Gone But Not Forgotten

Matt Lunsford
3 days ago
3 min read

Since December of 2025, the NASCAR community has lost three past and current drivers. With the most recent passing of Kyle Busch last Thursday. I would like to express some of my feelings and observations being a fan and a journalist and share some photos.

At a young age, I became a Dale Earnhardt fan, he was my idol growing up, the shirts, the die casts, pictures, newspaper clippings and magazines, you name it, I had it. Ten days after my 18th birthday, Earnhardt was killed in an accident at the end of 2001 Daytona 500. At the time, his death shocked the country and motorsports world as well as me.

You will often hear older fans exclaim, "NASCAR has never been the same, since Dale died."

After his passing, I would become a fan of his replacement, Kevin Harvick as he shared some familiar traits that Dale had. I would also continue to be a fan of Dale's son, Dale Earnhardt Jr.

As I got older and decided to pursue a career in photojournalism, I used any opportunity I could in order to be able to cover NASCAR races. As a photographer at a NASCAR race, I was getting to go everywhere the regular race fans couldn't go; Whether it was the garage stalls, pit road boxes, catch fence gates, on the track and in victory lane.

Even though I haven't had the privilege of covering NASCAR on a full-time basis, what time I have spent at the handful of races that I have covered is the place where I most feel at home. Every time I left the track I only thought about the next opportunity to cover the next race.

NASCAR has always been one of the most press and fan friendly sports in America. That openness allows intimate access into the lives of these daredevils that put their lives on the line in pursuit of speed and checkered flags.

With the latest sudden and shocking loss of Kyle Busch on Thursday, I felt compelled to comb through my photos to see what i had captured. Not only of Busch, but of Greg Biffle and Michael Annett as well. Busch's passing brought back a lot of the same memories from when NASCAR lost Dale Earnhardt in 2001. While I was not a fan of Busch, it is not lost on me the contributions to the sport as well as the absolute wheel man that he was.

At a very basic level, it hurts my heart to see the sport I love so much hurting. While many may not read this, I want to take this brief moment to send my condolences to the Annett, Biffle and Busch family's, to NASCAR and it's fan base. Unlike Earnhardt's death, none of these drivers died while racing on track. That in a different way makes their passing all the more tragic.

While I personally never got to speak with any of the drivers pictured here, I am honored to have been able to have captured a second in their lives, when they were at their peak.

Michael Annett

June 23, 1986 - December 2nd, 2025

2 ARCA Series Wins, 1 NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series Win

Greg "The Biff" Biffle

December 23,1969 - December 18, 2025

2000 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Champion

2002 NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series Champion

Two-Time Southern 500 Winner

17 - NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Wins

20 - NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series Wins

19 - NASCAR Cup Series Wins

Kyle "Rowdy" Busch