Dale Earnhardt Jr reveals final text with Kyle Busch one day before NASCAR driver’s death
Thomas Bamford
Featured Image Credit: Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
The death of Kyle Busch has sent shockwaves around the NASCAR world as he tragically passed away last Thursday.
He will be remembered not only for his success on the track, but for his devotion to family and philanthropy off of it, following his sudden death aged 41.
In 2015, Busch and his wife founded the Bundle of Joy Fund, to help other couples conceive children through in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments. Their child Brexton was conceived using IVF.
According to their website, the two-time Cup Series Champion has helped award 178 grants totalling over $2.3 million. Through the charity, Samantha, 39, and Busch have helped welcome 111 babies through IVF.
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Busch had been preparing for the weekend's Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway when he became unresponsive while using a driving simulator in Concord on Wednesday.
He was transported to the hospital, where he died the following day.
His family confirmed over the weekend that his death was caused by severe pneumonia that turned into sepsis.
It turns out, Busch was deeply respected by his sporting colleagues, if recent comments made by Dale Earnhardt Jr are anything to go by.
Speaking to the Dale Jr. Download podcast, Earnhardt Jr revealed the final text exchange he had with the NASCAR legend.
He said: “I was texting with him the day before he passed away about getting together this Thursday to bring his seat for his late model over to my shop,”
“We had agreed that he was going to race our car in the CARS Tour.”
The CARS tour is a stock car racing group, which showcase older race cars. The two were having an animated discussion about which number they would be running on the tour.
“He’s texting me, and he’s like, ‘What scheme we going to run?’ And I was like, ‘You can run any scheme you want.’ I was like, ‘What number do you want to run?’”
“He goes … he said it, literally, ‘The Dale Jr. 8.’ I was like, ‘You got it.’”A "scheme" (or paint scheme) refers to the specific visual design, color patterns, and sponsor decals on a race car,
Earnhardt Jr. said that Busch sent him the exploding head emoji, adding that fans were going to love seeing him run the old model. Earnhardt Jr had famously raced the Budweiser logo'd No.8 car between 1999 to 2007, for eight seasons.
He became visibly emotional while speaking about Kyle Busch’s death, admitting it was “extremely” hard to even process that the NASCAR star was gone.
Earnhardt Jr. explained that, while fans knew Busch as a fierce competitor on the track, getting to understand the person behind the suit had been especially meaningful.
“What I’ve really appreciated is learning more about Kyle as a person,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “We all knew who Kyle was in the car, how Kyle came across in racing and in the media.
"I knew Kyle personally, but hearing how Kyle treated people, the jokes shared in texts, the way Kyle interacted with others away from the track… that’s been really special.”
The news first broke on Thursday, 21 May, that Busch had been hospitalised with a “severe illness”. Just hours later, NASCAR confirmed the devastating update that Busch had died aged 41.
Earnhardt Jr. was one of the first to pay tribute, posting a lengthy statement on social media describing Busch as “one of the greatest drivers in NASCAR history”.
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 teams. I was super eager for us to get on better…
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) May 21, 2026
The racing icon also reflected on the complicated relationship the pair shared over the years, admitting it hadn’t always been easy.
“Kyle and I had a really challenging existence for many years,” Earnhardt Jr. wrote. “But we eventually took the time to work through our differences, and that actually started with Kyle.
There was a conversation on the bus about how we each ran our race teams, and that changed everything.
“I really wanted us to be on better terms, but Kyle was the one who made that possible.”
At the Time, NASCAR released the following statement on Kyle's passing.
It read: "On behalf of the Busch family, everyone at Richard Childress Racing and all of NASCAR, we are devastated to announce the sudden and tragic passing of Kyle Busch.
"Our entire NASCAR family is heartbroken by the loss of Kyle Busch.
"A future Hall of Famer, Kyle was a rare talent, one who comes along once in a generation. He was fierce, he was passionate, he was immensely skilled and he cared deeply about the sport and fans."
It went on to say: "Throughout a career that spanned more than two decades, Kyle set records in national series wins, won championships at NASCAR’s highest level and fostered the next generation of drivers as an owner in the Truck Series. His sharp wit and competitive spirit sparked a deep emotional connection with race fans of every age, creating the proud and loyal ‘Rowdy Nation.’
"Our thoughts are with Samantha, Brexton and Lennix, Kyle and Samantha’s parents, Kurt and all of Kyle’s family, Richard and Judy Childress, everyone at Richard Childress Racing, his teammates, friends and fans.
"NASCAR lost a giant of the sport today, far too soon."