Following the passing of NASCAR legend Kyle Busch, NASCAR diecast collectors are now finding out that the diecast most assumed would be his last will not be produced by Lionel Racing.
The death of NASCAR legend Kyle Busch left two race teams with very difficult decisions to make this past weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Of course, there was Busch’s full-time ride with Richard Childress Racing, which, even prior to the formal announcement of his passing, had already announced driver Austin Hill to take over, with the team later switching numbers from No. 8 to No. 33.
Then there was Busch’s part-time Truck Series ride with Spire Motorsports. As part of his deal with the team, Busch was set to drive the truck with sponsorship from Hendrickcars.com in eight races this season.
In his place, the team opted for Hendrick Motorsports prospect Corey Day to drive the truck, which still carried Busch’s windshield banners and name.
In fact, the truck was decked out in a special patriotic paint scheme carried by the four drivers who typically sport Hendrickcars.com sponsorship across the sport’s three National Series.
Busch was originally going to represent the paint scheme in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, with Day and Rajah Caruth carrying it in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and Kyle Larson doing so in the Cup Series.
As part of this multi-series and team effort, Lionel Racing had already announced individual 1:24 and 1:64 scale diecast of each car, and a four-pack featuring all four in 1:64 scale, with pre-orders opening on sites like CircleBDiecast on May 12 and 13.
Even after Busch’s passing, the set and the 1:24 and 1:64 scale options were still available for pre-order, with many fans flocking to pre-order the car to serve as a tribute to Busch in their collections.
But now, according to High Line Diecast Collectibles, the car and four-car set is no longer available, as Lionel has canceled production of both the 1:24 and 1:64 scale versions.
While Lionel did not announce the change publicly, the pre-order options for Busch’s diecast are no longer available on their website. At the same time, all other individual drivers, including an additional one for Chase Elliott, are still available for sale.
For many fans, the cancellation of this order was sad, as it was set to very likely be Busch’s final ever official diecast, with many left looking for answers.
Typically, when Lionel cancels a diecast, it can be for pre-order reasons, such as not meeting the Minimum Order Quantity, but as NASCAR diecast collectors have learned from past, less-tragic circumstances, outside parties still have a say over what diecast are produced.
For one, the decision could have come at the request of the Busch family, Spire, or even Hendrickcars.com. Lionel could have made the call on their own, opting not to produce the car out of respect for Busch’s tragic and abrupt passing.
While fans may never get a direct answer for this decision, it’s easy to understand what complications could have gotten in the way of getting the car to production, given the nature of Busch’s passing.
Additionally, Lionel still has several pre-order options for Busch diecast, including race-winning 1:24 and 1:64 scale diecast of his Truck wins from EchoPark Speedway and Dover Motor Speedway, the latter of which is his final ever NASCAR win.
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