Kurt Busch talks grief with CNN's Anderson Cooper and the loss of brother Kyle

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Kurt Busch talks grief with CNN's Anderson Cooper and the loss of brother Kyle

Nick DeGroot

Fri, September 4, 2026 at 5:35 AM UTC ·

10 min read

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NASCAR legend Kurt Busch recently joined CNN anchor Anderson Cooper on his podcast, All There Is , which explores themes of loss and grief. They spoke for nearly 30 minutes about his brother Kyle -- the winningest driver in NASCAR national series history -- who died tragically at the age of 41 earlier this year.

It was an emotional interview, with Kurt struggling to hold back tears as he remembered racing with his brother, the sudden nature of his passing, and dealing with the grief that followed.

At the start of the conversation, Kurt talked about paving a way for Kyle as the older brother, and despite being over six years older, "everything I did, he (Kyle) wanted to do, just as good (and) at the same time."

Rivals and siblings

Kyle and Kurt Busch at NASCAR Hall of Fame, January 2026

Kurt ran his first full-time Cup season in 2001, with Kyle following suit just four years.

"I did what I could everywhere I went to leave a bridge open and a road paved for him to go through," said Kurt. "There were times when we had heart-to-heart talks and he was like man, my first-ever NASCAR race, they booed me because of you."

Kurt noted how there was some friction between the two in those early years, as Kurt's controversial moments made Kyle a villain as well before he ever turned a lap at the top level of the sport. He was annoyed that the fans booed him from the start, but Kyle had a fiery personality too, and ended up being more aggressive and outspoken than Kurt at times.

"He took the black hat and rolled with it," remarked Kurt. He recalled their infamous 2007 All-Star Race clash, and how they didn't really speak to each other until their grandmother forced them to for Thanksgiving.

Kurt also admitted that it wasn't easy when he first realized Kyle would surpass most, if not all of his own NASCAR achievements (and Kurt's stats are plenty good enough for the Hall of Fame, so that's just how good Kyle was) .

"That was tough," said Kurt. "I had to grow up and go you know what, you helped him but you're not as fast as him."

But they had some incredibly touching moments at the track as well. Anderson Cooper played a clip of Kurt's 2012 Richmond win while driving for his brother's NASCAR O'Reilly team. As the video showed the brothers celebrating together in Victory Lane, Kurt began to cry as the emotions bubbled up.

"You feel all that joy right?" said Kurt amid a trembling voice. "And then I turn to see you and I'm like damn, yeah, he's gone. I keep trying to go back to those memories of good when people ask me about things or want to talk. That was one of our biggest highlights together."

Kurt said it's been rough to constantly move from lows to highs and lows again in recent months while watching a video of Kurt's NASCAR Hall of Fame induction from January, an event both preceded and followed by tragedies in the NASCAR world.

"I'm just very thankful that we had the ride that we did," said Kurt. "For me, this year -- these highs of the Hall of Fame induction, the lows of my brother and I mean, last year in December, I lost a good friend Greg Biffle and his family in a plane crash."

Processing the grief

Kurt Busch, Ryan Blaney, Team Penske

Kurt discussed how he embraced therapy a few years ago, and that it has helped him to work through this difficult moment. He also tried going to the track when he can, but he can't do it all the time. Sometimes it can be too much.

"I'm trying to grieve in ways to help people, like my mom, my dad, and Samantha (Kyle's wife), our crew guys, Kyle's crew that's around," said Kurt about the grieving process. "I try to do it where I'm not biting off more than I can chew and back off a little bit. I'm doing another extracurricular race in Washington, D.C. (IROC) and running an old car of mine. And when you race your old cars, you have all those old memories of what that car drove like and what it felt like. And so it gives me that release. But then just trying to help everyone get through this and share stories, it's not going to get any easier, but time will help you.

"And my parents are going to have to talk about it. And people are going to come up and share their stories. I mean, even the dry-cleaning lady in North Carolina, where I live. Been going there for 20 years. She says, 'Kurt, come here.' She says, 'I lost my younger sister around your age.' I had no idea, but these are those discussions that are part of therapy. I feel like this little therapy session has helped. I haven't talked about Kyle much."

Kurt later expanded on what helps him, saying: "Different conversations help, therapy, going to the track and people giving you a hug. Some people want to talk and some people just give you that soulfull feeling of condolences without saying anything ... It helps, but can't go too much. Too much exposure to it is like being out in the sun, you get sunburned. I had that happen a couple of times. And now I've learned, okay, that's enough, I need to go home. It's just so vivid at the track because of everyone has a No. 8 or a No. 18."

Even at a Cubs game he encountered someone wearing a Kyle Busch jacket, and in D.C., a young girl walked up to him to offer condolences, telling him her father was a jackman for Kyle early in his career.

At the Coca-Cola 600, NASCAR's longest race and one that took place just a few days after Kyle's death, the Busch family appeared on the grid for an emotional pre-race tribute.

"I didn't want to go," admitted Kurt. "I didn't want to go the track. It didn't feel real. I'm glad we went. I needed to be there for my mom and dad, and Samantha, Brex, and Lennix. I was thankful for that moment with NASCAR. As soon as I turned around after this, all the drivers wanted to come up to me and I'm like, of course, thank you. This was rough ... I didn't want to look back. I could feel the presence of everyone behind us, but I just didn't want to look back. I was still just in shock. We're all in disbelief, and I think we're all finding the best way we can to battle through this."

The day Kyle passed away

Kyle Busch tribute at Charlotte Motor Speedway

As for the circumstances around Kyle's passing, Kurt offered some more details, revealing just how much of a shock it was.

"I didn't know that Kyle was sick. I had heard that he asked for a shot, at the Watkins Glen race, like two weeks before. I know through my physicals and his physicals -- we both have arthritis and gout and struggle with sinus issues. I struggled quite a bit, needing prednisone, needing a steroid shot. So I know he probably went through the same thing. It was most likely a sinus shot of some sort, but I didn't know he was sick. People around him said that he had a little cough here or there. He won a race the Friday before (NASCAR Truck at Dover). He was opening a go-kart track somewhere in North Carolina with his son, Brexton on Tuesday, the day before.

"There was no signs of what this led to ... It's a normal routine for Cup series guys on Wednesdays to spend a couple hours in the simulator. He was doing his normal session, the session ended around five and he gets out and goes to the bathroom and starts coughing. His crew chief, your crew chief is kind of like your wife at the track -- your best friend, you take care of each other and share a lot of secrets with your crew chief.

"When he went into the bathroom, Kyle was sitting on the floor, his back up against the wall. He said 'you don't look so good.' Kyle's like, 'no. (He asked 'do I need to call an ambulance.' Kyle said, 'yes.' That's something that athletes don't do. Nobody shows weakness, that type of person. For him to say that, something's wrong. An ambulance gets him into the hospital. Things are stabilized. Meanwhile, I turned my phone off that evening and I didn't hear about anything until my dad is calling my girlfriend's phone at 4 a.m. and that's when I learned. I rushed straight to the hospital. Just how fast things changed, man. It's not fair. What I saw happened in a 12-hour period. It was unfathomable. Like inside of a horror movie, it wasn't like we lost time. It wasn't like we didn't have good care. It's just one in a million, and it's like, no, no."

Kurt lamented how Kyle "didn't deserve this," and spoke on all the future plans he had in the works. It's well-known that Kyle intended to run at the top level of NASCAR for a few more years with the goal of ultimately competing for a NASCAR Truck championship, aiming to become the first to win each of the three national titles, and then race against his son Brexton once he finally hit the minimum-age requirement.

What Kurt misses the most, and how Kyle helped him to his final Cup win

Kurt Busch, 23XI Racing; Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing

Kurt feels closest to Kyle when he's actually behind the wheel of a race car. Kurt's own NASCAR career ended abruptly after a 2022 crash that resulted in a concussion, but recently, he was racing some vintage IROC cars.

"I actually got in the car a half-an-hour before our practice session, just to sit there and have a little chat with myself and have a little prayer with him," said Kurt. "It's when I'm getting in the car, I just check in."

"I just loved the phases that we went through as brothers. We're six years apart. When you're teenagers, six years is an eternity of being apart. And then you get to your 40s, and six years is like six days. You're the same. I love how we went through these phases, even on the race track. The sibling rivalry was real, then helping each other with sponsorships and the key things to make us stronger that we didn't tell other racers, and then racing on the track. It's like we were the same mindset and the same thought process on where to make passes, how we drafted with each other -- I just loved our synergy on the race track and the evolution we went through ... The biggest thing I miss is just that banter, and the unspoken words when we would race each other."

Kurt recalled a special moment between the two in the final laps before Kurt's final NASCAR Cup win. Kyle was attempting to pass Kyle Larson for the Kansas victory in 2022, but couldn't quite clear him. Once Kurt got alongside his brother for the runner-up spot with 22 laps to go, Kyle actually lifted down the backstretch to give him a shot at the leader. Kurt did ultimately pass Larson, earning his final Cup win while driving for the 23XI Racing team co-owned by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin.

"I called him afterwards, I said thank you. He goes, 'I know, I know.' Those are the things I miss the most. And that's my last NASCAR win, he helped me win it."