Dale Earnhardt Jr. revealed his final text messages with late NASCAR star Kyle Busch.
The conversation took place the day before Busch’s death and focused on the CARS Tour scheduled for May 30. According to Earnhardt, Busch was going to help fix the late-model car that he was going to drive in that race.
“I was texting with him the day before he passed away about getting together this Thursday to bring his seat for his late model over to my shop,” Earnhardt Jr. explained. He’s texting me, and he’s like, ‘What scheme we going to run?’ And I was like, ‘You can run any scheme you want. I was like, ‘What number do you want to run?’ He goes … he said it, literally, ‘The Dale Jr. 8.’ I was like, ‘You got it.’”
The number is very meaningful for Earnhardt Jr., who raced under it from 1999 to 2007. While racing under that number, Earnhardt Jr. earned 17 Cup Series victories and a career-best third-place finish in the 2003 Winston Cup Series.
Busch unexpectedly died on May 21 at the age of 41. Busch had bacterial pneumonia days to weeks before his death, which progressed to sepsis, according to a death certificate obtained by Us Weekly.
Many fellow racers were devastated by the news, as many looked up to Busch. On the racetrack, Busch embraced a sort of villain archetype and even took up the nickname “Rowdy.” He had many rivalries with other racers, which kept the audience engaged and waiting for more.
But what touched Earnhardt Jr. was having the opportunity to know Busch off the racetrack.
“I knew him on a personal level,” Earnhardt said. “But hearing how he interacted and how he was to others, the joke they may have shared in a text … I’ve really enjoyed learning who he was away from the track and how he interacted and engaged, or treated or talked to other people, and it’s been good.”
Busch will be remembered for his countless victories on the NASCAR track. But the stories shared by racers like Earnhardt Jr. and others show fans who Busch was outside the spotlight.
