Kyle Busch's sudden demise was a shock a lot of people could not bear. The driver who raced at Dover a few days back and won it, is no longer alive. While this has been hard to accept for almost every motorsports fan, it pains them more who raced with them. And Tony Stewart is one of them, as he shared an emotional condolence.

"Kyle Busch was a fierce competitor. He was strong-willed, confident not only in his ability behind the wheel, but in his opinions. He held his own and didn't mince words," Stewart said in a post on X.

Kyle Busch and Tony Stewart raced in NASCAR together and were part of the grid from 2004 to 2016. Stewart was already an established driver before Busch's arrival, and parted ways with the sport at the end of 2016 season.

"What a loss for the NASCAR community and the motorsports community as a whole. Kyle was one of a kind. Whether it was to see him win or to see someone beat him, you watched. Even the haters will miss Kyle. They'll learn in the coming weeks who he was as a person, a husband and a father," Stewart's statement further read.

On Wednesday, Kyle Busch was training at the Chevrolet facility in Concord, North Carolina. This was when he fell sick, and people accompanying him called for an emergency.

Busch was taken to a hospital in Charlotte, but unfortunately did not survive. He passed away at the age of 41, leaving behind his wife, Samantha Busch, and two kids, Brexton and Lennix.

Joe Gibbs shared his thoughts on managing Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch

During their time as a driver, Kyle Busch and Tony Stewart raced together once at Joe Gibbs Racing, in 2008. Busch and Stewart, who are known for their aggressiveness, gave Gibbs a hard time to manage them.

"They were both very super talented," Gibbs said in a report published by Daily Express in July, 2025. "And both of them a little bit alike, and they were [into] all kinds of stuff,” Gibbs said.

"But really both of them, I really appreciated their talent, the way they went after it for us, both of them. Like if you get Kyle, he's got a great sense of humor. You get him in a social setting and stuff, you’ll laugh a lot. But both of them really talented."

When Busch arrived at Joe Gibbs Racing, from Hendrick Motorsports, Stewart was already racing at Joe Gibbs' team. However, in 2009, Stewart moved to Haas CNC Racing team and formed the Stewart-Haas Racing.

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Written by

Sabyasachi Biswas

Edited by

Suyashdeep Sason