Kyle Busch had many names while on the racetrack.
Some called him a legend, others called him a villain.
Some called his style of racing fearless, others saw it as reckless.
But when the legendary driver, who died Thursday at the age of 41, initially entered the racing scene, his first nickname was “Rowdy.”
The inspiration came from the villainous Rowdy Burns character from the 1990 racing movie “Days of Thunder,” as detailed by USA Today.
“You come to the point where you’re like, ‘Okay, I’m going to wear this black hat. They want me to be the villain? Let’s do it.’ I went full in just being ‘Rowdy,’” Busch said on the “NASCAR Full Speed” television series. “I’m not going to say it wasn’t fun being the villain, because I was also winning. I don’t care. I’m going home with the trophy, and I’m going home with the check.”
The name further stuck when his rivalry with racers Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Brad Keselowski became fierce, so much so that during the Truck Series, Busch even donned the number 51, the same number Rowdy Burns wore in the movie that featured actual NASCAR stars.
But NASCAR will now be missing that “Rowdy” energy after his shocking death Thursday after being hospitalized with what his family labeled a “serious illness.”
No official cause of death has been released, as of Friday morning.
Busch’s career was filled with trophies.
He is ninth all-time in wins in NASCAR’s top-tier Cup Series and also won a pair of championships racing for Joe Gibbs Racing.
He won the 2015 NASCAR Cup Series championship despite missing 11 races due to a broken leg.
Busch was also successful in the Truck Series, sitting atop the all-time wins leaderboard with 69.
Across all three touring competitions in NASCAR, Busch tallied a record 234 victories.
But through all that winning, Busch had plenty of enemies. Busch got into spats with many other racers. Busch embraced every rivalry he created, not backing down from any of them.
“I’d like to think that somewhere deep down there was an appreciation that we pushed each other to perform at the highest level, even if neither of us would’ve admitted it,” racer Brad Keselowski wrote on X. “Tonight, I feel a little like the coyote with no more roadrunner to chase.”
