What a legend.
It’s been nearly 5 months since the NASCAR world was shocked but the sudden and tragic death of two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch at the age of 41.
Since his death, there have been plenty of stories shared about the NASCAR legend from both on and off the track. But today, his wife Samantha Busch hopped back behind the microphone for an episode of her Certified Oversharer podcast, the first episode since Kyle’s death back in May.
In returning to the podcast, Samantha said it was important for her to keep her husband’s legacy alive:
“It is my sole mission now to make Kyle’s legacy grow and continue on and keep building on all the things that he would have loved because I just feel like there were so many things that were important to us.”
Samantha says she hopes to share more of Kyle’s stories through the podcast, and one that she mentioned was the full story of his incident in Mexico.
The incident Samantha’s referring to happened back in 2023, when Kyle was detained while traveling back from Cancun when authorities discovered a handgun in his backpack while going through security at the airport.
In a statement at the time, Busch said that he forgot the gun was in his bag:
“In late January, Samantha and I enjoyed a several day vacation in Mexico. When departing the country, my handgun was flagged during routine screening at the airport.
I have a valid concealed carry permit from my local authority and adhere to all handgun laws, but I made a mistake by forgetting it was in my bag.
Discovery of the handgun led to my detainment while the situation was resolved. I was not aware of Mexican law and had no intention of bringing a handgun into Mexico.
When it was discovered, I fully cooperated with the authorities, accepted the penalties, and returned to North Carolina.
I apologize for my mistake and appreciate the respect shown by all parties as we resolved the matter. My family and I consider this issue closed.”
The Prosecutor General’s Office of Mexico later released a statement announcing that Busch had been sentenced to 3 years and 6 months in prison and fined the equivalent of US $1,100:
“According to the investigation folder, the arrest took place on January 27 of this year, when the man sentenced today was detained by elements of the Quintana Roo National Guard, derived from the direct signaling of private security personnel from the Airport. Cancun International, who are assigned to guard the platform of the FBO terminal for private flights.
The detainee, who is originally from the State of Nevada, intended to travel to the United States of America, but when passing his luggage through the RX of the platform, a caliber pistol-type firearm was detected inside. 380 with magazine stocked with six useful hollow point cartridges.
Due to the foregoing, the Agent of the Federal Public Ministry presented it before the Control Judge, on January 29 of this year, who described the detention as legal, linked to the process and through an abbreviated procedure issued a sentence.”
The court ultimately agreed to a conditional sentence, which meant that Busch would not be required to serve the jail time as long as he didn’t commit any further offenses in the jurisdiction, and he was ultimately allowed to leave the country after posting a bond.
(Kyle also had a great response when a reporter would later ask him why he feels the need to carry a gun: “Doesn’t matter.”)
But apparently, while he was getting everything worked out, Samantha revealed that Kyle was forced to spend some time locked up south of the border.
Of course being in a Mexican prison doesn’t really sound like a pleasant experience for anyone. But according to Samantha, her husband didn’t really seem to mind it too much:
“In true Kyle fashion like he takes this horrible situation like isn’t affected by it by the way like a normal person would be at one point as I like am going to visit him and … we’re like, ‘How is it in there? Are you okay?’
And he was like, ‘You know, it’s kind of relaxing. I mean, I don’t have a phone, so I don’t have to like do any work, and I can nap all day if I want to. Granted, there’s ants and bugs all over the floor, but like really, it’s not bad.'”
Sounds like a nice little vacation…
But apparently, even while he was locked up, Kyle was still thinking about racing. As Samantha recalled, he even tried to get a fellow inmate to sponsor his Truck Series team:
“When he went from jail to prison, he met this guy named Angel, and Angel had a lot of money. And so he’s trying to get truck sponsorship out of a Mexican prisoner.”
Classic Kyle.
Samantha said that Kyle had set a reminder in his phone to do a podcast about the entire incident once he was legally allowed to talk about it, and she said she wanted to bring former Kyle Busch Motorsports president Mike Verlander on a future episode to discuss the whole saga.
I would love to hear more about it, because I’m sure Kyle Busch in a Mexican prison was an absolutely wild experience. But it sounds like Kyle handled it well…and even tried to get some sponsorship out of it.
