By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service

Getting Kyle Busch as a teammate opened Denny Hamlin’s eyes

CONCORD, N.C.—Kyle Busch’s arrival in 2008 was a wake-up call for Denny Hamlin.

DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA – FEBRUARY 09: Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M’s Toyota, and Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Express Toyota, stand on the grid during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series 62nd Annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 09, 2020 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Hamlin was in the process of establishing his own career when Busch signed on with Joe Gibbs Racing that season after a contentious split from Hendrick Motorsports.

After two victories for JGR in his 2006 rookie season, Hamlin won one race in 2007. The following year, Busch arrived with something to prove.

Starting with a victory in the fourth race of the season at EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta), Busch won eight of his first 22 races in a Gibbs car and opened Hamlin’s eyes to what was possible.

“When I signed my deal with Joe Gibbs Racing as development driver, it was kind of, I think it was the first year he (Busch) was going to run full-time with Hendrick in the O’Reilly Series,” Hamlin said Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. “I just remember that it was kind of him and Martin (Truex) and just those two guys going back and forth.

“He was really, really good, but I didn’t really know until he got in the same equipment that I got in (that) I could see how fast he was and just generally how good he was. At that point, it was like ‘This is going to be super challenging to be the fastest and the best at your organization. You are going to have a really tough time, as long as this guy’s your teammate.’”

Busch, who died Thursday at age 41, was hands-on in terms of setups, having built and worked on the cars he drove as an aspiring competitor in his native Las Vegas. Hamlin left the setup work to his crew chief and mechanics.

But the drivers learned from each other.

“I was just a feedback kind of person,” Hamlin said. “That was it. You were just going to get the driving side of that from me. So it certainly challenged me to evolve, and when I came into NASCAR itself, it was like, I come from short tracks. I didn’t come from mile-and-a-halves and stuff like this (Charlotte).

“It just was such an important part of my development process to have a teammate like him that was good at stuff like this, that I could learn from. So there’s no question, there were many, many instances where me and Kyle got to switch cars at a test, and at that point when I sat in the cars, I was like, “OK, so this is what a winning car feels like. This is just not the direction that I would think.’”

The roles were reversed on short tracks.

“And then vice versa, we go to short tracks, he’d get in and be like, ‘Man, it’s a lot different than what I would shoot for,’ and that combo is what made us more rounded than we ever were as race car drivers, just having that opportunity. I’m just super grateful for the opportunity to work with him as long as I did.”

Team owner Joe Gibbs recalls Kyle Busch’s strength through adversity

The way Kyle Busch dealt with a serious on-track injury in 2015 was one of the aspects of his career that team owner Joe Gibbs will remember most.

In the season-opening NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Daytona International Speedway, Busch crashed into the inside wall in Turn 1 and fractured his right leg and left foot.

On Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Gibbs recalled being at the hospital before Busch underwent surgery to repair the broken bones.

“At that point, he was on a gurney, and the doctor was there,” Gibbs said. “Sam (Busch’s wife Samantha) was there. Everybody was kind of there, and Kyle was raving at the doctor, and he was going, ‘Get me in there. Fix this. I want to get back to racing.’”

To Gibbs, that scene was emblematic of the grit and determination that made Busch so successful.

“So, I just think, as far as courage and determination and a desire to win, I got to tell you, I’m not sure how many people could have or athletes could have gone through that and handled it that way,” Gibbs said.

“So the one thing I always felt about Kyle, that guy had great courage. He was not afraid of almost anything, and he had a burning desire to race. It was just inside of him.”

Indeed. Sidelined for the first 11 races of the 2015 season, Busch returned to win five races and the first of his two Cup champions.

In his honor, all four Joe Gibbs Racing cars in Saturday’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race will pay tribute to Busch’s memory.

The No. 54 Toyota of Taylor Gray features the “Rowdy” insignia on its name rail. The No. 18, driven by William Sawalich, bears Busch’s name on both name rails.

Those two numbers carry immense significance within Busch’s legacy. In the No. 54 JGR Toyota, he accumulated 31 of his series-record 102 O’Reilly Series victories.

Busch also used the No. 54 when he fielded his own O’Reilly Series team in 2012. His brother, NASCAR Hall of Famer Kurt Busch, earned the only victory in the car that year, winning at Richmond.

The 18 is the number most closely associated with Busch throughout his NASCAR Cup Series career and much of his O’Reilly Series career with Joe Gibbs racing.

In addition to the Nos. 18 and 54, the No. 19 of Brent Crews and the No. 20 of Brandon Jones will feature Busch’s name on the right side of the respective cars.

In Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600, all JGR and 23XI Racing Cup cars will feature the Rowdy logo on the name rails.

NASCAR CEO Steve O’Donnell recalls Kyle Busch as an “American badass”

When recalling his interactions with Kyle Busch, NASCAR CEO summed up the driver’s talent and personality in a single telling phrase.

“Kyle Busch to me is an American badass,” O’Donnell said during a question-and-answer session with reporters on Friday afternoon at Charlotte Motor Speedway. “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.”

A sudden, severe illness took Busch’s life on Thursday, throwing the entire NASCAR community into shock and sadness.

O’Donnell said a variety of possibilities are under consideration to commemorate Busch’s achievement on and off the race track. One idea is to include Busch, whose NASCAR Hall of Fame credentials are impeccable, in the recently named Hall of Fame Class of 2027 that includes drivers Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton and Larry Phillips.

“I know that we put that on the list of ideas that we want to look at,” O’Donnell said. “I think… I said earlier there’s things we want to do this weekend, and then we have a little bit more time to think about what we could do as well in the future. Who knows, that could be something we look at.”

Driver Brad Keselowski weighed in on the subject on Saturday.

“I understand there’s a lot of things to work through on that, but it’s very clear that Kyle is a first-ballot Hall of Famer, and I don’t know why that needs to wait another year,” Keselowski said in endorsing the idea.

Family releases statement on cause of Kyle Busch’s death

In a short statement released Saturday morning, the Kyle Busch family detailed the cause of the champion driver’s sudden death at age 41.

“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.”

The two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion passed away on Thursday afternoon.