The NASCAR World Reacts to The Passing of Kyle Busch
What’s Happening? The sudden passing of NASCAR legend Kyle Busch has taken the NASCAR world by storm, with everyone from media…
Following the tragic passing of future NASCAR Hall of Famer Kyle Busch, both fans and drivers have discussed whether or not he should get to join the newly voted on NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2027.
What’s Happening? The sudden passing of NASCAR legend Kyle Busch has taken the NASCAR world by storm, with everyone from media…
For many longtime fans of NASCAR, last week held some of the highest of highs and the lowest of lows.
On one end, three very deserving names, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton, and the late Larry Phillips, were elected to the NASCAR Hall of Fame as the three inductees for the Class of 2027
Unfortunately, two days later, tragedy struck, as active NASCAR legend Kyle Busch, who had won just a few days earlier in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, passed away after a short hospitalization.
With planning just now underway, and little to question about Busch’s future status as a Hall of Famer, fans began asking if it would be right to allow Busch to join these three as the Class of 2027.
This discussion progressed into the weekend, with one fellow future Hall of Famer and even NASCAR’s CEO weighing in on the idea.
On Saturday, Busch’s longtime rival, and current owner-driver for RFK Racing, Brad Keselowski, told the media that he thinks this is a good move, and that while he understands the complications, “I don’t know why that needs to wait another year.”
Of course, NASCAR does have voting for Hall of Fame status, with a mixed group meeting to elect three new members annually.
So, getting a special posthumous nomination would take an extra push, and during his press conference late Friday (prior to Keselowski’s comments), newly minted NASCAR CEO Steve O’Donnell didn’t throw out the idea of Busch joining the 2027 class.
When asked on Friday whether Busch could join the group, O’Donnell said that on the short list of ideas presented to honor Rowdy, a Hall of Fame induction was featured.
“I don’t know. I know that we put that on the list of ideas that we want to look at. I think — I said earlier there’s things we want to do this weekend, and then we have a little bit more time to think about what we could do as well in the future. Who knows, that could be something we look at.” — Steve O’Donnell
For one, fans think this is the right move, leaning into Brad Keselowski’s stance that it’s a given that KFB will be a Hall of Famer.
Still, since the Class of 2021, Hall of Fame inductees are limited to just three per class. Of course, that doesn’t mean NASCAR doesn’t have room for more than three to be honored during the year-long celebration, with five drivers and historical industry members added per year from 2010 to 2020.
While this would break the streak of three a year, it would be more than worth it to give fans a place to go and see just what Busch meant to the sport as a personality and competitor.
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