Kurt Busch Tearfully Recalls His Last Words to Brother Kyle Busch at His Hospital Bed, 3 Months After NASCAR Star’s Death

“I miss the words that we never spoke to each other,” Kurt said of the bond he shared with his younger brother on the racetrack

NEED TO KNOW

• Kurt Busch opened up about the death of his younger brother, fellow NASCAR star Kyle Busch, in an interview that aired on Today on Friday, Aug. 21
• The racing legend became emotional as he shared what he told Kyle at his hospital bedside before his death at age 41 on May 21
• Kurt also discussed the pressure drivers can feel to race while sick and his plans to spend more time mentoring Kyle’s 11-year-old son, Brexton

Kurt Busch is opening up about the final moments he shared with his younger brother, Kyle Busch.

In his first network television interview since Kyle died at age 41, the NASCAR Hall of Famer became emotional while revealing what he told the fellow racing star at his hospital bedside before his death.

“I was there at the hospital; I was there all day, hoping, praying, hoping for a turnaround,” Kurt, 48, recalled to Craig Melvin in a taped piece that aired on Today, Friday, Aug. 21 — exactly three months after Kyle’s death.

Kurt went on to explain that their father, former racer and mechanic Tom Busch, chose not to see Kyle in the hospital because he “wanted to remember him in the way he wanted to remember him.” But Kurt made a different choice, going in to be by his brother’s side to encourage him to keep fighting.

“I said, ‘I got you man, Come on. I got you. I got you, Come on. Be strong,’ ” Kurt said, wiping away tears. “It just wasn’t fair.”

Kyle died on May 21, one day after he was hospitalized following a severe illness. His family later said that severe pneumonia had progressed into sepsis, resulting in “rapid and overwhelming associated complications.”

His hospitalization came after he had been battling an illness for weeks while continuing to race. On May 10, after finishing a race at Watkins Glen International, Kyle requested medical attention and was heard over the radio asking his team to have a doctor ready to meet him at his bus because he was going to “need a shot.” During the television broadcast, his illness was described as a sinus cold that had been exacerbated by the course’s intense G-forces and elevation changes.

Nevertheless, Kyle returned to competition, including winning a Truck Series race in Dover the following weekend. He had been scheduled to race in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race in Concord, N.C., on Friday, May 22, and in the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday, May 24, at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

But he never made it there. On May 20, while practicing in a simulator, Kyle became increasingly ill.

“The crew chief said that he went into the restroom and that he could hear him coughing very, very abruptly,” Kurt recounted to Melvin. “And that he asked Kyle, ‘Are you alright?’ and that Kyle says, ‘No.’ ”

An ambulance was called as Kyle struggled to breathe and coughed up blood while lying on the bathroom floor, according to audio from a 911 call previously obtained by PEOPLE. “I’ve got an individual that’s [got] shortness of breath, very hot, thinks he’s going to pass out,” the caller told emergency responders around 5:30 p.m. local time. “He is awake. He’s awake on the bathroom floor right now.”

Asked about Kyle’s decision to get behind the wheel even when sick, Kurt acknowledged that there is a culture in racing of powering through illness, noting that drivers worry someone else will fill their seat if they don’t race.

“We’re independent contractors,” Kurt said. “We don’t have a union.”

Three months later, Kurt is left managing the daily grief of living without his brother. “There is no book; there is no outline on what we’re supposed to do right now,” Kurt said.

One of the brothers’ final major public moments together came in January, when Kyle helped honor Kurt as he was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame “He earned every bit of this,” Kyle said at the time. “I’m so proud to call him my brother.”

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Kurt is equally proud of Kyle. And without him there, some of the most poignant reminders of his brother now come at the racetrack, where the two spent decades competing alongside — and often against — one another.

“On track, him and I were carbon copies of each other,” he said. “We could speak on track without saying a word.”

The two developed a shorthand over their years of racing together: knowing when to pass, when to draft and how to communicate about their cars with little more than a look or a few words.

“I miss the words that we never spoke to each other and the vibe that we had on track,” he said.

Kurt has also found himself hearing from fans and others who want to share what his brother meant to them — or open up about losses of their own. “There’s usually going to be a discussion when I see someone,” Kurt said. “But it’s alright. We’re going to get through it. Time heals.”

It is an outpouring Kurt first acknowledged publicly in June, when he broke his silence on his brother’s death with an emotional social media tribute thanking fans for their “well wishes, support, and love for my brother and our family.”

“Finding a silver lining, I reflect back on the days Kyle and I raced anything we could get our hands on,” Kurt wrote at the time. “From big wheels to competing on the biggest stages in motorsports, we were more than just fierce competitors. We pushed each other, challenged each other, and learned from each other.”

“My heart is broken, but I know your spirit will always ride with me,” he added. “Rest easy, little brother.”

Now, Kurt is also looking toward the next generation of the Busch family. He has begun spending more time mentoring Kyle’s 11-year-old son, Brexton — one of two children the late racer shared with wife Samantha Busch, along with daughter Lennix, 4 — because Brexton has already followed his father and uncle onto the racetrack.

“He’s a prodigy,” Kurt told Melvin of his nephew. “He was on gas even before all of this, right? He can be a big star in the world of motorsports. He’s 11 but he’s already racing like an 18-year-old. So, it’s time to be around a bit more.”

And as Kurt continues navigating life without his younger brother, he believes Kyle’s legacy will extend well beyond his record-setting accomplishments behind the wheel.

“The tenacity that he had, it was every day, 24-7, to help people in the latter part of his career, to be a great father like he was,” Kurt said. “It will all shine as time puts different things in spotlights.”

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