A 911 call obtained after Kyle Busch’s death describes emergency responders being requested for a man who was on the bathroom floor, awake but in distress, coughing up blood and struggling to breathe at a General Motors facility in Concord, North Carolina.
Kyle Busch’s final hours were already marked by fear, even before anyone knew how quickly they would turn.
The day before the two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion died at 41. a 911 call described him coughing up blood and struggling to breathe when emergency responders were called to a General Motors facility in Concord. N.C. In the call obtained after his death. a caller told the dispatcher that Busch was on a bathroom floor. awake but in distress. and asked that responders turn off their sirens on arrival.
“I’ve got an individual that’s (experiencing) shortness of breath. very hot and thinks he’s going to pass out and he’s producing a little bit of blood. coughing up some blood. ” the caller said. The caller identified the location as the General Motors Charlotte Technical Center off Speedway Boulevard in Concord. describing it as being next to Hendrick Motorsports.
Busch was transported to a hospital in Charlotte.
The Associated Press had previously reported, citing people familiar with the situation, that Busch had become unresponsive while testing in a Chevrolet racing simulator in Concord on May 20.
After Busch’s hospitalization, his family posted a statement to his X account the following morning, May 21. The statement said he had been hospitalized with a severe illness and would not compete that weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway. That evening, NASCAR announced Busch’s death, and no cause of death was released.
What came through most sharply in the weeks before his death was that his health appeared to be worsening in the background of his schedule.
On May 10, during a Cup Series race at Watkins Glen International, Busch radioed his crew near the end of the race asking for team physician Dr. Bill Heisel to meet him at the bus afterward. He was battling a sinus cold all week, and he still finished eighth.
A week later, after winning the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series ECOSAVE 200 on May 15—his 69th career Truck Series win—Busch addressed his cold on video. “I’m still not great,” he said. “The cough was pretty substantial last week.”
He then ran the All-Star Race at Dover on May 17 and finished 17th. It was the last race he ever started.
Across those dates, the story shifts from routine race-day discomfort to a sudden, visible crisis: Busch’s cough and illness talk gave way to the May 20 call describing blood, shortness of breath, and a body on the bathroom floor—before NASCAR’s announcement of his death that evening.
As questions about what happened continue. the facts that have emerged so far remain tightly bounded: Busch’s increasing illness in May. the May 20 emergency call at a General Motors Charlotte Technical Center in Concord. his transport to a Charlotte hospital. and the lack of any released cause of death by NASCAR.
Kyle Busch 911 call NASCAR emergency responders General Motors Charlotte Technical Center Concord North Carolina Hendrick Motorsports Dr. Bill Heisel Watkins Glen International Dover All-Star Race Charlotte Motor Speedway hospital cause of death not released