NASCAR driver Casey Mears reflects on Kyle Busch's impact on the sport after his death

NASCAR legend Kyle Busch is dead at 41 after a mysterious illness. Former teammate Casey Mears remembers Busch's profound impact on racing and his family.

NASCAR driver Casey Mears reflected on the death of Kyle Busch on Friday, saying his impact on the sport of professional racing was "immeasurable."

Busch died at the age of 41, hours after it was announced he was going to forgo any racing activities at Charlotte Motor Speedway this weekend due to a "severe illness resulting in hospitalization."

Mears appeared on Fox News Channel’s "Fox & Friends First" as he mourned Busch’s death.

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Casey Mears, driver of the No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet, leads Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&M's Toyota, during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Ky., on June 27, 2014. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

"I would say, really, it’s immeasurable. What he’s accomplished in the sport is done by nobody else. Kyle’s won so many races," he said of Busch’s impact on the sport. "I mean, there was a stretch there for a handful of years where if Kyle didn’t win a Busch race, a Cup race or one of the truck races throughout the weekend, something was wrong because he was constantly winning races.

"I think that the end of the day he was just a tremendous competitor you absolutely knew he was going to leave 110% on the table at all times. Just one of the best that’s ever been in a racecar. The biggest thing is that he’d just become such an amazing dad, father, husband, brother. I’m just thinking about everybody in the family. Tom and Gaye, his mom, and brother, obviously Samantha and the kids. He was a true champion at home as a family man as well."

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