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Dale Earnhardt Jr. shared the poignant details of his last conversation with the late Kyle Busch, shedding light on their final text exchange just hours before the tragic passing of the NASCAR star.
During the May 26 episode of his podcast, “The Dale Jr. Download,” Earnhardt Jr., 51, recounted how he and Busch had been making plans the day prior to his death. They were coordinating to meet up that Thursday to deliver Busch’s seat for a late model car to Earnhardt Jr.’s workshop. “We had decided he was going to drive our car in the CARS Tour,” Earnhardt Jr. explained.
The CARS Racing Tour, known for its thrilling late model stock car races, had been the topic of their discussion, particularly which number Busch would sport during the event.
“He texted me, asking, ‘What scheme are we going with?’ I replied, ‘Choose any scheme you like,’” continued Earnhardt Jr. “When I asked him which number he preferred, he responded with ‘The Dale Jr. 8.’ I told him, ‘It’s yours.’”
Busch’s response included an exploding head emoji, which Earnhardt Jr. interpreted as a nod to the excitement it would stir among racing fans. Earnhardt Jr. famously drove the No. 8 Budweiser car for nine seasons between 1999 and 2007, a number steeped in racing nostalgia.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch Getty Images (2)
Earnhardt Jr. also got emotional when discussing Busch’s death, saying that it was “extremely” difficult to believe that the athlete had died.
“What I’ve enjoyed, I guess, is learning more about Kyle the person,” Earnhardt Jr. added. “We know who he is on the race track, we know how he is on the race track and in the media, and so forth. What he was like at the track with the suit on and in that environment. I knew him on a personal level.”
He continued, “But hearing how he interacted and how he was to others, the joke they may have shared in a text … I’ve really enjoyed learning who he was away from the track and how he interacted and engaged, or treated, or talked to other people, and it’s been good.”
News broke on Thursday, May 21, that Busch was hospitalized with a “severe illness.” Hours later, NASCAR confirmed that he had died at age 41. Busch’s cause of death was released days later, revealing that he died of pneumonia that progressed “into sepsis, resulting in rapid and overwhelming associated complications.”
Earnhardt Jr. initially remembered his longtime opponent in a lengthy social media statement, calling the late Busch “one of the greatest drivers in NASCAR history” on Thursday.
“Kyle and I had a really challenging existence for many years. But we luckily took the time to figure out our differences and that was something he instigated with a conversation in his bus around how we each managed our racing team,” he shared via X, in part. “I was super eager for us to get on better terms. But it was he who made the effort for that to be possible.”