A newly released 911 call from a race training facility in North Carolina on Wednesday reveals that NASCAR driver Kyle Busch was coughing up blood and lying on the bathroom floor when someone called for medical assistance.
NASCAR announced on Thursday that the two-time Cup champion died unexpectedly at the age of 41 from an undisclosed illness.
A man could be heard saying on a 911 call around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, “I’ve got an individual that’s, uh, shortness of breath, very hot, thinks he’s going to pass out and is producing a little bit of blood — coughing up some blood,” in audio published Friday on YouTube by TMZ.
“He is awake,” the 911 caller added. “He’s on the bathroom floor right now.”
NBC News reported that “NASCAR CEO Steve O’Donnell confirmed that Busch was using the Chevrolet racing simulator when he got sick, but declined to speculate on the cause and said there’s currently no evidence linking his death to racing or whatever training he was doing.”
“We’re not aware at this time of any correlation between, you know, the race car, the racing, and what took place,” O’Donnell told the news outlet.
Busch’s death came a week and a half after he radioed his crew near the end of the NASCAR Cup Series race in Watkins Glen, New York, on May 10, asking a doctor to be available to give him a “shot” when he finished.
He had been struggling with a sinus cold the whole week leading up to the race, a sportscaster said on air during the event.
Kyle Busch, just 10 days ago, while racing, asked his team to ‘find him a doctor.’
Not sure what exactly happened over the past 10 days but he just unexpectedly passed away, earlier today.
He was only 41 years old.
May he Rest in Peace. pic.twitter.com/3U0xSDLCFy pic.twitter.com/o5jTdmJGno
— Jesse Morse, M.D. (@DrJesseMorse) May 21, 2026
Five days later, on May 15, Busch won the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race in Dover, Delaware.
“You take whatever you can get, man,” the driver said, in what turned out to be his last post-race interview. “You never know when the last one is going to be, so cherish them all — trust me.”
After his win at Dover last weekend, #KyleBusch was asked if he has a number in mind when it came to career win totals:
“Take whatever you can get, man. You never know when the last one’s going to be, so cherish them all. Trust me.” #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/2ZGZSPSuJI
— Danielle Stein (@Danielle_Stein9) May 22, 2026
A reporter asked Busch on May 16 how his health was doing.
Last week at WGI, @KyleBusch called for medical help after the race. He said it was due to a substantial cough. pic.twitter.com/HN4ROPJr0R
— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) May 16, 2026
“I’m still not great,” he said. “The cough was pretty substantial last week.”
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