Samantha Busch complete speech from emotional Kyle Busch Celebration of Life

On Friday, NASCAR held a Celebration of Life for Kyle Busch, which was free and open to the public.

Before the special event turned to remarks from his widow, Samantha Busch, those in attendance heard speeches from Kurt Busch, Joe Gibbs, Austin Dillon, and others.

To conclude the night, Samantha delivered an emotional speech, talking about how much Kyle meant to her and the greater racing world. She remarked how while Kyle’s No. 8 team was struggling for results in recent years, he was perhaps the happiest he had ever been off the track mentoring son Brexton and spending time with daughter Lennix.

When she finished her speech, Samantha introduced her son, 11-year old Brexton, who suddenly pulled out from behind the stage while driving his father’s NASCAR Cup car. He pulled  onto the track and doing burnouts before climbing atop the car and replicating his father’s signature race-winning bow. Samantha was right there waiting for him, and they embraced right after the incredible moment.

Below you can find a full video and transcript from Samantha Busch’s ten-minute speech at the track.

Samantha Busch full speech remembering husband Kyle Busch

Watch: Samantha Busch honors Kyle’s life and legacy in emotional speech

Read Samantha Busch’s memorial speech in full:

“Thank you guys so much for being here tonight. You’ve heard so many stories about Kyle today, and I keep thinking how lucky I was to know every single version of him, the young racer who took me around Indianapolis Motor Speedway when I was just 21 years old, and little did we know, it’d be the ride of our lifetime. The fierce competitor who basically thought second was last, and threw our kids ridiculously high in the air, a tradition that they loved and I feared every single time. The team owner who gave others a chance, Rowdy who loved his fans more than anything, and of course, stirring up things, and the dad who found so much joy and pride in his children. 

“But behind it all was the man that I fell in love with 20 years ago, and today, I want to share the side of my Kyle that not many have seen. Kyle was happy, really happy. I know that might surprise some people, the last few years weren’t easy on the racetrack, the wins weren’t coming like they used to, and for a man who’d spent his whole life chasing wins, that was hard. But at home, I was watching something different. Kyle was beginning to appreciate everything racing had already given him.

“He was grateful for the chance to have his career, and for the chance to continue racing. And the sport he’d given his entire life to was even sweeter, because now he got to share it with our kids. Some of my favorite memories of Kyle aren’t from the biggest races, but the little grassroot tracks. When I close my eyes and think of us at our happiest, it looks like this: It’s late, we’re exhausted. Lennix is covered in dirt and running around the trailer.There’s toys everywhere, the dogs are barking, Brexton and his friends are strewn about the trailer. We’re eating dinner at an hour that honestly no four-year-old should even be awake. There’s dirt and grease and race parts everywhere, race footage playing, and then there’s Kyle in the middle of it all. He has a pencil in one hand, and his phone in the other, watching the last race footage, and he’s talking with our team guys about what changes to make. And he’s completely and utterly happy.

“He loved coaching Brexton, dissecting every lap, teaching him to work on his car, and most of all, watching him race. I’ve seen Kyle win races most drivers can only dream of, but I know I have never seen him more proud than when Brexton won the Tulsa Shootout. And that’s the picture I keep coming back to. Our son on the racetrack, Lennix in daddy’s arms, me right by him, and all of us just in the middle of chaos, and we’re happy.

“And after years of chasing what’s next, we finally reached a place where we could simply love the life that we’d built. If you knew Kyle, you knew contentment did not come naturally for him. There was always another tent to find, another race to win, another idea to chase.But he finally learned how to slow down and enjoy the life right in front of him. So if there’s one thing that I want you to take home today, it’s this: Don’t mistake the last chapter of Kyle’s racing career for an unhappy chapter of his life. It wasn’t. In so many ways, it was his happiest. And I thank God I got to share that life with him.

“Since losing Kyle, I’ve heard so many stories I never knew of. Not about racing, but about the people he quietly helped, made laugh, or took time for. I love knowing that others got to know the real Kyle that I knew. Not just Rowdy, but what I like to call the Kyle-Kyle. Stubborn as heck — apparently he was the only person in our household that knows how to load a dishwasher. The life of the party, serious one minute, but then having us crying, laughing the next.

“He was just amazing, and he was a man who loved and protected our family fiercely. These stories remind me of what matters most in honoring him. Kyle believed in earning opportunities through hard work, even when nobody was watching. But there was always more to learn, no matter how good you were. And if you can help someone else achieve their dream, then that’s what you did. And no task was beneath him either. You can just ask the guys at KBM how many times they remind him that even he cleans the bathrooms. He lived those beliefs through the set of standards he set, the drivers he mentored, and how he raised our kids. 

And that’s what I want to honor. Not just numbers in a record book, but the good that can keep happening because Kyle was here. Continuing what he started is another way that I get to love him now. And looking out at all of you, I know that that love is so much bigger than just our family. For two decades, racing was our home. It’s where Kyle and I fell in love, where we raised our kids, and where we made some of our favorite memories. But I never fully understood what this sport meant until we lost him.

“The races kept going, the cars kept circling the track, but our world had stopped. I didn’t know how we’d find our way without him. But then all of you showed us. You came to Brexton’s races, you honored Kyle at every racetrack across the country, and shared what he meant to you. You made room for us in a place that suddenly felt so different. And you did something for our kids that I could never do alone.

“You showed them how loved their daddy was. Brexton has memories that belong just to him and Kyle. Studying race footage, working on cars, celebrating together. And I know that there are days he climbs into his car and the weight of his dad not being here gets to him. Lennix is only four. So much of her daddy she’ll come to know through our stories.And I want her to know that the people filling this speedway tonight, they didn’t just come because Kyle won races. They came because he meant something to them, whether they knew him or cheered him from afar. There’s so much I wish Kyle could be here for.Brexton’s victories, Lennix curled up in her daddy’s arms, all the little things we took for granted. I’d give anything for our kids to have those moments again. But I can’t give them stories and so can you.

Kyle Busch’s son Brexton Busch, daughter Lennix Busch and widow Samantha Busch attend the Kyle Busch Celebration of Life at Charlotte Motor Speedway

Photo by: David Jensen / Getty Images

“Someday I hope Lennix hears stories about how her daddy made someone laugh. That Brexton hears about a driver his dad helped and then that driver went on to help another driver. And that they both know that the man who raced in front of thousands found his greatest happiness at little local tracks watching his son race with his family beside him. And that’s why I don’t want to feel like we’re putting a period on this today.

“This is not the end of Kyle’s story. His story continues every time we give a young racer a chance, share something he taught us, or tell the next generation what made routing unforgettable. Years from now, I hope people remember Kyle as one of NASCAR’s greatest drivers. He worked his entire life for that. But I also hope they meet someone whose life is better because Kyle was here.

“That’s a legacy that no checkered flag can contain. And I promise you, I will spend the rest of my life carrying forward everything Kyle built and believed in through our children, the opportunities we give others, and the dreams he left for us to continue.

“Kyle, babe, I wish you could see this. I wish you could see how deeply you were loved. And I wish you knew just how much all these fans out here appreciate you. I see your confidence in Brexton, your strong will and attitude in Lennix. And you left me at strength. I never imagined that I’d need to raise our children and keep building this life that we dreamed of.

“But I promise you, I promise our kids are going to have the childhood that we wanted for them. I’ll take them to the track, cheer for their dreams, and make sure that they know that they were their daddy’s greatest joy in this whole entire world. I’d give anything for you to be here to watch them grow and share the life we were supposed to have together. But I know they’ll carry so much of you with them, and so will I. And looking out at this speedway tonight, we’re not the only ones.

“We love you, Kyle, so much, and we will race on.”

Watch: Brexton Busch honors dad Kyle with burnout, signature bow

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