Kyle Busch’s tragic passing away has left many people across the NASCAR world feeling like they are lost every race weekend since the Memorial Day weekend race in Charlotte.

While most of Busch’s No. 8 RCR crew feels the same way, one of his closest aides of over 15 years, Bill Janitz, revealed how he’s been feeling since the 2-time Cup champ passed. 

Busch’s long-time PR associate was asked by journalist Kaitlyn Vincie about how he’s seen Busch evolve over the 15 years he’s known him. 

Vincie posted the whole interview with Janitz on Substack on X, where Janitz replied, “I’d say when it comes to the mistakes he made, he didn’t regret them because he learned from them, and they helped him later in life.”

Janitz spoke about one incident in his career that he knew Busch regretted. It was the bust-up with Ron Hornaday when Busch intentionally took Hornaday out of the Texas race and championship contention in 2011.

Janitz said, “He didn’t say this often, but he referenced in a few interviews years ago that he wished the incident with Ron Hornaday had never happened. I think that was a turning point for him.”

Busch intentionally hooked Hornaday, sending him hard into the outside wall. For that incident in the Truck Series, Busch was benched for the Cup and NOAPS race that weekend and also fined $50,000. But b beyond that, Janitz didn’t believe Busch had many other regrets. 

Janitz revealed something Busch talked about more than people would believe

After Kyle Busch’s passing, Chase Elliott declared that he would be withdrawing his name from the ballot for the Most Popular Driver, an award he’s won 8 times. Elliott said that he would love to see Kyle Busch receive the award. 

As NASCAR’s winningest driver, Busch constantly racked up wins; he grew into the role of a villain on track, and while most will shun it, he took it as it came. Janitz spoke to Vincie about the award and said something interesting. 

“Chase Elliott was so gracious in talking about that and saying he’d love to see Kyle win it. It’s kind of crazy because, as much as Kyle wore that black hat, he didn’t really love it. Human nature is that you want to be loved”

Janitz explained how Kyle Busch hoped that with time and with his accomplishments, people would start to look at him differently. Jantiz also said something most would be shocked to hear. 

“I’d love to see the fans rally behind him and vote him Most Popular Driver because, I’m telling you, he’d get a kick out of that. He talked about it more than people would ever know.”

As the revelations unfolded, Janitz revealed a side of Busch that most people wouldn’t have thought existed. 

Do you want to see Busch get the Most Popular Driver award? Let us know. 

Read more at RFK Racing Digest.

Written by

Debrup Chaudhuri

Edited by

Kaamna Dwivedi