NASCAR team owner Richard Childress has broken his silence over the tragic death of Kyle Busch – and made a heartbreaking announcement while doing so.
The Richard Childress Racing (RCR) owner addressed the media on Saturday ahead of FireKeepers Casino 400, just weeks after Busch’s sudden death at the age of 41.
Childress opened by thanking the media for their support, saying: ‘I’d just like to take this opportunity to thank all the media for all of your support through this unbelievable challenge that we’re all facing, losing Kyle Busch at such a young age, and so unexpected for all of us.’
He specifically called out the support shown to the Busch family – wife Samantha and their children Brexton and Lennix – saying the outpouring from the racing community had meant everything during the devastating weeks since Kyle’s passing.
But it was what Childress said next that left the room stunned, after revealing that the press conference had originally been planned to announce Busch’s return to RCR.
‘Today, we were going to be in here, Kyle was going to be with me and we were going to announce that he was coming back in 2027 and drive for RCR,’ Childress said.
NASCAR team owner Richard Childress has broken his silence over the death of Kyle Busch
Childress revealed he had originally planned to announce Busch’s return for the 2027 season
‘And we wanted to do it up here at Michigan with our GM friends, with Chevrolet.’
‘And it didn’t happen,’ he continued. ‘This is a different type of media availability instead of a press conference that he was coming back and race for us in 27.’
The revelation that Busch had already agreed to return to RCR adds a new angle to the tragedy. The two-time Cup Series champion would have been heading into what promised to be a landmark chapter of his career.
RCR has now confirmed that Austin Hill will take over the No. 33 car for the remainder of the 2026 Cup Series season as the team navigates life without one of its cornerstone drivers.
Hill, 30, is no stranger to the RCR stable, having competed in the Xfinity Series with the organization, though his promotion to fill Busch’s seat comes under the most difficult of circumstances.
No decision has yet been made on who will drive the No. 33 full-time in 2027 – the season that was supposed to mark Busch’s triumphant return to the team that announced his plans just days after his death.
Busch’s wife Samantha broke her silence on social media earlier this week – her first public post since her husband’s death. She thanked the racing world and beyond for the flood of love and support the family has received in the weeks since the tragedy.
Busch, 41, passed away on May 21 after being rushed to hospital when he became unresponsive in a race simulator
Samantha, Kyle’s wife of 16 years and the mother of his two children, described recent days as the most ‘heartbreaking’ of the family’s lives
The NASCAR Cup Series paddock has rallied around the Busch family through each race weekend, with drivers and crew members paying tribute at successive events following his death just before Memorial Day weekend.
This Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan will be the third Cup Series race held in the shadow of Busch’s passing and the first at which Childress has stood before cameras to face the magnitude of what the sport has lost.
Busch, 41, passed away on May 21 after being rushed to hospital when he became unresponsive in a race simulator near Charlotte, North Carolina.
It was later revealed that the married father of two had pneumonia, which led to sepsis, causing his blood to clot and impeding his organs before he went into hemorrhagic shock.
