Just the kind of feel-good win the sport needed after so much heartache.
The Coca-Cola 600 isn’t just the longest race on the NASCAR Cup schedule. It’s also the sport’s homecoming dance, with a week of fun for fans and team members alike in and around NASCAR’s adopted hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina. This year, however, the Coca-Cola 600 took on additional significance, as the sport mourned the sudden, tragic loss of Kyle Busch.
On Sunday, many were shocked to see Kyle’s family at the track. It’s a testament to the immense strength and toughness of the Busch family, and it was hard not to shed a tear at the sight of Brexton Busch bravely supporting his mother, Samantha, while Steve O’Donnell gave a moving speech before the race began. O’Donnell only recently became the CEO of NASCAR, and if there were any doubts about his leadership abilities before, they were quashed in that powerful moment. Losing Kyle Busch deals an immense blow to NASCAR, but the sport is in good hands with O’Donnel at the helm.
Before the Prime broadcast, many Kyle Busch tributes were aired, as well as interviews with drivers whose careers and lives he directly impacted for the better – which included pretty much everyone in the garage. One of these interviews had an emotional Daniel Suarez, a former teammate, tell the story of how, when he was first starting out, Kyle would call him every week to give him tips about that week’s track. Finally, when Suarez managed to beat Busch in an O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race, Busch congratulated him in victory lane, jokingly telling him “No more phone calls.”
It wouldn’t be the last time that Daniel Suarez would beat Busch to the finish line. Last year, at Atlanta, Suarez would beat both Busch and Ryan Blaney in a three-way photo finish that would end up being the closest in the history of the sport. To win at Charlotte – and honor his mentor and friend – Suarez would need every trick in his toolbox, coupled with good timing and even better luck.
The weather was rotten all weekend, with qualifying rained out and the Truck and O’Reilly races shortened by rain. With an eye on the radar, it seemed like the mist would turn into a downpour at any moment after the halfway point of the race. While the JGR Toyotas – especially Denny Hamlin – dominated most of the night, a late-race Hail Mary call to swap two tires instead of four paid dividends, advancing Suarez from the middle of the pack to the front row.
On two consecutive restarts, he held off some of the best drivers in the sport just long enough for the rain to begin falling. The cars pulled down pit road, the call was made, and Daniel Suarez, after driving some of the best laps of his career, was declared the winner, taking a bow for his fallen friend in victory lane. It was just the kind of feel-good win the sport needed after so much heartache, and it seems like every driver in the field gave Suarez a hug to celebrate his win. Congratulations, amigo. KFB would be proud.
Photo: Getty Images
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