Kurt Busch shares emotional last moments with late brother Kyle - ESPN

NEW YORK — NASCAR Hall of Famer Kurt Busch wiped tears from his eyes in recalling the final day he spent at his younger brother's hospital bedside in his first public comments about Kyle Busch's death.

«I was at the hospital. I was there all day, hoping, praying, hoping for a turnaround,» Busch said in an interview on NBC's «Today» show Friday.

«I said, 'I got you man. Come on, I got you. I got you. Come on, be strong,'» an emotional Busch added, before a brief pause. «It just wasn't fair.»

The interview marked Busch's first comments since Kyle Busch died May 21 after severe pneumonia progressed into sepsis, resulting in rapid and overwhelming complications. Busch's death at age 41 devastated the racing community and one of NASCAR's most accomplished families. The brothers were born in Las Vegas.

Kyle Busch won Cup Series championships in 2015 and 2019 for Joe Gibbs Racing, and holds the record in winning 234 combined races across NASCAR's top three national series. His older brother was a Cup champion in 2004 and inducted this year into the Hall of Fame.

In the interview, Busch outlined how his brother became increasingly ill while practicing in a simulator May 20. Asked by his crew chief whether he was OK, Busch responded no and was taken to a hospital by ambulance.

Kyle Busch initially believed he was dealing with a sinus cold while racing at Watkins Glen, New York, on May 10. He continued competing, including winning a Truck Series race at Dover, Delaware, less than a week before he died. Kurt Busch said their father, Tom Busch, chose not to be at the hospital in order to «remember him the way he wanted to remember him.»

«There is no book, there is no outline on what we're supposed to do right now,» Kurt Busch said,