Richard Childress Addresses Entirely New Reality With Kyle Busch

BROOKLYN, Mich. -- NASCAR team owner Richard Childress was supposed to use a press conference at Michigan International Speedway to address their future with Kyle Busch.

Instead, it became a time for Childress to address their future without him.

"We were going to be in here, Kyle [Busch] was going to be with me and we were going to announce that he was coming back in 2027 and drive for RCR. We wanted to do it up here in Michigan with our GM friends, with Chevrolet and it didn't happen," Childress said.

Speaking for the first time since Busch's May 21 death, Childress said he "hasn't slept well lately."

“It's challenging. You lose two of the greatest drivers that's ever driven a car in NASCAR, and now having to go through it again. I just feel so bad for the family and the RCR employees," Childress said.

Like with Earnhardt in 2001, Childress was hopeful for what RCR could do with Kyle Busch. Two days before he died, Busch called him with confidence in RCR's cars.

"He said, ‘you give me cars like you gave me the last three weeks and I will make the Chase this year.’ We were that confident," Childress said.

Now, Childress has not only lost a driver but also a friend who he shared a generational bond with -- taking Busch and Busch's son, Brexton, hunting for the first time. 

"We had other plans. The sad part for me, looking back, knowing what Dale Earnhardt had in mind and the plans he had for his future, and then sitting and talking to Kyle at different times, knowing his plans and what he had in the future for him, Brexton and his family and the many things that we all could have done together; that was probably the toughest part of this whole thing," Childress said.

Busch's life left behind a lifetime of support for his family, as evidenced by Childress. Never one to stand for someone who isn't fully committed to his organization, Childress made a big statement by saying the stylized No. 8 is available to Brexton Busch whenever he wants it -- no matter if it's with his team or not.

“Kyle designed that style of the No. 8. It was never to put any pressure on him (Brexton) to run the No. 8 but it's there for him. It’s stylized. We have the stylized number registered or patented, however they do it, and we saved it for Brexton if he ever comes and says, ‘hey, I'm going to go drive for Rick Hendrick and I want to use that 8’. That's what I was saying, we're saving that stylized No. 8 for him if he wants to run it in the future,” Childress said.

Like the rest of the industry, Childress isn't putting any pressure on Brexton.

“I think just showing him the respect and trying not to put more pressure on him, just like Dale Earnhardt Jr. I think that he's got a great future. That kid can drive a racecar. Personally and mentally, watching him last Tuesday, was incredible. He's just a bright young man and a great little racecar driver. He'll carry the Busch legacy for many years to come.” 

Turning 81 years old this year, it's hard to say what the future will hold for Childress himself. However, he appears as sharp as ever and ready to shape RCR's future. 

"Both Austin and Ty Dillon went up to RCR the next day and talked to the whole company. I see a role with both of them being involved. Austin is the general manager over the Carolina Cowboys and he's learning how to deal with a sanctioning body. He's learning how to deal with riders instead of drivers, which would be different. Ty's involved a lot, as well. He's there with us.

"It's a family operation and we're doing our best to keep it like that.”

RCR lives on, again growing around their grief by accepting the reality of what has happened and building a future with an entirely different set of people, places and circumstances.

Just as RCR and NASCAR raced on without Dale Earnhardt and found Kyle Busch, who was as close to Earnhardt without ever replacing him, one day they will find someone who is like Busch but is special in their own way.