Kyle Busch passed away in May 2026. Six weeks later, the reminders of him are everywhere, in the garage, on the track, and for Samantha Busch, in her own backyard. This week, she shared one of those reminders on Instagram. It was a garden post. It was also much more than that.

“Somehow, every time we’re out here, surrounded by the things we planted and built together, he still feels close.”

The garden was originally hers. Then Kyle got involved, and if you know anything about Kyle Busch, you know what that means. He installed a fully automated irrigation system. He hung glass hearts they had gotten on trips to Mexico.

Busch watched one reel online and decided he was now an expert on pruning tomato plants. Samantha Busch planted every tomato variety she could find, plus more cucumbers than they could ever use, because she loved making his favorite homemade pickles. Every summer, they made caprese salad from what they grew and ate it on the back deck with a glass of wine. After he passed, she went out there alone and talked to him. She prayed. She cried until there was nothing left.

Now the kids come with her. Brexton and Lennix pick vegetables, get dirty, and tell stories about their dad inspecting the garden like he had been farming his entire life.

“Every tomato we pick and every cucumber we pull reminds me of the life we were still building together,” she wrote. “I just wish he were here to enjoy it with us.”

That line says everything about who Kyle was at home. People knew the driver, the one who won 63 Cup Series races, two championships, and more combined wins across NASCAR’s three national series than anyone in history.

They knew the competitor who dominated Bristol Motor Speedway, winning there 23 times across all three divisions. Fans also knew the team owner. He built Kyle Busch Motorsports into a Truck Series powerhouse. The team launched the careers of Christopher Bell, William Byron, and Erik Jones before he sold the operation in 2023.

What they saw less of was everything else. He and Samantha Busch co-founded Rowdy Energy in 2019. After years of infertility and IVF, they started the Bundle of Joy Fund, which has handed out over $2 million in grants and helped bring more than 100 babies into the world.

Brexton, born in 2015, was already racing at local dirt tracks with Kyle as his crew chief, watching film, coaching lines, and turning wrenches on weekends. Lennix, born via surrogate in 2022, had her dad completely wrapped around her finger. He built a 15,000-square-foot barndominium on 35 acres in Cleveland, North Carolina, for the family to escape to. He built a race team, a charity, and a massive brand. And somewhere in between all of that, he built a garden with his wife.

The irrigation system still runs. The tomatoes are still growing. The kids still come outside.

He still feels close.