Two-time Nascar Cup Series champion Kyle Busch has died at 41 after being hospitalized with a severe illness, Nascar said in a Thursday statement.
“We are saddened and heartbroken to share the news of the passing of Kyle Busch, a two-time Cup champion and one of our sport’s greatest and fiercest drivers. He was 41 years old,” the racing organization wrote on social media. “We extend our deepest condolences to the Busch family, Richard Childress Racing and the entire motorsports community.”
No cause of death was given.
Busch’s family had announced his hospitalization earlier on Thursday, saying he wouldn’t compete as planned at this weekend’s Nascar race in Charlotte, North Carolina.
During a Nascar Cup Series race on 10 May at Watkins Glen, Busch radioed in to his crew requesting medical aid from Dr Bill Heisel and a “shot” after the race. According to the TV broadcast, Busch had been struggling with a sinus cold that was exacerbated by the intense G-forces and elevation changes at the upstate New York road course.