Samantha Busch remembers her late husband, Kyle Buschwith an emotional Father’s Day tribute a month after his death.
The NASCAR champion died on May 21 at age 41 after a severe case of pneumonia turned into sepsis, leaving behind his wife and their two children, 11-year-old Brexton and 4-year-old Lennix.
Sunday (June 21) marked the family’s first Father’s Day without him, and Samantha shared a heartbreaking message on social media about navigating what was supposed to be a day filled with celebration.
Samantha Busch remembers Kyle on Father’s Day
In her post, Samantha reflected on the Father’s Day cards that had already been made and the painful reality that there was no longer anyone to give them to.
Read more: Kyle Busch’s wife Samantha made a powerful promise to him before he died
“This still doesn’t feel right,” she wrote. “I was up all night thinking about what today must have been like for Kyle and the kids. The Father’s Day cards that were already made were sitting in a drawer with no one to give them to.”
Read more: Kyle Busch’s 11-year-old son surprised NASCAR fans: You’re superman
She also reflected on the kind of father Kyle was to their children.
He was the dad who never missed a chance to be silly, race the kids around the neighborhood, wrap them in his arms, or stay up a little longer for one more book, one more question, one more moment.
“Nothing made him prouder than being the father of Brexton and Lennix,” she added.
The painful day
Samantha admitted that revisiting old memories has been incredibly painfulbut said those moments also remind her of how lucky their family was to have Kyle in their lives.
“Seeing these memories hurts more than I can explain, but they also remind me how lucky we were to have him,” she wrote. Later in the post, she described the depth of the family’s grief.
Kyle, the kids and I miss you every second of every day. Our hearts ache for you, but it’s more than that. Your absence is something we physically feel. Our bodies ache from missing you, from reaching for someone who isn’t there, from loving someone we can’t take anymore.
Samantha also agreed keep Kyle’s memory alive for their children, saying, “I will continue to tell your stories, share your laughs, and make sure that Brexton and Lennix always know how deeply they were loved by their father.”
Read more: Kyle Busch’s son Brexton is racing for the first time since his father’s death
She ended the tribute with a simple message: “Happy Father’s Day. We love you and miss you more than words can say.”
NASCAR continues to honor Kyle Busch
Samantha’s Father’s Day tribute came the next day an emotional moment in the NASCAR world.
Richard Childress Racingthe team Kyle drove for in the NASCAR Cup Series returned to Victory Lane for the first time since his death when Austin Hill won the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Naval Base Coronado in San Diego.
After the race, Hill revealed that he had been thinking of his deceased teammate during the closing rounds. “I’m like, ‘Man, Kyle, if you watch this race, I could use some help here,'” Hill said.
He explained that a last-minute adjustment to the car seemed to change everything, saying, “And the very lap that I asked about it, I just started pulling the front brake … the last four laps, the car just came alive.”
After taking the checkered flag, Hill celebrated with a burnout next to a tribute painted on the field in Kyle’s honor.
A month after his death, tributes to Kyle continue to pour in from both his family and the racing community he left behind.
The history of NASCAR in 30 amazing pictures
Ever since its inception in the late 1940s, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing – better known as NASCAR – has been full of incredible moments, history-defining victories and heart-pounding photo finishes. Keep reading to look back at some of the powerful images that tell NASCAR history.
Gallery credit: Carena Liptak
