Suarez wins, Kyle Busch is remembered on a Coke 600 weekend doused with emotion
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Suarez won the rain-shortened race, which became the Coke 559.5.
- Kyle Busch’s family made their first public appearance three days after his death.
- NASCAR ended the race when the final downpour began on Lap 373.
The 67th running of the Coca-Cola 600 started with tears and ended with rain.
The winner was Daniel Suarez, whose gamble on a pit stop paid off, with a major assist from the rain that shortened the Coke 600 to what in reality became the Coke 559.5.
But the moment most people will remember from Sunday came before the race, when Kyle Busch’s family made a surprise appearance three days after the 41-year-old racer had suddenly died of severe pneumonia that progressed into sepsis.
Busch’s shocking death Thursday overshadowed the rest of the week, one in which all three major races at Charlotte Motor Speedway were adversely affected by the ever-present rain. Does anyone remember when we were actually in a drought? It felt long ago and far away this weekend, as one race after another got postponed and/or truncated.
Suarez wisely gambled on there being another downpour, taking only two tires when the rest of the leaders took four on a late pit stop with about 50 laps to go. That put him into the lead, but Suarez still had to hold off the leaders (all of them on four new tires, compared to Suarez’s two) twice on difficult restarts.
“Daniel had to drive his ass off those last two restarts against some studs,” said Ryan Sparks, Suarez’s crew chief and the man who made the two-tire call that paid off.
When the final downpour began on Lap 373, NASCAR made the decision to end the race, knowing that drying the track would have meant the event likely wouldn’t finish until well after 1 a.m. Instead, it ended just before 11:30 p.m.
Suarez then climbed out of the car, put on a Busch No. 8 hat and started to choke up himself. Busch had helped him early in his NASCAR career, back in 2015, when Suarez was learning English and struggling on the racetrack. He would call Suarez every week, saying: “How can I help you?”
“He didn’t have to help this Mexican kid that can barely speak English,” Suarez said. “He was already a legend in the sport. And he took the time every single week to help me.”
Suarez said after the race that “the first thing that came to my mind was Kyle” when he won. He said that he still can’t fathom that his friend is gone.
“A few days ago, I was still hoping that somebody was going to say that it wasn’t real,” Suarez said.
‘Kyle Busch is NASCAR’
Busch had connections with most of the NASCAR Cup field, so the fact that he had one with Suarez wasn’t unusual.
But what happened before the race was unique: It was as emotional of a scene as I can remember at a Charlotte sporting event. Busch’s family made its first public appearance since Kyle’s death. It was a heart-wrenching surprise for most of the people in attendance to see them.
During the remembrance ceremony, older brother Kurt Busch placed eight white flowers onto the huge black No. 8 that had been painted onto the Charlotte Motor Speedway frontstretch grass. Then he knelt down, silently.
Kurt joined the rest of the family — including Kyle’s parents, his wife Samantha, his 11-year-old son Brexton and his 4-year-old daughter Lennix — as NASCAR CEO Steve O’Donnell gave a short speech to the sold-out crowd.
“Samantha, I want you to know that this sport stands with you, and that you and your children are NASCAR family forever,” O’Donnell said.
The crowd burst into applause.
“And Brexton and Lennix, your dad loved you with all his heart,” O’Donnell said. “Everyone gathered here, everyone behind you, everybody watching on TV, and all those people up in that grandstand are your family, and we’ve got you.
“Kyle Busch is NASCAR,” O’Donnell continued, and it was then that Samantha Busch nodded her head through her tears. “He was one of a kind, and there will never be another.”
As the bagpipes from the Charlotte Fire Department pipe band then began to play “Amazing Grace,” Samantha’s shoulders heaved as she leaned on Brexton.
Then she picked up her daughter, Lennix, who was wearing checkered-flag hair bows and buried her head into her mom’s shoulder. At one point, Owen Larson, Kyle’s son, walked up to comfort Brexton.
Brexton — already a strong racer at age 11, and intent on following his father’s career path — in turn put his arm around Owen.
It was amazing to see, as the Busch family came to the racetrack three days after Kyle Busch — who had always felt most at home at a racetrack — died.
“Seeing Samantha for the first time (since Kyle’s death),” Suarez said, “it totally broke my heart. I saw Brexton as well, and for a split second I grabbed him and I gave him a kiss on his head. There were so many emotions.... I wasn’t ready, really, to drive.”
Kyle Busch’s legacy
All around the NASCAR garage this weekend, men talked about not ignoring health symptoms. About getting checked out. About not doing what men often do — and I know because I do it, too — which is to ignore any health problem that is short of crippling for as long as possible.
Besides the 234 victories and the two NASCAR Cup championships, this will also be Kyle Busch’s legacy, and it’s a good one. What happened to him is scary, and it is awful, and it was remembered constantly on Sunday, and it will one way or another save some lives down the road.
As the racecars got up to speed, they went into the “Missing Man” formation, leaving a place for the absent Busch on the front row. On Lap 8, fans remembered Busch’s No. 8 car number with Richard Childress Racing by holding up eight fingers.
Close to five hours later, Suarez won the race — only the third of his 10-year, 336-race NASCAR career. “It’s been a very tough week,” Suarez said shortly after he exited his car. “Kyle — he was special, man. This one is for Kyle. For Kyle, for Samantha, for Brexton, for Lennix, all his family.”
It was raining on the fans as they walked to their own cars as midnight approached — fitting on a week doused with so much emotion.
