Kyle Busch wasn't himself before passing, according to Brad Keselowski (Image: Getty)
Brad Keselowski could tell that Kyle Busch was unwell before the NASCAR legend tragically passed away, and was never able to bury the hatchet with his former rival.
Buschdied at 41 on Thursday, after suffering from a severe case of pneumonia that rapidly progressed into sepsis. Busch was scheduled to race in the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte, but the Cup Series event ended up being centered on tributes to the NASCAR icon. Keselowski and Busch shared a heated rivalry over several decades, and they were famously not friends despite mutual respect. Keselowski hoped to one day move past the racing battles, but Busch sadly passed after dealing with illness.
Keselowski revealed that he flew to Dover Motor Speedway with Busch last week, but admitted that the late NASCAR driver wasn't himself. "I was flying to Dover last week with Kyle," Keselowski said. "It was probably more by chance than anything else. Kyle is normally a fairly gregarious person, very outgoing - and he wasn't. He sat down one row behind me and next to me and fell asleep right away and I could tell he wasn't feeling well. "I didn't really think that much of it, to be honest. And that was pretty much the last time I saw him. We were in a race and you get in a race and you don't really see each other. So I saw him on the racetrack." It comes afterBusch's wife made a major confession about their marriage after counseling.
Keselowski also revealed toPeoplehe had "visions" about being with Busch later in his career. Keselowski wondered what it would be like once they were both in the NASCAR Hall of Fame and attending events together, and assumed their rivalry would be a thing of the past.
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"I guess I had visions before his death of... actually, I thought about this multiple times: What's it going to be like when we're both in the Hall of Fame, and we're doing some kind of ceremony together, whatever that might be? Will the hatchet be buried? I think so," he added.
"And will we actually be able to share a laugh about it? I guess in my mind, I hope so, and now obviously not. The hard part is the closure was supposed to be when we were retired and when we were done racing together, and I don't think that's just for me, by the way.
"I think that's for a lot of people. And to not get that is tough. The loss of Kyle Busch is much greater than how it affects me, and so I don't wish to belittle that."
Keselowski has 70 total NASCAR wins, including 36 in the Cup Series. Busch has 234 victories across NASCAR, with 63 Cup Series victories (9th all-time).
It comes afterBusch's worrying confession to a fan is revealed after he posed for a picture the day before his death.
