Kyle Busch: Full Biography
Kyle Busch was an American stock car racing driver and team owner who won 234 races across NASCAR’s three national series, more than anyone in the sport’s history. He took the Cup Series championship in 2015 and 2019, and died in May 2026 at the age of 41.
The No. 18 He reached the Cup Series with Hendrick Motorsports in 2004 and became its youngest pole winner the following year, at nineteen. From 2008 he drove the No. 18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, a car most often carrying M&M’s colours, and won the first Cup race and the first Cup championship in Toyota machinery. He was booed as often as he was cheered, and raced accordingly.
2015 A crash in an Xfinity race at Daytona in February broke his right leg and his left foot, and he missed the first eleven races of the season. He returned with fifteen to go, needing to climb into the top thirty in points to qualify for the playoffs at all. He won four races in the space of five weeks, made the field, and took the championship at Homestead. A second followed in 2019.
The No. 8 Mars ended its sponsorship after 2022 and he moved to Richard Childress Racing, taking a nineteenth consecutive season with a win in 2023 — a series record. He fell ill in May 2026 with pneumonia that progressed to sepsis, and died in Charlotte on 21 May, six days after winning a Truck Series race at Dover.
