“‘I CAN’T STOP READING HIS FINAL MESSAGE… AND EVERY TIME I DO, IT BREAKS ME ALL OVER AGAIN.’” 💔 Kyle Busch’s last reported text before his passing is leaving fans shattered — not because it sounded like a fearless NASCAR legend, but because it sounded like a man pouring his heart into the people he loved most. There were no bold racing promises. No talk about trophies or the future. Just quiet, deeply personal words that many say revealed the side of Kyle the public rarely got to see behind the intensity and fire. “I always thought he was untouchable,” one grieving fan wrote. “But those final words made me realize he was carrying so much love, so much emotion… and now it hurts even more knowing they were among the last things he ever said.” Now, as more heartbreaking details emerge, fans across the racing world say the message feels less like a goodbye from a sports icon… and more like the final emotional words of a man who knew exactly who mattered most in his life.

In the days following Kyle Busch’s sudden death, NASCAR CEO Steve O’Donnell revealed an emotional detail that has stayed with him, a text message the driver sent just two days before he passed away.

Speaking at a press conference on May 22, O’Donnell said Busch reached out to him on May 19 with a proposal for a potential rule change involving older drivers in NASCAR’s lower divisions.

“He said, ‘Hey, man. What do you think about an over-40 rule to be able to compete in all the Truck Series races next year?’” O’Donnell recalled.

He added that he responded by referencing a long-standing policy shaped by Busch’s own dominance in the sport.

“I said, ‘We put that rule in place because you were winning so much,’” O’Donnell said.

Busch, who is the winningest driver in NASCAR history across the sport’s top three national series, built a record that may never be matched. He sits ninth all-time in Cup Series victories with 63 wins, while also holding all-time records in both the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series with 102 wins and the Craftsman Truck Series with 69 victories.

Over the course of his career, Busch collected two Cup Series championships in 2015 and 2019 and also won the 2009 Nationwide Series title while competing full-time at the Cup level — a level of dominance that eventually led NASCAR to introduce restrictions informally known as the “Kyle Busch Rule.”

Those rules limit experienced Cup drivers from competing heavily in lower series. Currently, drivers with more than three years of Cup experience are restricted to 10 O’Reilly starts and eight Truck Series races per season and are ineligible for playoffs.

Busch’s message to O’Donnell suggested revisiting those limits for drivers over 40. The conversation even came up during an internal NASCAR meeting on May 20, just a day before his death.

“We said, ‘Damn, that’s actually good. We need Kyle in the Truck Series,’” O’Donnell said. “It was two-fold. He knew he could help the series, but I think he also had a dream of racing against his son, Brexton, in a national series event one day.”

Busch had turned 41 on May 2.

O’Donnell said the exchange now carries a deeper meaning in hindsight, describing it as a reminder of how closely Busch remained connected to the sport even in his final days.

“That was Kyle,” he added. “Always thinking about the sport and always thinking forward.”