CONCORD, N.C. () — Kyle Busch, a two-time Cup Series champion who won more races than anyone across NASCAR’s three national series, has died. He was 41.

The Busch Family, Richard Childress Racing and NASCAR issued a joint statement Thursday saying Busch died after being hospitalized. No cause of death was given.

Busch’s family said earlier Thursday that he was hospitalized with a “severe illness,” three days before he was to compete in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Busch was the younger brother of Kurt Busch, a NASCAR Hall of Famer.

“Our entire NASCAR family is heartbroken by the loss of Kyle Busch,” the statement said. “A future Hall of Famer, Kyle was a rare talent, one who comes along once in a generation. He was fierce, he was passionate, he was immensely skilled and he cared deeply about the sport and fans.”

The statement went on to say that “throughout a career that spanned more than two decades, Kyle set records in national series wins, won championships at NASCAR’s highest level and fostered the next generation of drivers as an owner in the Truck Series. His sharp wit and competitive spirit sparked a deep emotional connection with race fans of every age, creating the proud and loyal ‘Rowdy Nation.’”

The news comes 11 days after Busch radioed into his crew near the end of a Cup Series race at Watkins Glen asking a doctor to give him a “shot” after he finished the race. According to the TV broadcast, Busch had been struggling with a sinus cold that was exacerbated by the intense G-forces and elevation changes at the New York road course.

Busch finished the race in eighth place.

Busch competed at Dover last weekend and won the Trucks Series race for Richard Childress Racing. He finished 17th at the NASCAR All-Star race.

“Absolute shock. Very hard to process,” veteran NASCAR driver Brad Keselowski posted on social media.

NASCAR driver and former teammate Denny Hamlin posted on social media: “Absolutely cannot comprehend this news. We just need to think of his family during this time. We love you KB.”

A polarizing figure known as “Rowdy” and “Wild Thing” for his post-race fights, regular feuds with other drivers and sometimes outlandish behavior, the multi-talented Busch stormed on the Cup Series scene in 2005 by winning Rookie of the Year.

He went on to win championships in 2015 and 2019 for Joe Gibbs Racing.

From Las Vegas, Busch experienced unrivaled success across NASCAR’s three national series winning a combined 234 Cup, O’Reilly Auto Parts and Trucks Series races. He had 63 Cup victories along with 102 O’Reilly Auto Parts wins and 69 Trucks victories — both records.

Busch was fired early in his career by Hendrick Motorsports to make room on the team for Dale Earnhardt Jr.

“Kyle and I had a really challenging existence for many years,” Earnhardt said in a statement. “But we luckily took the time to figure out our differences and that was something he instigated with a conversation in his bus around how we each managed our racing teams. I was super eager for us to get on better terms. But it was he who made the effort for that to be possible.”

His lack of success led to a recent spat with former JGR teammate Hamlin, who peared to criticize Busch on the Actions Detrimental podcast. Hamlin said, “If you’re expecting Kyle Busch to just go back to Victory Lane on a regular basis, you are kidding yourselves.”

While Hamlin later said he meant no harm by the comments and was just making an observation, Busch took exception and said he could make Hamlin’s life “hell” on the racetrack.

While several ls down at last month’s race at Kansas, Busch made good on the threat and raced Hamlin hard instead of allowing the race leader to pass. That decision held up Hamlin during a crucial stage of the race and Tyler Reddick wound up winning the race after Hamlin faded late.

After winning the Trucks race at Dover last week and showing an uptick in speed, Busch seemed to make a veiled jab at Hamlin, saying “I guess I just remembered how to drive.”

After earning his win at Dover, Busch was asked how many races he wants to win in his career before he stops racing.

“You take whatever you can get, man,” Busch said. “You never know when the last one is going to be, so cherish them all — trust me.”

The announcement of Busch’s death came after IndyCar teams had already left Gasoline Alley on media day at the Indianolis 500. As word spread on Main Street in Speedway, Indiana, just a short walk from Indianolis Motor Speedway, race fans — IndyCar and NASCAR — were saddened.

NASCAR officials confirmed to The Associated Press the Coca-Cola 600 will go on as planned Sunday.

Busch is survived by wife Samantha and children Brexton and Lennix.

___ Sports Writer Michael Marot in Indianolis contributed to this report. ___

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., acknowledged “ongoing vote issues” on Wednesday as leaders tried to measure Republican support and figure out what will be allowed in the bill under the chamber’s rules.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., told reporters Wednesday that the bill was “back to square one” without the security money because “the votes are not there.”

Republican senators were set to meet with acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on Thursday as they finalized the text and decided whether to put parameters on the settlement, which was designed to compensate Trump’s allies who believe they have been politically persecuted. Thune told reporters that senators have questions about the fund and want to know “how we might make sure that it’s fenced in propriately.”

Possible parameters on Trump’s settlement fund

Presenting a united front, Democrats from both the House and Senate rallied on the Citol steps Thursday to show their opposition. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said the amendment process “will give Republicans countless chances to do the right thing.”

He added that if they declined to make changes, it would show voters that “Ballroom Republicans are not working for you, they are busy fighting for Trump.”

Those amendments, along with others, could pass as a growing number of Republicans have voiced reservations about the fund. So Republicans are now discussing their own last-minute additions to head that off, potentially placing some parameters on the settlement and who could receive compensation, according to two people with knowledge of the private discussions who requested anonymity to discuss them.

It was unclear how any Senate changes would be received in the House. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Wednesday that the House will pass the bill “whatever form it takes.”

Tensions rise between Senate and White House

As Republicans challenged the settlement and parts of his agenda, Trump unloaded on the Senate in a social media post on Wednesday.

Republicans need to “get smart and tough,” Trump said, or “you’ll all be looking for a job much sooner than you thought possible!”

While they have been loyal to Trump on most issues, Senate Republicans have resisted his repeated calls — even in his first term — to kill the filibuster, which triggers a 60-vote threshold in the Senate.

Hanging over the growing GOP rift is Trump’s surprise endorsement of Paxton. That intervention has Republican senators privately fuming that it could cost them their majority in November as they view the incumbent, Cornyn, as the better candidate in the November general election.

Secret Service request falters

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said the effort to add the security package to the bill was a “bad idea.” The bill should not have included the other security improvements, he said, “because it’s just giving everybody the ‘billion-dollar ballroom.’”

Several other Republicans in the House and Senate have questioned the request, and senators left a briefing with the director of the Secret Service last week saying they needed a lot more information.

Still, passage requires sign-off from the parliamentarian and unity from Republicans.

___

Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro and Joey Cpelletti contributed to this report.

The Kospi has been breaching records, recently exceeding 8,000 for the first time.

Taiwan’s Taiex, also heavily weighted toward technology shares, gained 3.9% as major chipmaker TSMC’s stock gained 3%.

Chinese markets were virtually unchanged, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng flat at 25,648.28, while the Shanghai Composite index also was nearly flat at 4,162.37.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 picked up 1.6% to 8,628.80.

Oil prices were higher early Thursday, a day after Brent crude dropped 5%. Brent, the international standard, gained 95 cents to $105.87 per barrel, while U.S. benchmark crude added 92 cents to $99.18 per barrel.

Brent remains well above its roughly $70 level from before the war with Iran. Prices have been yo-yoing on rising and falling hopes that the United States and Iran can reach an agreement to allow oil deliveries to fully resume from the Persian Gulf to customers worldwide.

Stocks got a lift from easing yields in the bond market, as the yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.57% from 4.67% late Tuesday. That’s a significant move for a market that measures things in hundredths of a percentage point.

The 10-year Treasury yield had been rising from less than 4% before the war with Iran began, along with other government bond yields around the world, because of worries that the fighting will keep oil prices high, among other factors. Inflation concerns reduce the chances the Federal Reserve will cut rates this year and raise risks that that world central banks may have to raise rates in 2026.

With the easing of yields, technology stocks helped lead Wall Street higher.

Tech stocks leading the market included Advanced Micro Devices, up 8.1%, and Intel, up 7.4%.

Smaller companies can feel even bigger relief from lower yields than their bigger rivals because many need to borrow to grow. The Russell 2000 index of the smallest U.S. stocks jumped 2.6%, more than double the gain of the S&P 500, which measures the biggest U.S. stocks.

In other dealings early Thursday, the U.S. dollar rose to 158.98 Janese yen from 158.92 yen. The euro was steady at $1.1624.