NASCAR star Kyle Busch died after reportedly coughing up blood a day earlier following spending time in a Chevy simulator operated at the General Motors Charlotte Tech Center in Concord, North Carolina.
Detroit-based GM’s “Driver-in-the-Loop” simulators are said to be “as close as drivers can get to racing without actually strapping in,” according to the automaker, giving drivers “the motion and G-forces” drivers would experience: “Tracks are scanned to a very high resolution and feature all visual elements around the track, along with each bump or unique part of the surface.”
In a 911 call about Busch’s situation, a man tells a dispatcher that Busch was on the bathroom floor, awake, but in distress. He said Busch was coughing up blood, short of breath and very hot. The caller asked that emergency 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 told the dispatcher.
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. The Associated Press previously reported, citing people familiar with the situation, that Busch had become unresponsive while testing in a Chevrolet racing simulator. A source familiar with the events told The Detroit News that Busch was conscious while exiting the simulator through being picked up by an ambulance.
Busch was transported to a hospital in Charlotte. His family posted a statement to his X account the following morning, saying he had been hospitalized with a severe illness and would not compete that weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Busch died later Thursday, according to NASCAR. No cause of death has been released for the 41-year-old racer, whose passing has elicited an outpouring from fans and the racing community.
“The shocking news of Kyle Busch’s passing is devastating to me, and to everyone at Chevrolet and General Motors,” GM President Mark Reuss, a certified race-car driver, said in a message posted on LinkedIn and Facebook. “Our hearts go out to Samantha, their children Brexton and Lennix and the Busch family, everyone at RCR, Kyle’s legions of fans and all of Rowdy Nation.
“He was a fierce competitor who found success both as a driver and team owner, as well as a generous benefactor to countless families with the Bundle of Joy Fund he founded with Samantha,” Reuss added. “On top of all that, he found time to be a true friend to us all.”
The Associated Press reported that Busch had been dealing with what was believed to be a sinus cold, which was an issue during the May 10 race at NASCAR Cup Series at Watkins Glen because of the track’s heavy G-forces and elevation changes at the New York course. During the race, Busch radioed his team asking for a “shot” from a doctor after the event.
GM’s Charlotte site houses three “Driver-in-the-Loop” simulators, which pull from scans of real-life tracks and include details as small as bumps and photographer holes in fences, according to a 2024 post on Chevrolet’s website.
“You get live data much like you would get at the track where you’re getting throttle and steering from the driver, but then you’re getting outputs of the model like, what are my shocks doing? What are my tire temps?” said Maddy Wiles, an engineer involved in simulator operations, in 2024. “All that’s coming out of the model itself, much like you would get off of your test car at the track.”
sballentine@detroitnews.com
USA Today contributed.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: NASCAR star Busch coughing up blood after being in GM’s Chevy simulator
Reporting by Summer Ballentine, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
