More than two months after the sudden death of NASCAR champion Kyle Busch, his widow, Samantha Busch, has shared her ongoing struggles with grief and loneliness. In a series of emotional Instagram Stories, she described the profound emptiness she experiences, particularly at night.
"You’re still the last thing I see when I close my eyes and the first thing when I wake up," Samantha Busch posted on Sunday, accompanied by photos of the couple. "In the evenings when the kids go to bed the silence and loneliness is almost unbearable. I sleep tucked on my side of the bed with a body pillow and his shirt pretending he’s still next to me. I hate it so much that his shirt doesn’t smell like him anymore."
Kyle Busch died on May 21 after a sudden illness that began with severe pneumonia and progressed to sepsis. He collapsed during a simulator session in the lead-up to the Coca-Cola 600 and passed away the following day.
Busch, a two-time Cup Series champion, had a decorated career in NASCAR, beginning in 2004. He accumulated 762 starts and 63 wins in the Cup Series. Across all three NASCAR national series, he recorded 234 victories, making him the all-time record-holder for wins in the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series with 102 victories and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with 69 wins. His final NASCAR win came at Dover one week prior to his death in a dominant Truck Series performance.
Samantha Busch's posts highlight the enduring impact of his loss on her family, two months after his passing.