon-to-be Hall of Fame brother, Kyle, were set to be joined by a second generation in the near future: Kyle's son, Brexton, who turned 11 on May 18. 

Kyle Busch, 41, died on May 21 after pneumonia turned into sepsis. His death rocked the sports world to its core. NASCAR didn't only lose an active driver, but one of it's greatest drivers ever. It was a shock equivalent to the death of Dale Earnhardt in 2001. A generation of race fans lost their hero; a man known even by those who didn't watch him race on Sundays.

The next generation of the Busch family lost his hero, mentor and most heartbreaking of all, his father. Brexton Busch had long been coached by Kyle as his racing career progressed, and seemed destined to one day race alongside his dad in NASCAR. 

Kyle Busch laid out plan to race with Brexton before his death

Kyle Busch's career was clearly in its twilight years. His performance had begun to wane since the back half of the 2023 Cup Series season. His 63rd and final Cup win, unbeknownst as such prior to his passing, had come in June of 2023 at Gateway. 

Fittingly, Busch, the winningest driver in history across NASCAR's top-three divisions, won a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Dover just six days before he died. It was the Truck Series in which Kyle and Brexton Busch were set to race together, as was revealed by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in an ESPN story published on Wednesday. 

"He had this whole succession plan, and he stayed more busy doing that than he did anything else," Stenhouse said, per ESPN's Robert Klemko. "Anytime we were talking, it was about Brexton racing. He was definitely more happy talking about Brexton racing than anything else."

Busch wasn't only planning to race against his son just as Lee Petty had done with son Richard and Dale Earnhardt Sr. had done with Dale Earnhardt Jr. He was, in quintessential Kyle Busch fashion, going to try and make history in the process by racing for a Truck Series championship after stepping away from full-time Cup Series racing. 

Busch won two Cup Series titles and the 2009 NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series title. Had he won a Truck Series championship, he'd be the first driver to ever win championships in NASCAR's top three series. Greg Biffle, who won Truck Series and O'Reilly Series titles but never won the Cup championship, arguably came closer than any driver to accomplishing the feat. He died at age 55 in December 2025 after a plane crash. 

Despite never running a full Truck Series season, Busch won a record 69 Truck races in 184 starts, an absurd winning percentage of 37.5 percent. Had he and Brexton gotten the opportunity to race together, there's little doubt that the elder Busch would've been near the front of the field, perhaps even battling his son for victories. 

That is a chapter in Busch's story that will never be told. But rest assured, Brexton appears poised to carry on his father's legacy. Richard Childress Racing has reserved Kyle Busch's No. 8 for Brexton when he reaches the NASCAR ranks, and he'll have the full-throated support of the industry and Busch's passionate fan base behind him when that time arrives. 

But that doesn't mean it's any easier to think about the fact that when Brexton does fire up his engine for his NASCAR debut, his father won't be there, either at his side or preparing to compete against him.