Late NASCAR champion Kyle Busch was among the names drawn Saturday in Maine’s annual moose lottery, despite having died weeks earlier.
Busch, a North Carolina resident and two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion who died in May at age 41, was selected for an antlered October moose permit for wildlife management zone 5.
The permit was one of 3,705 available through this year’s lottery, which attracts tens of thousands of applicants hoping for a chance to hunt Maine’s largest game animal.
See the results of the 2026 Maine moose lottery
See if your name was among the 3,700 hunters who can pursue the state’s largest game animal during the 2026 season.
Busch had ties to Maine through Oxford Plains Speedway, where he won the Oxford 250 in 2011, one of New England’s most prestigious short-track races. More recently, he returned to Oxford to compete in the inaugural Celebration of America 300 in 2024 and raced in both the Memorial Day Clash 200 and the Celebration of America in 2025.
According to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, state law allows a moose permit to be transferred to a family member if the permit holder dies before or during the moose hunting season.
Department spokesperson Mark Latti said such situations occur periodically, although the department does not track how often.