Something that makes Daniel Suarez a fitting winner to the first race after Kyle Busch's passing: In Mexican culture, there is great reverence for the deceased. They are very family-oriented people, and Suarez gets to have his family with him each Coke 600 week.
"Kyle, he wasn't my family. But he was someone that gave me a hand when I needed it most. And it wasn't just a hand. It was a hand of a legend, it was a hand of somebody with so much experience. So for that I will be forever grateful. Forever grateful.
"Kyle was one of the few drivers out there that I never had an issue with. We always got along amazing. One time he got in trouble in Cancun, he called me, Samantha called me. I mean, some of you guys know what happened there. And then after the race in Mexico City, we partied together, he came to my party.
"I just love the guy. He was an amazing person. And for me, one of my goals this weekend is for people to understand these stories of him. Because a lot of people didn't know who he was as a person. Many people, fans, they knew him as a racing driver.
"But the person, the person that is behind the firesuit, behind that helmet - that's what counts the most. That family man. Every time that you talk to Kyle about Brexton, his eyes light up. He was a family man. And because of that, this race is so special. All the combination of these things.
"And I want to make sure that the focus and the most important thing about this victory is not Spire Motorsports, it's not Daniel Suarez - it's Kyle Busch. Because he was a very, very important piece for me to be here and for Spire Motorsports to be where it is right now."
Kyle Busch Motorsports Alumni, driving the same number that Kyle got his last win in, with the team that works out of the former KBM shop. it just doesn’t get any more perfect.
Kyle Busch's Richard Childress Racing team unloads their car for the Coca-Cola 600.
The number is now 33. The driver is now Austin Hill. A black No. 8 decal sits just below the driver's side window
Richard Childress Racing has elected to suspend use of the No. 8 and will run the No. 33 at Charlotte Motor Speedway and beyond. Kyle Busch was instrumental in the design of RCR’s stylized No. 8 and it has become synonymous with Kyle and an important symbol for his fans and the NASCAR industry. No one can carry it forward to the level that he did. The No. 8 is reserved and ready for Brexton Busch when he is ready to go NASCAR racing.
The Joe Gibbs Racing No. 54 team, for whom Kyle Busch earned so many of his O'Reilly Series wins, has placed the Rowdy insignia on the namerail of their car driven by Taylor Gray
A memorial decal has also been added to each of the JGR cars.
🚨 Just WOW...
Pete Hegseth: "Iran is calculating the reality that planes flew from the middle of America in MISSOURI over night, completely undetected, over 3 of their most highly sensitive sites. And we were able to destroy nuclear capabilities, and our boys in those bombers are on their way home right now."
"We believe that'll have a clear psychological impact on how they view the future."