Posted on by Tadd Haislop

HAMPTON, Va. — Kyle Bonsignore’s trip to Victory Lane at Langley Speedway on Saturday night was a blissful execution of the routine. With a smile that could light up the entire Hampton Roads region, the 34-year-old accepted his trophy, conducted interviews and posed for photos.

The fact that this was the Bay Shore, New York native’s first NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour win in almost five years didn’t become evident until he was told he was about to receive a sticker.

“What sticker?” Bonsignore asked before realizing he was primed to commemorate his victory with a checkered flag decal next to the name plate on his pink and gray No. 22 Modified.

Kyle Bonsignore
(Photo: Ryan Kelly/NASCAR)

The detail was easy to forget for a driver who entered the CheckeredFlag.com 150 with a 58-race winless streak on the Modified Tour. During the time in between Bonsignore’s first victory (Stafford Motor Speedway in September of 2018) and his triumph Saturday, his cousin Justin Bonsignore won 19 races and three Modified Tour championships.

That’s why Justin Bonsignore rushed to his cousin’s car in Victory Lane and said “it’s about time” as he congratulated Kyle.

“It’s been a really long drought,” Kyle Bonsignore said. “It’s really hard to keep coming back, but you keep coming back for nights like this.”

Bonsignore noted his win Saturday at Langley was ironically similar to his victory at Stafford all those years ago. He won his first Tour race after leading the final five laps, and only the final five laps. He pulled off the same feat Saturday in dramatic fashion, stealing the lead from Austin Beers with five to go and beating his rival in a dash to the finish.

RELATED: Complete Mods results from Langley

Beers, who recorded the best lap in practice and earned the Mayhew Tools Dominator Pole Award in qualifying, led the first 145 circuits of the 150-lap race. But Bonsignore’s speed was evident, too, as he spent the entirety of the event lurking behind Beers in second.

Beers and Bonsignore both knew the latter had the faster car. After Bonsignore made the pass, Beers fought hard to take back the spot before settling for the runner-up result.

“I knew he was going to do everything he could to get back to my bumper, and I would have done the same thing to him,” Bonsignore said of Beers. “I immediately went into defensive mode. Our car was really good off the corner, and here that’s everything, so he couldn’t get a good enough run through the corner and off. So as long as I could hold him off on entry, I knew I could pull away from him enough on the straightaway to not have to worry about him as much.

“I probably was over-driving it those last few laps trying to keep him behind me. If I would have just done what I was doing, I probably would have pulled away. But there was just a few laps to go, so I did whatever I had to do.”

Kyle Bonsignore
Kyle Bonsignore (Photo: Ryan Kelly/NASCAR)

Beers confirmed he did everything he could to get back to Bonsignore, but he had no intentions of making any kind of move that might cause an accident. He said Bonsignore took the lead clean, and that he was going to race clean in return.

Bonsignore’s win at Langley is the new high point of a 2023 season that has seen the team succeed in many ways. His average finish of 10.3 thus far this year is tied for his second best average for a season in his career. He has seven top-10 finishes in 12 races, including a fourth-place effort at New York’s Riverhead Raceway in June.

Though this triumph had been elusive over the last few years, the win Bonsignore earned Saturday was not a fluke. He was second quick in practice and fourth in qualifying. He was the only driver who was able to keep pace with Beers before asserting his clear advantage in the closing laps.

Beers, who has a pair of Modified Tour wins in 2023 as he hangs on to third place in the championship points battle, notched his seventh top-five finish of the season Saturday.

Justin Bonsignore finished third ahead of Ron Silk in fourth and Kyle Ebersole in fifth.

Tyler Rypkema, Jake Johnson, Max McLaughlin, Craig Lutz and Anthony Nocella finished sixth through 10th, respectively.

A replay of the CheckeredFlag.com 150 at Langley will air on USA on Saturday, Sept. 16 starting at 2 p.m. ET.

The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour returns to action next week with the Toyota Mod Classic 150 at New York’s Oswego Speedway on Sept. 2. That race is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. ET with live coverage on FloRacing.

Posted on by Staff Report

Ryan Preece was released from Halifax Medical Center on Sunday morning and on his way back to North Carolina, according to a press release from Stewart-Haas Racing. Preece went for a violent barrel roll in the closing laps of Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway.

Traveling down the backstretch at Lap 156, Preece’s No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford was contacted in the rear bumper by Erik Jones. Preece’s car veered left across the nose of teammate Chase Briscoe’s car. The right side of his vehicle lifted off the ground, resulting in a series of tumbles through the grass on the back straightaway.

RELATED: At-track photos: Daytona | Cup Series schedule

After flipping at least 10 times, Preece emerged from his car under his own power and with assistance from the AMR Safety Team. The 32-year-old got on a stretcher and was transported to the infield care center.

Preece was later transported to a local medical facility for further evaluation.

In the early-morning hours of Sunday, Stewart-Haas Racing provided an update on Preece’s condition:

“NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Preece will remain overnight at Halifax Health Medical Center for continued observation,” the team said in a statement. “The driver of the No. 41 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing is awake, alert and mobile and has been communicating with family and friends. Preece will undergo another evaluation by medical personnel later this morning. An update will be provided in the afternoon.”

Preece posted on social media Saturday night, noting, “if you want to be a race car driver, you better be tough.”

Posted on by Reid Spencer

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — When owner-driver Brad Keselowski pushed RFK Racing teammate Chris Buescher to victory in NASCAR Overtime on Sunday night, it was ecstasy for Bubba Wallace and the epitome of frustration for Chase Elliott.

Buescher picked up his third victory of the season in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway, the regular-season finale for the NASCAR Cup Series, but not until Ryan Preece’s barrel-roll wreck on the backstretch forced three extra laps.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Daytona

With Buescher’s repeat win, Wallace clinched the 16th and final spot in the NASCAR Playoffs on points. Hemmed in by an armada of Fords after the overtime restart on Lap 162, Elliott — whose only path to the playoffs was victory on Sunday — couldn’t move forward.

Kevin Harvick blocked Elliott in the bottom lane, and Aric Almirola and Joey Logano on the outside prevented Elliott from making a move to the top. Elliott came home fourth behind Buescher, Keselowski and Almirola, but NASCAR’s most popular driver and 2020 series champion will miss the playoffs for the first time in his Cup career.

Buescher restarted second, and Keselowski third on Lap 162. Keselowski quickly locked onto Buescher’s bumper and pushed him to the lead. A lap later, Buescher secured his fifth career victory and first at Daytona by 0.098 seconds over his teammate.

“That’s as much Brad’s win as ours right there,” Buescher said. “That was the right help, aggressive, sticking with us. I was waiting for him to do something there coming to the finish. I figured we’d be side by side. Looked like it stalled out a little behind there.

“Just so thankful for Brad for all those pushes at the right time. Found each other here and there throughout the race, lost each other, and got back on it when it counted.”

The 1-2 finish was the first for RFK Racing since Carl Edwards and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. claimed the top two spots for owner Jack Roush at Bristol in 2014.

Wallace claimed his playoff spot with a 12th-place finish because — thankfully, from his point of view — no winless driver below him in the standings was able to knock him out of the top 16 by winning.

“That was the most stressed, but also the most locked in I’ve ever been,” said Wallace, who entered the race with a 32-point edge over Ty Gibbs for the final playoff berth. “Knowing that this place is mostly out of your control, I just tried to focus on doing the things that I could do. Missing that wreck (a pileup in Turn 4 on Lap 95) was massive.

“Proud to be locked into the playoffs. 23XI Racing, third year in, getting both cars in the playoffs. We’ve gone through a lot of trials and tribulations. So proud of the effort we put in.”

MORE: Field is set for NASCAR Playoffs

Elliott, who missed seven races during the regular season — six with injury and one on suspension — took his failure to make the postseason with grace.

“Yeah, I really liked where we were before the caution (for Preece’s accident),” he said. “Honestly, after the restart there, we had the bottom lane that we wanted. I knew the 6 (Keselowski) was going to go with the 17 (Buescher). I thought the 4 (Harvick) was going to take the bottom, and they did. We really had all the help we could ask for behind.

“I couldn’t stay locked onto Kevin like I needed to to surge the bottom lane forward. Brad and Chris were there. Just had a good enough hold on that top lane, and they could kind of control each of them. Yeah, it’s a bummer, for sure. Hate the season has worked out like it has. The good news is the car got in in the owners’ points. That’s a big deal.”

The wreck that forced the overtime was breathtaking in its magnitude. As the pack of cars cleared Turn 2 on Lap 156, Preece’s Ford turned sideways on the backstretch and slammed into Stewart-Haas Racing teammate and pole winner Chase Briscoe’s Mustang in the bottom lane.

The contact launched Preece’s car high into the air, and it barrel-rolled more than a half-dozen times before it landed on its roof and bounced upright. Preece got out of his car and stood talking to medical personnel before being placed on a stretcher and taken to a local medical facility for further evaluation.

If Preece’s accident was a lasting image from the race, so was the action that preceded it.

Despite rapid-fire exchanges of the lead throughout the second stage, the race ran caution-free except for the Stage 1 break — until the final corner of the final lap of Stage 2.

That’s when the No. 54 Toyota of Ty Gibbs, fighting for the stage win, broke loose after a bump from Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell as the cars raced through Turn 4, turned down into the No. 12 Ford of Ryan Blaney and ignited a wreck that involved 16 of the 39 cars that started the race.

Blaney and Gibbs shot side-by-side into the outside wall, and the cars behind them were helpless to avoid the melee. Gibbs’ Camry was eliminated, ruining any outside chance he had of overtaking Bubba Wallace for a playoff spot.

Gibbs took the disappointment philosophically.

“I felt like I was getting a great push,” Gibbs said. “I feel like all of our teammates were working really well together tonight. I may have got a push in a bad spot, but we were going for the stage win. I want to thank Christopher for all of the pushes he gave me — I really do.”

Other casualties of the wreck included AJ Allmendinger, defending race winner Austin Dillon, Austin Cindric and Harrison Burton, all of whom were trying to force their way into the playoffs with a victory.

Elliott, on the other hand, was masterful in weaving his way through the chaos unscathed, finishing the stage seventh behind winner Keselowski. Elliott, however, couldn’t parlay that adroit driving into the victory he needed.

Joey Logano finished fifth, followed by Alex Bowman, Kyle Busch, William Byron, Harvick and Corey LaJoie.

Martin Truex Jr. clinched his second Regular Season Championship at the conclusion of Stage 2, moments after the ‘Big One’ struck at Lap 95.

Note: Post-race technical inspection concluded without issues, confirming Buescher as the race winner. The Nos. 10 (chassis evaluation) and 41 (safety evaluation) will be taken back to the NASCAR R&D Center in Concord, North Carolina, for further inspection.

Posted on by Staff Report

The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs field was set Saturday at Daytona International Speedway in the regular-season finale.

Fifteen of 16 spots had been clinched in advance of the Coke Zero Sugar 400, meaning one spot was available. Bubba Wallace earned the final spot based on points when repeat winner Chris Buescher of Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing took the checkered flag.

RELATED: Official race results | Cup playoff hub

Wallace of 23XI Racing entered the regular-season finale 32 points ahead of Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs for the final playoff spot.

Below is the official list of drivers for the Round of 16 with seeding and points.

NASCAR CUP SERIES PLAYOFFS FIELD

RankDriverTeamPoints
1William ByronHendrick Motorsports2,036
2Martin Truex Jr.Joe Gibbs Racing2,036
3Denny HamlinJoe Gibbs Racing2,025
4Chris BuescherRFK Racing2,021
5Kyle BuschRichard Childress Racing2,019
6Kyle LarsonHendrick Motorsports2,017
7Christopher BellJoe Gibbs Racing2,014
8Ross ChastainTrackhouse Racing2,011
9Brad KeselowskiRFK Racing2,010
10Tyler Reddick23XI Racing2,009
11Joey LoganoTeam Penske2,008
12Ryan BlaneyTeam Penske2,008
13Michael McDowellFront Row Motorsports2,007
14Ricky Stenhouse Jr.JTG Daugherty Racing2,005
15Kevin HarvickStewart-Haas Racing2,004
16Bubba Wallace23XI Racing2,000

NEXT UP: The NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs begin next Sunday, Sept. 3, at Darlington Raceway with the Cook Out Southern 500 (6 p.m. ET, USA, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).

 

Posted on by Staff Report

CheckeredFlag.com 150

Langley Speedway

  • Race results
Pos Car No. Driver Sponsor Laps Diff
1 22 Kyle Bonsignore Chalew Performance/MTT/Munns Auto 150  —
2 64 Austin Beers Dell Electric/Lumiere Electrical/Andrew James Interiors 150 0.165
3 51 Justin Bonsignore Phoenix Communications Inc. 150 7.484
4 16 Ron Silk Blue Mountain Machine & Future Homes 150 7.959
5 5 Kyle Ebersole Ebersole Excavating, Inc. 150 8.22
6 32 Tyler Rypkema Northeast Driling/MUSCO Lighting 150 8.854
7 3 Jake Johnson* Propane Plus/Lin’s Propane Trucks 150 14.471
8 77 Max McLaughlin Curb Records/Mowhawk Northeast 150 15.688
9 82 Craig Lutz Horton Avenue Materials 149 1 Lap
10 46 Anthony Nocella Riverhead Building Supply 149 1 Lap
11 4 Tim Connolly* Connolly Companies LLC 148 2 Laps
12 28 John-Michael Shenette * Eighty-Two Services/Heinz Performance 147 3 Laps
13 18 Ken Heagy Buoy One Seafood Market & Restaurant 147 3 Laps
14 26 Gary McDonald Lakeland Ave Landscape Supply/L.I. Wood Heat 141 9 Laps
15 01 Melissa Fifield Pine Knoll Auto Sales 136 14 Laps
Posted on by Staff Report

Multiple drivers were eliminated from contention in a multi-car crash exiting Turn 4 coming to the end of Stage 2 during Saturday night’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway.

The ‘Big One’ sparked at the front of the field as Ty Gibbs lost control of his No. 54 Toyota in the outside lane at Lap 95 of the Coke Zero Sugar 400 (NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Peacock, NBC Sports App). His car darted left and struck leader Ryan Blaney in the right-rear quarter panel, sending the No. 12 Team Penske Ford head-on into the outside SAFER barrier. Behind them, several cars spun and crashed into the wall.

“I’m alright,” Blaney said. “I don’t know. I guess it kind of seems like the 54 got turned into me. The 20 shoved him and it was kind of just a weird spot I guess and I got right-reared, so not in a fun spot.”

RELATED: At-track photos: Daytona | Cup Series schedule

According to NBC Sports, at least 16 cars were collected in the pile-up, including Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick, Austin Dillon, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ross Chastain, Denny Hamlin, Harrison Burton, Riley Herbst, AJ Allmendinger, Brennan Poole, Austin Cindric and others.

“Yeah, I am (OK),” Gibbs said. “I felt like I was getting a great push. I feel like all of our teammates were working really well together tonight. I may have got a push in a bad spot, but we were going for the stage win. I want to thank Christopher (Bell) for all of the pushes he gave me, I really do.”

Brad Keselowski held on to win the stage in NASCAR’s regular-season finale, while teammate Chris Buescher later claimed the victory. Keselowski finished runner-up.

Bubba Wallace claimed the final spot in the NASCAR Playoffs, finishing 12th after avoiding the melee. The postseason berth is the first of Wallace’s career.

Posted on by Staff Report

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Martin Truex Jr. clinched the Regular Season Championship in the NASCAR Cup Series during Saturday’s race at Daytona International Speedway.

The title is Truex’s second since NASCAR began recognizing the leading points scorer at regular season’s end in 2017, when the New Jersey native claimed the inaugural championship. That momentum carried Truex to his first NASCAR Cup Series Championship through a masterful postseason in which he won four of the final 10 races, including the title race.

MORE: Field set for playoffs | See all Regular Season Champions

“It’s really awesome to get these bonus points,” Truex said. “I’m just really proud of my team and everybody at JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing), TRD, Bass Pro, Auto Owners, Resers — all of our partners for giving us the opportunity to be here and to be able to have the season that we had. Hopefully, we can keep it going.”

Truex, driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, is a three-time winner in 2023, collecting checkered flags at Dover Motor Speedway, Sonoma Raceway and New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The year is a significant turnaround from 2022, when Truex went winless and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2014.

As the Regular Season Champion, Truex receives a bonus of 15 playoff points that will carry through each round of the NASCAR Playoffs to which he advances.

Posted on by Staff Report

CheckeredFlag.com 150

Langley Speedway

  • Qualifying results
Pos No. Name Sponsor Best Tm Best Speed
1 64 Austin Beers Lumiere Electric/Andrew James Interior/Dell Elect 15.463 92.194
2 51 Justin Bonsignore Phoenix Communications Inc. 15.497 91.992
3 16 Ron Silk Blue Mountain Machine and Future Homes 15.525 91.826
4 22 Kyle Bonsignore Chalew Performance/MTT/Munn’s Auto 15.557 91.637
5 5 Kyle Ebersole Ebersole Excavating Inc/Technique Chassis 15.609 91.332
6 32 Tyler Rypkema Northeast Drilling/MUSCO Lighting 15.615 91.297
7 82 Craig Lutz Horton Ave Materials 15.662 91.023
8 3 Jake Johnson Propane Plus/Lins Propane Trucks 15.685 90.889
9 77 Max McLaughlin Curb Records/Mohawk Northeast 15.712 90.733
10 18 Ken Heagy Buoy One Seafood and Restaurant 15.956 89.346
11 46 Anthony Nocella Riverhead Building Supply 15.967 89.284
12 4 Tim Connolly Connolly Companies, Inc. 15.975 89.239
13 01 Melissa Fifield Pine Knoll Auto Sales 16.138 88.338
14 28 John-Michael Shenette Eighty-Two Services/Heinz Perf/Connolly Custom 16.242 87.772
15 26 Gary McDonald Lakeland Landscape /TRC Electric 16.593 85.916
Posted on by Staff Report

CheckeredFlag.com 150

Langley Speedway

  • Practice results
Pos. Car No. Driver Sponsor Best Time Best Speed In Lap Laps Diff.
1 64 Austin Beers Dell Electric/Lumiere Electrical/Andrew James Interiors 15.686 90.884 27 50  —
2 22 Kyle Bonsignore Chalew Performance/MTT/Munns Auto 15.712 90.733 14 19 0.026
3 16 Ron Silk Blue Mountain Machine & Future Homes 15.759 90.463 30 41 0.073
4 3 Jake Johnson* Propane Plus/Lin’s Propane Trucks 15.772 90.388 5 49 0.086
5 51 Justin Bonsignore Phoenix Communications Inc. 15.794 90.262 16 42 0.108
6 32 Tyler Rypkema Northeast Driling/MUSCO Lighting 15.825 90.085 29 39 0.139
7 82 Craig Lutz Horton Avenue Materials 15.847 89.96 22 33 0.161
8 77 Max McLaughlin Curb Records/Mowhawk Northeast 15.882 89.762 4 31 0.196
9 5 Kyle Ebersole Ebersole Excavating, Inc. 15.924 89.525 19 49 0.238
10 18 Ken Heagy Buoy One Seafood Market & Restaurant 16.079 88.662 18 23 0.393
11 46 Anthony Nocella Riverhead Building Supply 16.135 88.355 18 19 0.449
12 4 Tim Connolly* Connolly Companies LLC 16.157 88.234 15 51 0.471
13 28 John-Michael Shenette * Eighty-Two Services/Heinz Performance 16.289 87.519 14 66 0.603
14 26 Gary McDonald Lakeland Ave Landscape Supply/L.I. Wood Heat 17.007 83.824 5 23 1.321
15 01 Melissa Fifield Pine Knoll Auto Sales 17.353 82.153 18 26 1.667
Posted on by Seth Sharp

Kurt Busch’s rapid climb from stocking shelves at his local grocery store to becoming a NASCAR Cup Series-winning driver was a story most would assume came from a movie, but in a span of just four years, the Las Vegas native did just that. Memories of that career came flooding back as Busch announced his retirement from Cup Series racing on Saturday.

Busch’s raw talent took him from winning the Southwest Tour championship as a 21-year-old in 1999 to beating out a handful of other candidates to drive the No. 99 Exide Truck for Jack Roush in 2000. It didn’t take long to realize Busch was a legitimate title candidate with three top-four finishes over the season’s first four races. Busch’s second-place finish in the Truck Series points standings, behind teammate Greg Biffle, launched him into a full-time ride in the No. 97 Cup car starting with the 2001 season.

RELATED: Kurt Busch through the years | All of Kurt Busch’s Cup wins

His rookie campaign didn’t go as planned, but Busch exploded onto the scene in 2002, winning the first four races of his career and finishing third in points. He won another four races in 2003, and the team looked forward to 2004 with eyes set on its first series championship.

The Chase for the Cup, a 10-race playoff system that NASCAR rolled out starting with the 2004 season, was set up well for Busch. Despite driving just two full-time seasons, he had already found success at the 10 tracks on the new playoff schedule.

Busch had kicked off the 2004 campaign with a handful of solid finishes over the first seven races, including a victory at Bristol Motor Speedway. What followed was an unfortunate stretch of growing pains. Between the races at Talladega Superspeedway in April and Chicagoland Speedway in July, Busch finished 31st or worse four times over 10 starts while only notching two top-10 finishes.

Busch led 110 laps at Loudon the following week en route to his second win of the season as the team looked to push through the struggles. As the postseason approached, he capped off the regular season with five top 10s over the final six races, yet still enter the playoffs as an underdog due to the strong crop of drivers vying for the title.

Four-time champion Jeff Gordon entered as the points leader, while his teammate and 2003 runner-up Jimmie Johnson was five points back in second. The two previous drivers to win the championship, Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth, were not far behind, as each position was separated by five points after the regular-season reset. Busch entered the postseason seventh in the standings, 30 points back of Gordon, right in front of his teammate Mark Martin.

Busch dominated the playoff opener at New Hampshire, leading 155 laps en route to the win. Seven of the 10 playoff drivers had finishes of 13th or better, and Busch left the track tied for the points lead with Dale Earnhardt Jr.

The playoff race at Talladega is where Busch proved he was a legitimate title contender. Busch finished fifth but was the second-best playoff driver that day. He left the track second in points, 13 back of the race-winner Earnhardt Jr., but a penalty to Earnhardt Jr. flipped the grid and instead put Busch up 12 points with seven races remaining on the schedule.

Busch later led a race-high 120 laps at Martinsville Speedway, but Johnson won the race and now had two consecutive victories. Two weeks later, Johnson grabbed his fourth win of the playoffs.

If it shows how strong of a season Busch was having that despite how well Johnson was driving, Busch was still faster. He arrived at Homestead for the season finale with the points lead. Johnson, Gordon, Earnhardt Jr. and Martin were all mathematically eligible for the title.

Busch would need everything to go right for him to leave that weekend with the championship trophy, and the weekend kicked off with him putting the No. 97 Ford on the pole as many of his fellow contenders struggled.

Once the green flag waved, Busch led the first four laps before settling back in the field. It all seemed to come apart on Lap 93 as Busch lost a right-front wheel, somehow keeping his car straight as he attempted to bring it down pit road for service. Thanks to incredible work from his Roush Racing crew, Busch returned to the track on the lead lap, albeit in 28th position.

Trouble didn’t just strike the No. 97 team, though. Shortly afterward, Earnhardt Jr. found trouble after contacting the No. 06 of Travis Kvapil. With just under 40 laps to go, Martin’s chance disappeared after needing to pit for a flat tire under caution.

It all came down to a restart with 10 laps to go, with Gordon, Johnson and Busch all restarting inside the top 10. Busch held a narrow eight-point advantage over Gordon, with Johnson sitting just two points behind his teammate Gordon. Everything seemingly pointed toward Busch wrapping up his first title. If they could just find the checkered flag.

As if the race couldn’t find any more dramatic moments, race leader Ryan Newman blew a tire, bringing out the caution with just three laps remaining, invoking a green-white-checkered finish. At this current moment, Busch held a 16-point advantage over Gordon in the standings.

The green flag waved, and despite Johnson and Gordon moving up to second and third, respectively, Busch held on to capture the title. He’s one of just 35 drivers to win a Cup Series championship.

Busch’s talent on the track was a giant piece to that puzzle. He turned midseason growing pains into an incredible 2004 playoff stretch, one where he beat some of the greatest drivers of all time while they were at their best. That season saw 15 of the top 18 in points named as one of the 75 Greatest Drivers in 2023. Out of all those drivers, it was Busch who came out on top, hoisting the elusive Cup Series title.

It didn’t matter the car number, owner, sponsor or manufacturer, Busch always managed to find Victory Lane throughout his career. He hangs up his helmet tied for 25th all-time in Cup Series victories, winning at least one race in 19 different seasons. The driver has visited Victory Lane at 18 different tracks. From the Daytona 500, to the twists and turns at Sonoma Raceway, to the paperclip at Martinsville, no matter the track, he was always a contender.

Truly, one of the greatest of all time.