When Joe Gibbs went to visit Kyle Busch in the aftermath of a crash in the 2015 NASCAR Xfinity Series season opener at Daytona that resulted in a broken leg, Busch had only one thing on his mind: getting back behind the wheel of a race car as soon as possible.
“He was on a gurney, and the doctor was there, [his wife Samantha] was there, everybody was kind of there,” Gibbs recounted Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. “And Kyle was raving at the doctor. He was going, ‘Get me in there, fix this. I want to get back to racing.'”
So motivated and fiery was Busch, who drove for Gibbs from 2008-22 and died Thursday at age 41, that even a broken leg and a broken foot couldn’t keep him down. He later went on to win the 2015 NASCAR Cup Series championship after missing the first 11 races of the season in recovery.
“I don’t know if he was drugged up some or not, but that was his approach,” Gibbs said, smiling. “He came back in 11 weeks [and] won five races and the championship. I just think as far as courage and determination and a desire to win, I’m not sure how many athletes could’ve gone through that and handled it that way. He was not afraid of almost anything. He had a burning desire to race.”
Joe Gibbs shares Kyle Busch memories
Perhaps the only thing bigger than Busch’s desire to race was his desire to win. Gibbs recalled a race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway where Busch finished second and was none too happy about it.
“I kind of slid over to where they’re interviewing people, because sometimes, there might be something I could have to handle afterwards,” Gibbs said. “[Kyle’s] interview was absolutely great. I said, ‘Gosh, he must be happy he finished second.’ He walked 10 yards to me… he went just like this, he went, ‘Your cars suck.’ And he kept right on walking. I was nervous the press heard that.”
Gibbs also remembered the 2017 Brickyard 400, a race Busch was going for a third consecutive win in, that saw Busch and Martin Truex Jr. — the latter of which was driving for Furniture Row Racing, an organization that had an alliance with Gibbs’ team at the time — crash while racing for the lead.
“They restarted, Martin got down on the curb,” Gibbs recounted. “He shot up and just took Kyle out. I knew this is not gonna be good. I go over to where they’re interviewing. Kyle handled it pretty good. Then he walked to me, and he goes just like this: ‘There’s your alliance car.’ And he just kept walking. That was him. I just admired that part of him so much.”
Busch won 56 Cup races and two championships in the 15 seasons he drove for Gibbs.
Quotes provided by NASCAR Media.
