Audio described as a chilling 911 call made before the reported death of NASCAR star Kyle Busch — announced on Thursday (May 21) — has now surfaced.
Earlier this week, a statement shared jointly by the Busch family and NASCAR claimed that the father-of-two and two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion had died.
According to the family, the 41-year-old had been taken to hospital earlier in the day with a “severe illness”, though no cause of death has been provided.
In the days since, messages of support from fans and other drivers have flooded in. The statement portrayed Busch as a “future Hall of Famer” and a “rare talent” that comes around “once in a generation”.
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.
“He was fierce, he was passionate, he was immensely skilled and he cared deeply about the sport and fans.”
The driver is survived by his wife, Samantha Busch, and their children, Brexton and Lennix.
“NASCAR lost a giant of the sport today, far too soon,” the statement added, while offering condolences to the family.
NBC News reported it had obtained a 911 call placed from a General Motors training facility in North Carolina, indicating the 41-year-old had been “coughing up blood” on Wednesday (May 20), the day before the announcement.
“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,” the caller said at around 5:30 p.m.
“He’s awake,” the man said. “He’s on the bathroom floor right now.”
An ambulance was requested to the General Motors Charlotte Technical Center in Concord, North Carolina, with an additional request that the sirens be switched off.
NASCAR CEO Steve O’Donnell later said Busch had been using a Chevrolet racing simulator when he became unwell.
However, he told NBC News: “We’re not aware at this time of any correlation between, you know, the race car, the racing, and what took place.”
At the time of the reported death, Busch was in his 22nd full-time season in NASCAR’s top series, with two Cup Series championships and 63 race wins.
He had also been set to compete in the Coca-Cola 600 on (May 24), and O’Donnell confirmed the event would still be held.
Speaking to reporters on Friday (May 22), he said: “Kyle Busch would probably be pretty p***ed off if we didn’t race.
“So we’re going to honor his memory and make sure people know what he was all about.”