JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
NASCAR driver Kyle Busch died Thursday at age 41. Some are calling Busch one of the greatest drivers. Among his many career highlights, he won 234 National Series races, and his final victory came about a week before his death. A sometimes controversial figure, Busch was loved by fans. And at the time of his death, he'd spent more than half his life in the racing spotlight, often in the winner's circle. Joining us now to remember Busch is Jordan Bianchi. He's a motor sports reporter for The Athletic. Hi there.
JORDAN BIANCHI: Hi there. Thanks for having me.
SUMMERS: Thanks for being here, Jordan. I understand that you were covering the arc of Busch's career for more than a decade. So I just want to ask you, when you heard that he had died, what went through your mind?
BIANCHI: I was stunned, absolutely floored. I mean, this is a 41-year-old man who's relatively healthy, who, just a few days before, I had saw him win a race in Dover. While he was towards the tail end of his career, he still had many, many good years left. This just came out of left field, and it just was - it felt like a stomach punch.
SUMMERS: Yeah. Tell us what kind of sportsman he was both on and off the racetrack.
BIANCHI: Kyle was the most determined and hardheaded race car driver out there. He is somebody who probably enjoyed - he hated losing more than he enjoyed winning. And he was somebody whose passion for this sport just - it was just evasive (ph). It came out of him, and it was something that he just loved to do. Even when he wasn't racing NASCAR races on the weekends, he'd be around the country racing in small events, often now with his 11-year-old son, which is another thing about this that really makes it so tragic. And so this is just someone who grew up in a racing family. This is all he ever wanted to do. And he was one of the best, if not the best, driver of his generation.
SUMMERS: I mean, this is sad and shocking news. What have you been hearing from fans as they've been learning about his death?
BIANCHI: Just - they can't believe it. They're stunned. I talked to a couple today who came down here from Michigan, and they wanted to see Kyle Busch race this weekend. And they - actually yesterday, they went and got a photo with the vehicle that Busch won with a week ago up in Dover. And as they were pulling into their hotel parking lot, they took out their phone and looked at social media, and they were floored. They just were - they couldn't believe it that this had happened.
So for his fans, like this - Kyle Busch is a tough driver. He is not somebody who - if he can breathe, he is going to be in the race car racing. That's just kind of been his mindset. He has raced through numerous injuries throughout his career. And so when the news came out yesterday morning that he was, you know, withdrawing from this weekend's race, it almost felt like something - what is going on here? This doesn't feel right. And then the news that he had passed, just devastating.
SUMMERS: I mean, even for folks like me who don't follow NASCAR closely, Kyle Busch was a name I knew. I mean, he was already considered to be one of NASCAR's greatest drivers. I imagine he would have had just a long career in front of him. How do you think his legacy will stand up overtime?
BIANCHI: Winner, prolific winner, two time champion - he owns the record for most wins across NASCAR's three National Series. That record feel untouchable. And so that - his name will forever be cemented in the record books for that. But if you are going to make a list of the greatest NASCAR drivers of all time, Kyle Busch's name is very near the top. He just had that kind of talent and ability, and what he did through the years is remarkable and something that no one else is probably ever going to be able to do.
SUMMERS: Jordan, one last thing. We've got about 20 seconds left. What will you remember most about him?
BIANCHI: His tenacity, his will, his commitment and just how he held himself to such a high standard, and he expected the best out of himself at all times.
SUMMERS: Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic, thank you.
BIANCHI: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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