911 call reveals Kyle Busch was coughing up blood, short of breath day before death

Racing legend Kyle Busch was coughing up blood and lying on a bathroom floor when somebody called for help from a General Motors training facility in North Carolina, according to the 911 call obtained by NBC News.

“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 man could be heard saying around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, the day before Busch’s death was announced by NASCAR.

“He’s awake,” the man said. “He’s on the bathroom floor right now.”

In the audio, the man can be heard asking for an ambulance to come to the General Motors Charlotte Technical Center in Concord, North Carolina, and telling the dispatcher he would be waiting outside.

“Can you turn the sirens off?” the man asked.

The caller’s name appeared to be redacted from the version of the 911 call released by emergency officials in Concord.

NASCAR CEO Steve O’Donnell confirmed that Busch was using the Chevrolet racing simulator when he got sick, but declined to speculate on the cause and said there’s currently no evidence linking his death to racing or whatever training he was doing.

“We’re not aware at this time of any correlation between, you know, the race car, the racing, and what took place,” O’Donnell told NBC News.

After Busch was hospitalized, his family said he had a severe illness and was undergoing treatment. But they did not say what kind of illness Busch had and, so far, the official cause of death has not been revealed.

Word of Busch’s death came 11 days after he radioed into his crew near the end of a Cup Series race in Watkins Glen, New York, asking a doctor to give him a “shot” after he finished the race.

Busch, according to the TV broadcast, had been struggling with a sinus cold that was worsened by the intense G-forces and elevation changes at the road course.

Five days later, though, Busch won the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race in Dover.

“You take whatever you can get, man,” Busch said on May 15, in what turned out to be his last post-race interview. “You never know when the last one is going to be, so cherish them all — trust me.”

Still, about a week after telling the doctor that he needed “the shot,” Busch discussed his symptoms to reporters in a video shared by The Athletic reporter Jeff Gluck.

“I’m still not great,” Busch said. “The cough was pretty substantial last week.”

The sudden death of Busch sent shock waves through the racing community.

“We are saddened and heartbroken to share the news of the passing of Kyle Busch,” NASCAR said on X, remembering him as “one of our sport’s greatest and fiercest drivers.”

In a joint statement from the Busch family, NASCAR and Richard Childress Racing, the driver was called “a rare talent, one who comes along once in a generation.”

“He was fierce, he was passionate, he was immensely skilled and he cared deeply about the sport and fans,” it said.

Busch was also a sometimes polarizing figure off the racetrack, earning the nicknames “Rowdy” and “Wild Thing” for his post-race fights, regular feuds with other drivers, and sometimes outlandish behavior.

O’Donnell said Busch relished playing “the villain role” and “sometimes leaned into it.”

“Fans want a personality, they want someone who wins, right, but someone they can relate to, and say, you know, that’s maybe an attitude I had once, or I feel that way as well,” he said.

Retired race car driver Jimmie Johnson told NBC News that behind the wheel Busch was a “fierce competitor.” But off the track he was devoted to his wife Samantha and their two children.

“When we’re all competing, you know, there’s a different persona that comes out,” he said.

So Busch’s death, he said, “really just rocked us all in many different layers and levels.”