NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace looked heartbroken as he was filmed mourning the death of fellow star Kyle Busch.
Footage emerged of Wallace kneeling beside Busch’s No.8, which is painted on the infield at turn one of the site of this week’s Coca-Cola 600 race in Charlotte.
A crushed Wallace barely moved as he was filmed crouching alongside the tribute, which was clearly an emotional moment.
Busch, a two-time Cup Series champion and father of two, died of complications after suffering with ‘severe pneumonia that progressed into sepsis’ on Thursday, shortly after being hospitalized.
On Instagram, Wallace shared a series of pictures of both him and Busch. He captioned it: ‘My eyes hurt from all the crying, my heart hurts from the pain.
‘Kyle was a monumental factor in who Bubba Wallace is today. I sit here and look at all things around me and all the things I’ve been able to accomplish.. Kyle played a role in every aspect.
NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace looked heartbroken as he mourned the death of Kyle Busch
Wallace also shared a series of pictures of both him and Busch with an emotional caption
‘That’s what hurts the most. An icon and a legend that I looked up to…is no longer with us.’
A somber atmosphere descended on the NASCAR garage on Saturday as Busch’s race car was unloaded onto the track two days after his sudden death.
In the wake of the heartbreaking news, the Coca-Cola 600 race is set to go ahead on Sunday as scheduled, NASCAR CEO Steve O’Donnell confirmed.
As teams arrived at the Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday morning ahead of Sunday’s race, Busch’s blue and white Chevrolet, whose number has been changed from Busch’s 8 to 33 in honor of the late racing legend, was rolled onto the track.
Richard Childress Racing announced on Friday that it would be temporarily retiring the No 8 until Busch’s 11-year-old son Brexton follows in his father’s footsteps.
Silence and sadness overtook the garage as the vehicle arrived on the track in a video shared to social media by NASCAR.
Drivers, teams and racing officials were captured overwhelmed with emotion, with many in the crowd even seen wiping their teary eyes and embracing one another in support through the somber moment.
‘Putting the new numbers on this car was the hardest thing I’ve ever done,’ Dalton Good, a graphic installer at Richard Childress Racing, said, according to USA Today.
A somber atmosphere descended on the NASCAR garage when Busch’s car was unloaded
An in memoriam photo of Busch was shown on the video board at Charlotte Motor Speedway
Busch reportedly become unresponsive while using a racing simulator in Concord, North Carolina on Wednesday and was even seen coughing up blood, according to a 911 call released by TMZ.
He was hospitalized on Thursday before NASCAR announced his passing later that evening in a statement shared on behalf of his family.
Busch, who competed in more than 760 races during a storied 24-year career, is survived by his wife, Samantha, and their two children, Brexton, 11, and Lennix, four.
It has since emerged that Busch was struggling with something in his final weeks.
He radioed for medical assistance from his car in the middle of one of his final NASCAR races on May 10 in upstate New York, just days before his death.
Another eerie clip emerged from May 16 of Busch being asked if he had recovered from what he thought was simply a nasty cough.
‘I had a pretty – you can kind of still hear it, I’m still not great,’ Busch said, waving his hand to his face as he spoke to Jeff Gluck of The Athletic. ‘But er, the cough was pretty substantial.’
In a clip from Busch’s May 10 race, he was asking for a doctor to urgently meet him to give him ‘a shot’.
Busch tragically died at the age of 41 shortly after being hospitalized on Thursday
Busch is survived by his wife, Samantha, and their two children, Brexton, 11, and Lennix, four
With 38 laps to go in the NASCAR Cup Series game, Busch told his team over the radio: ‘Can somebody try to find Bill Heisel? He’s the kindred doctor guy. Tell him I need him after the race, please.’
He was then asked whether he needed the doctor at his car or his bus, to which he replied: ‘Uh, bus. I’m going to need a shot.’
According to the TV broadcast, Busch had been struggling with a sinus cold that was exacerbated by the intense G-forces and elevation changes at the New York road course.
Busch went on to claim his record fifth NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series trophy that day, despite clearly still struggling with illness.
