For the first time since 2004, the NASCAR race weekend at Michigan International Speedway will be without Kyle Busch, one of the sport’s most talented and accomplished drivers who died May 21 after complications from pneumonia. The track has several tributes planned to honor him.
Busch was 41. He won 63 NASCAR Cup races, but he totaled 234 victories across NASCAR’s three national series, with 102 wins and a championship in the Auto Parts Series and 69 Craftsman Truck series wins. He won Cup series titles in 2015 and 2019.
The FireKeepers Casino 400 on Sunday at two-mile MIS in Brooklyn is the third NASCAR Cup series points race since Busch’s death, and each track has commemorated him.
There will be a pre-race moment of remembrance for Busch, a NASCAR spokesman told The Detroit News on Friday, and also for former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle, who with six others, including his wife Cristina and their two children, Emma and Ryder, were killed in a plane crash last December. Biffle, who drove for Livonia-based team owner Jack Roush, had six wins at MIS, including four in the Cup series, the last in August 2013.
This is the third NASCAR Cup series points race since Busch’s death, and each track has commemorated his memory. Fans have raised eight fingers during Lap 8 of races to honor Busch, who drove the No. 8 car, and the race broadcast has gone silent during that lap. There has been a moment of silence before races to honor Busch.
Also in honor of Busch, there will be a No. 8 stencil in the infield grass as well as a tribute on Lap 8 when the track goes silent and fans raise eight fingers.
Rebel Bourbon, the primary sponsor of Busch’s car, will field a black No. 33 car in his memory this weekend at MIS. Team owner Richard Childress changed the car’s number from 8 to 33 after temporarily retiring the number to be saved for Busch’s 11-year-old son, Brexton. The car, driven by Austin Hill, will feature white lettering with red outlines.
“A tribute to his legacy, his impact, and the moments we shared on and off the track,” the company said in a statement. “Kyle will forever be part of the Rebel family.”
Busch won at MIS in August 2011 and had 14 top-10 finishes here, including nine finishes among the top five. His first start at the two-mile oval was Aug. 20, 2004 in the then-Xfinity Series. His first NASCAR Cup start was Aug. 21, 2005 in the GFS Marketplace 400.
achengelis@detroitnews.com
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This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Here is how Kyle Busch will be honored at FireKeepers Casino 400 at MIS
Reporting by Angelique S. Chengelis, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Angelique S. Chengelis, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
