no wrongful – Court records filed in North Carolina include Kyle Busch’s death certificate and will paperwork, and a document signed by a proposed executor states there is no potential wrongful death claim under a specific state statute.
When Kyle Busch died at 4:37 p.m. on May 21 at Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, the NASCAR community grieved almost instantly. Nearly a month later. the shock is meeting a paperwork reality: court documents filed in Lincoln County. North Carolina. say Busch’s family will not pursue a wrongful death lawsuit.
The filing. submitted June 16 to qualify an executor of Busch’s estate. includes his death certificate. will and related court forms. One of the documents—signed by John S. Fuller. who is seeking to be executor—states that there “is not a potential claim for wrongful death arising under (North Carolina statute) G.S. 28A-18-2.”.
Busch died at age 41 from hemorrhagic shock and disseminated intravascular coagulation, according to the death certificate. The document also records that he had been suffering from sepsis for at least a day and had been dealing with complications of presumed bacterial pneumonia for “days to weeks.” It adds “other significant conditions contributing to death but not resulting in the underlying cause (hemorrhagic shock).”.
An autopsy was performed, and the case was referred to the medical examiner. The manner of death was ruled as natural, and Busch was cremated at the Cavin-Cook Funeral Home in Mooresville, North Carolina.
The timeline of his final days is stark. Near the end of NASCAR’s Cup Series race at Watkins Glen—11 days before his death—Busch could be heard calling for a doctor over his radio. He had also won his final race in NASCAR’s Truck Series just six days before his death, in Dover, Delaware.
Across NASCAR’s top three national touring series, Busch is listed as the all-time winningest driver with 234 combined victories. He captured two championships in the top-level Cup Series, driving the No. 18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing in 2015 and 2018. After his unexpected death, tributes poured in across the sport and continued nearly a month later.
Behind the public grief, the court filings trace how the estate is set up. In the midst of his first championship season, Busch signed his last will and testament, filing it on Aug. 11, 2015. The will names his wife. Samantha. as the beneficiary of his personal property. including “my automobiles. household furniture and furnishings. clothing. jewelry. collectibles and personal effects.” The will also notes that he set up a revocable living trust in 2017. according to the court records.
The will lists Clifton W. Homesley as executor. but it adds that if Homesley “fails or ceases to act for any reason” then Fuller will serve as executor. In the Tuesday documents filed by Fuller and his attorney Kimberly H. Stogner, Homesley submitted a form renouncing his right to be executor of Busch’s estate.
Homesley is described in the filings as an attorney based in Mooresville and as someone who serves on the board of the Busch’s Bundle of Joy non-profit for couples struggling with infertility. Fuller is identified in the records as the chief financial officer for Busch’s NASCAR Truck Series team. Kyle Busch Motorsports. which was sold to Spire Motorsports in 2023.
Those court papers were filed and sent to Donna M. Gilbert, Assistant Clerk for Lincoln County Superior Court, to qualify Fuller as the executor. The filing lists Samantha Busch as the beneficiary.
The will gives the executor “discretionary powers” over investments, property, business interests, banking transactions, and the distribution of assets.
The sequence in the records is blunt: a death certificate lays out the medical cause and the circumstances of illness; a proposed executor’s court filing then points directly to the absence of any potential wrongful death claim under North Carolina law G.S. 28A-18-2.
Since her husband’s death, Samantha Busch has spoken publicly only a handful of times, mostly through Instagram posts. On Tuesday. she wrote: “It feels like God is reminding me that I’m not alone and that Kyle is letting me know he’s okay. that he’s close. and that somehow he’s still walking beside us.”.
Kyle Busch estate wrongful death lawsuit North Carolina G.S. 28A-18-2 death certificate hemorrhagic shock disseminated intravascular coagulation sepsis Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center Lincoln County Superior Court
So no lawsuit then? That’s weird, I thought something happened to him.
Death certificate says natural… but sepsis and all that is still so scary. I don’t get how they can call it natural if he was calling for a doctor on the radio? Like who ignored him?
They’re saying “no potential wrongful death” under some statute, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t wrongdoing, it just means the papers were worded a certain way right? I swear these legal terms always get spun.
Hemorrhagic shock and DIC and sepsis… sounds like the doctors really had no chance, honestly. Also cremated at a funeral home—just makes it hit harder. I just don’t like how this is “paperwork reality” like people are handling it cold.