Kyle Busch 'defined what it means' to be a champion, NASCAR CEO says

Kyle Busch "defined what it means to be a racer in NASCAR," CEO Steve O’Donnell said, "the fire, the greatness, the heart that sometimes you rarely saw."

At a press conference Friday afternoon, O'Donnell vowed to continue Busch's legacy following the NASCAR legend's shocking death. 

"The sport and all of us grew up and watched Kyle be a racer, but we watched him become a husband and a father the same way we watched him become a champion," O'Donnell said. "And we all did that as a family. We're all part of that."

"Kyle Busch just defines what it means to be a racer in NASCAR, everything about it, the fire, the greatness, the heart that sometimes you rarely saw," he continued. "The sport was truly lucky to have him. And I believe I can speak for everybody in the sport … We're gonna do our damn best to continue his legacy and support his family."

The AP described Busch as arguably the greatest driver of his generation, notching a combined 234 wins — 63 in the top-tier Cup Series and another 171 in NASCAR’s two feeder series, O’Reilly (102) and Trucks (69). In his 26-year career, Busch had a lot of nicknames – Wild Thing, Outlaw, Rowdy and KFB to name a few – all of which were in line with his reputation for bucking the system. Asked about his past fines and suspensions, O'Donnell fondly described it as "part of being a race car driver."

"Kyle Busch, to me, is an American bada**," O'Donnell said. "Behind the wheel, who you want to be. And I think when you look back at all those things, that's part of being a race car driver. That's part representing the sport. We're not always going to agree. If we did, I think people would be really bored. And we certainly had our battles, right? But I'd give a lot of money to have a few more battles going forward."

Kyle Busch dies

The backstory:

Busch died Thursday at age 41. No cause of death has been given, though his family said earlier he had been hospitalized with a "severe illness" three days before he was to compete in the Coca-Cola 600 Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

READ MORE: Kyle Busch passed out in racing simulator before going to hospital: report

Busch was testing in the Chevrolet racing simulator in Concord, North Carolina, on Wednesday when he became unresponsive and was taken to a hospital in Charlotte, several people familiar with the situation told The Associated Press. 

Busch experienced shortness of breath, felt he was overheating and was coughing up blood the day before his death, according to a 911 call obtained by the AP.