{"id":582,"date":"2026-05-24T18:37:26","date_gmt":"2026-05-24T18:37:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=582"},"modified":"2026-05-24T18:37:26","modified_gmt":"2026-05-24T18:37:26","slug":"at-charlotte-through-smiles-and-tears-kyle-busch-fans-grieve-their-nascar-hero","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/charlotterelocationguide.com\/?p=582","title":{"rendered":"At Charlotte, through smiles and tears, Kyle Busch fans grieve their NASCAR hero"},"content":{"rendered":"

Part of her wondered if she\u2019d ever come back.<\/p>\n

This had always been Panda Young\u2019s plan: to retire and travel the country with her husband and their trailer and their ear muffs, from racetrack to racetrack. But on Friday afternoon, in the campgrounds just outside Charlotte Motor Speedway, underneath an overcast sky, Young questioned all of it.<\/p>\n

Read more The hypocrisy of a North Carolina millionaire lecturing on taxes | Opinion<\/a><\/p>\n

Her voice cracked as she pondered the possibilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t said it out loud, but I\u2019m like, \u2018Do I want to come back?\u2019\u201d she said in front of a large No. 8 flag flying outside the tent. She said she might just be Kyle Busch\u2019s No. 1 fan. \u201cDo I want to continue? NASCAR, you know, we planned on retiring and traveling all around the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

She looked away.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously Kyle wouldn\u2019t be around then \u2014 you know he\u2019d be retired,\u201d she said, gathering herself. \u201cHopefully a driver grabs my heart like Kyle did.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Young family \u2014 which included the two parents and their two daughters \u2014 lugged their trailer all the way from Pennsylvania to be here. They came to last year\u2019s Coca-Cola 600<\/a> and had \u201cjust the best time\u201d and have turned going to races into a biannual or triannual tradition. But as they were on the road on Thursday, Panda got a call from a neighbor. Then came the news that Busch, somehow, had died in a hospital from an undisclosed \u201csevere illness.\u201d<\/a> She had questions. She had tears. She had stories and examples of ethereal connections, like how her and her husband, Toby, were married a day later than Kyle and Samantha.<\/p>\n

\u201cI brought my Bristol shirt because we got to go to the Bristol Dirt race that he won,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd I brought that and my M&M shirt, and I was going to have him sign it this weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Such was the feeling on this sad, gray day. The week after Dale Earnhardt Sr. died, in February 2001,<\/a> the air was heavy. Rain scattered through the weekend. The race went on \u2014 that\u2019s what racers do \u2014 but Mother Nature intervened and kindly pushed us to slow down. It\u2019s tough not to draw the parallels to this day, in Concord, a few hours before the NASCAR Truck Series race Busch was supposed to run in and a few days before the Sunday Cup race a rejuvenated Busch might\u2019ve just won.<\/p>\n

But as much as it was sad, it was replete with stories. People had memories to share, emotions on their sternum. Some were about how they met Kyle Busch themselves, and how he was so kind to them, shattering his brash and callow veneer. Jason Stikeleather of Fort Mill, S.C., said he loved Kyle\u2019s brother, Kurt, and that NASCAR fans were a family.<\/p>\n

One fan, Jessica Fortin, shared the reason why she was a Kyle Busch fan. At first, it was a way to tease her future husband, Richard, who was a Carl Edwards fan<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018Love you, brother.\u2019 Kyle Busch teammate mourns friend in emotional tribute<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cSo I asked him, \u2018Who\u2019s Carl\u2019s rival?\u2019\u201d said Fortin, when they first started dating. She said this with her youngest daughter, Harper, in her arms. \u201c\u2019Who does he hate the most?\u2019 And he said Kyle Busch. I said, \u2018That\u2019s who I\u2019m going to like.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Fortin loved that KFB \u201cdidn\u2019t care what anybody thought.\u201d She loved his famous \u2014 notorious? \u2014 celebration, when he\u2019d bow after completing a burnout on the front-stretch after winning the race. He\u2019d bow and smile as fans booed him into oblivion. He\u2019d bow multiple times if he was feeling it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a staple in NASCAR, and it just fueled him more,\u201d Fortin said. \u201cThe more people that hated him, the more he loved it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Busch connected with the younger generation, too. Josh Privette, an 18-year-old from Charleston wearing a Busch backpack and hoodie, stood in disbelief. Like everyone else, he couldn\u2019t believe that Busch wasn\u2019t here \u2014 he couldn\u2019t believe he didn\u2019t know Busch\u2019s cause of death, either. He spoke in the present tense because \u201cRowdy\u201d is still here, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy room is decked out and all that,\u201d he said. \u201cI have a lot of memorabilia from him.\u201d Privette has even got to meet Busch several times, thanks to some professional connections. \u201cI still don\u2019t believe it. I checked my phone every five seconds last night. … I called my mom immediately. It was something I\u2019ve never imagined before.\u201d<\/p>\n

Young said she had some of her favorite drivers lined up once Busch retired. Drivers like 19-year-old Connor Zilisch<\/a>, and grassroots racing star Brenden \u201cButterbean\u201d Queen. Brexton Busch, Kyle\u2019s son, eventually. Busch wouldn\u2019t race forever, after all.<\/p>\n

Read more Rattlesnakes are part of the routine for workers rebuilding I-40 in Western NC<\/a><\/p>\n

But first, she spoke as herself but also as an ambassador for the sport:<\/p>\n

\u201cI gotta heal for a while.\u201d<\/p>\n

This story was originally published May 22, 2026 at 4:59 PM.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NASCAR fans, who traveled to Charlotte Motor Speedway from across the country, are grieving Kyle Busch sudden death together. 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