Perhaps if it weren’t for Tom Busch making racing a family activity, Kyle Busch might have never made it to the top of NASCAR’s ladder. The family would spend hours on the track, as both Kyle and his brother, Kurt Busch, raced each other. The racecraft was hence something Kyle Busch learned before he could learn basic math, with his father operating the pedals in the car while he took the wheel.

But when Tom returned to Charlotte earlier this week, he had to drive around all by himself, as he paid tribute to his son, who passed away just days before the Coca-Cola 600. And he did so in true “Rowdy” fashion, the nickname that defined Kyle across 24 Cup seasons.

Tom Busch did an honorary lap for his late son during the CookOut Summer Shootout. The tribute took the form of a missing man formation, with the field peeling off to pit road as Tom completed the lap alone in Kyle’s No. 51 Lucas Oil/Starkist Tuna Legend car, the very car Kyle had driven in the Master’s Division of the 2025 Summer Shootout, where he won seven races.

This was the same event where Kyle’s son, Brexton Busch, also ran his first event since his father’s passing, competing in the Young Lions division in a neon green No. 18, the same number Kyle wore during both his Cup championships at Joe Gibbs Racing.

The 11-year-old didn’t fail to make an impression. Starting 13th, he pushed to sixth after darting outside to avoid a late-race crash. Moreover, he waved the green and the chequered flag as his grandfather took to the track.

There was also a pre-race ceremony, with a moment of silence, in memory of the decorated driver who was supposed to run this very Summer Shootout.

Kyle Busch didn’t exactly come from a family of racers. Sure, his father ran local races back in the day, but he never made it big in NASCAR, a path both his sons chose. Kyle turned into an exceptional driver with the kind of versatility everyone upheld.

His 234 wins across all three national series are the all-time NASCAR record, surpassing Richard Petty. He became the first driver to have won at all the Cup Series tracks he competed, completing that benchmark in 2018, and amassing 63 Cup, 102 O’Reilly Auto Parts, and 69 Truck Series victories, the last making him NASCAR’s all-time Truck Series wins leader.

How Kyle Busch took his family’s racing legacy to the next level

His two Cup championships did not define him as a driver. Kyle Busch was far more than that. He was the one who took his family’s racing legacy to the next step. Busch’s father, Tom, undoubtedly kicked it off when he took both his sons to the track during their childhood, and Kyle did not miss out on following the family traditions.

Busch got his son involved in racing when he was just 5-years-old. Brexton proved to be a promising aspect and was quick to win races. And over the years, his experience has only helped him to become one of the strongest upcoming drivers of his age. He regularly participated in the Tulsa Shootout with his father, and just last year, he managed to win the Golden Driller.

And Kyle Busch made sure to give him the best coaching. Understandably, he wasn’t always gentle. In fact, a clip of the two went viral a couple of months ago, where Kyle could be seen schooling Brexton.

“You’re just slow. And it’s not to be mean and not to be rude, I have to be able to tell you,” Kyle Busch told his son.

Although still years from a NASCAR debut, it seems almost guaranteed that Brexton will make one. Richard Childress Racing immediately retired the No. 8 after Kyle’s death, echoing how RCR shelved Dale Earnhardt’s No. 3 after Daytona 2001, a number only Austin Dillon revived over a decade later.