The NASCAR industry rallied behind the Busch family and then tried to bring some normalcy to its weekend by running the traditional 600-mile race Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Daniel Suarez, who has credited Kyle Busch with helping him in his early days moving from NASCAR’s Mexico series to the United States, won on a late strategy call that put him out front. He held off the field for a few laps, the rains came and the race ended 27 laps before the scheduled distance.
It was an emotional win for Spire Motorsports, which is housed in the former Kyle Busch Motorsports shop. Team co-owner Jeff Dickerson was once a spotter and agent for Busch, who died suddenly Thursday from complications of pneumonia and sepsis.
“When the rain first started falling, you just find yourself thinking, you’re just like, man, you know you’re going to get some text from him like ‘You lucky a—hole,’” Dickerson said in his post-race news conference.
Here are my takeaways:
1. Suarez Takes His Bow
Daniel Suarez takes his bow in honor of Kyle Busch at a somber Coca-Cola 600.
It was a big win for Suarez, who now has three wins in 336 career starts. It was his first on a traditional oval, with his other wins on a road course and a drafting track (Atlanta).
Even if it took some strategy and rain to do it, Suarez did have to hold off the field. He now sits 10th in the standings, showing that he has had a season worthy of a victory.
Suarez is in his first year at Spire, and many had considered this a short-term plan for Spire until it could land someone who had won more consistently. Suarez has driven for Joe Gibbs Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing and Trackhouse Racing, among others, during his Cup career.
“It’s no secret I was bouncing a lot in between teams, and at one point I thought my career was going to be over,” Suarez said in his post-race news conference. “But I never stopped believing in myself. I never stopped believing in the person and the driver that I can be.”
2. Great Win for Spire
Teammates Daniel Suarez (L) and Carson Hocevar have both gotten into Victory Lane this season.
The victory gave Spire two wins this year, as Hocevar won at Talladega last month. The organization previously had just one win, which came in a rain-shortened race at Daytona in 2019.
Dickerson last year sold majority ownership of Spire to TWG Motorsports, which also owns Cadillac F1, Andretti Global and several other racing teams. That influx of capital has allowed the organization the ability to compete for employees when it comes to salaries, while also building more depth.
Spire drivers are ninth (Carson Hocevar), 10th (Suarez) and 20th (Michael McDowell) in the standings.
“I’m glad we’re getting trophies,” Dickerson said. “Our goal was to put two in the playoffs and get three wins this year. Those guys ninth and 10th in points. Still a long ways to go. I don’t want to fumble it.”
3. What If …
Christopher Bell noted that NASCAR made the right call to end the race when it did.
For Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin, they saw a winning opportunity slip away with the rain. They were on four fresh tires (as opposed to Suarez’s two) but didn’t have enough time to catch him.
Bell hates to lose, and he hasn’t won this year. It would have been big for Bell, who’s a former KBM driver. His crew chief, Adam Stevens, was the crew chief for both of Busch’s championships.
“I honestly think they made the right call,” Bell said in a broadcast interview after the race. “It is really late, but it is a bummer. It is 2026 for us.”
4. Rough Night For Many
Ryan Preece, along with others, saw his day end early in Charlotte.
There were several hard crashes in the event, ending the day for Austin Cindric, Connor Zilisch, Chase Elliott, Ross Chastain, Ryan Preece and Chase Briscoe.
Several of those drivers had bad points days at a pivotal time. Now halfway through the regular season, Briscoe, Preece and Cindric are 15th, 16th and 17th in the standings (16 drivers make the Chase field). Chastain dropped to 23rd, 65 points behind the current cutoff.
Preece, who was collected in someone else’s mistake just a week after his own mistake ended his day earlier, tried to be philosophical.
“I stepped on it last week [and now] somebody else did,” Preece said in a Ford news release. “I can’t get too mad, I guess.”
4 ½. What’s Next
The Cup Series heads to Nashville Superspeedway, a 1.33-mile concrete oval.
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