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Of Kyle Busch’s record 234 combined victories across NASCAR’s top three national touring circuits, 69 of them came in the Craftsman Truck Series. His last two wins came in the No. 7 Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports, part of an eight-race deal that the two-time Cup Series champion was set to compete in during the 2026 Truck Series season.
Following his shocking death on May 21 at the age of 41, Spire had to find replacement drivers for the No. 7 machine to finish Busch’s schedule.
Spire announced Wednesday, July 8, that for the FaithFest 250 on July 18 at North Wilkesboro, Chase Elliott will get behind the wheel of the truck that Busch last won in.
For the 30-year-old Elliott, who was the Cup Series champion in 2020, this will mark his first Truck Series race since 2023 when he finished 10th at Daytona. Elliott has never driven full-time in trucks, but has won three of the 18 races he’s entered in the series and has an average finish of 7.7 in trucks.
It will be a triple-duty weekend for Elliott. In addition to driving in the Truck Series for Spire and driving his No. 9 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports in the top-level Cup Series, Elliott is set to race in Friday night’s zMAX CARS Tour event at North Wilkesboro. The late-model stockcar racing series is co-owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton and Justin Marks. It will be Elliott’s first time racing in that series, driving the No. 8 car for JR Motorsports.
The Cup Series race at North Wilkesboro this season will be the first top-level points race the historic track has hosted since 1996.
North Wilkesboro was set to be the seventh truck race for Busch in 2026. He completed four races of the eight-race slate with Spire, taking checkered flags at Atlanta and Dover. His win at Dover came just six days before his death rocked the NASCAR community.
According to his death certificate, Busch died due to hemorrhagic shock and disseminated intravascular coagulation – which causes widespread clotting in small blood vessels. He had been suffering from sepsis for at least a day, according to the death certificate, and had been dealing with complications of presumed bacterial pneumonia for "days to weeks."
Following his death, Corey Day and Rajah Caruth have filled in for the No. 7 truck. Day crashed out of the race at Charlotte, while Caruth finished second at Nashville. The other remaining race on Busch’s Truck Series schedule this season is on Aug. 14 at Richmond. Spire has not yet announced a driver for the truck for that race.
The connections Spire had with Busch ran deep. The headquarters the group runs its operation out of was formerly the home of Kyle Busch Motorsports, a Truck Series team. Spire’s co-owner, Jeff Dickerson, was Busch’s spotter and agent early in his career. In the first Cup Series race following Busch’s death, the Coca-Cola 600, a Spire car driven by Daniel Suarez captured the win.
Elliott is one of the most accomplished drivers in the Cup Series. The son of 1988 Cup Series champion Bill Elliott, Chase has 23 wins at the sport’s top level including two this season at Martinsville and Texas. Heading into this weekend’s race at Atlanta, the Dawsonville, Georgia native is fifth in the point standings. Elliott is also a champion of the second-tier O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, has won The Duel at Daytona three times, won the first Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium in 2025, won the All-Star Race in 2020, and has been named NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver for eight consecutive years.
Following Busch’s death, Elliott told reporters he withdrew his name from the Most Popular Driver ballot for this season with the hope that Busch wins it. His father did the same thing in 2001 when Dale Earnhardt Sr. died in a crash at Daytona.
"I just think it's one of those things that I think Kyle is a guy that really deserves something of an award like that," Elliott said. "I think he's a guy that has had a lot of fans over the course of his career."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Chase Elliott to drive truck Kyle Busch last won in at North Wilkesboro
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Following his shocking death on May 21 at the age of 41, Spire had to find replacement drivers for the No. 7 machine to finish Busch’s schedule.
Spire announced Wednesday, July 8, that for the FaithFest 250 on July 18 at North Wilkesboro, Chase Elliott will get behind the wheel of the truck that Busch last won in.
For the 30-year-old Elliott, who was the Cup Series champion in 2020, this will mark his first Truck Series race since 2023 when he finished 10th at Daytona. Elliott has never driven full-time in trucks, but has won three of the 18 races he’s entered in the series and has an average finish of 7.7 in trucks.
It will be a triple-duty weekend for Elliott. In addition to driving in the Truck Series for Spire and driving his No. 9 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports in the top-level Cup Series, Elliott is set to race in Friday night’s zMAX CARS Tour event at North Wilkesboro. The late-model stockcar racing series is co-owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton and Justin Marks. It will be Elliott’s first time racing in that series, driving the No. 8 car for JR Motorsports.
The Cup Series race at North Wilkesboro this season will be the first top-level points race the historic track has hosted since 1996.
North Wilkesboro was set to be the seventh truck race for Busch in 2026. He completed four races of the eight-race slate with Spire, taking checkered flags at Atlanta and Dover. His win at Dover came just six days before his death rocked the NASCAR community.
According to his death certificate, Busch died due to hemorrhagic shock and disseminated intravascular coagulation – which causes widespread clotting in small blood vessels. He had been suffering from sepsis for at least a day, according to the death certificate, and had been dealing with complications of presumed bacterial pneumonia for "days to weeks."
Following his death, Corey Day and Rajah Caruth have filled in for the No. 7 truck. Day crashed out of the race at Charlotte, while Caruth finished second at Nashville. The other remaining race on Busch’s Truck Series schedule this season is on Aug. 14 at Richmond. Spire has not yet announced a driver for the truck for that race.
The connections Spire had with Busch ran deep. The headquarters the group runs its operation out of was formerly the home of Kyle Busch Motorsports, a Truck Series team. Spire’s co-owner, Jeff Dickerson, was Busch’s spotter and agent early in his career. In the first Cup Series race following Busch’s death, the Coca-Cola 600, a Spire car driven by Daniel Suarez captured the win.
Elliott is one of the most accomplished drivers in the Cup Series. The son of 1988 Cup Series champion Bill Elliott, Chase has 23 wins at the sport’s top level including two this season at Martinsville and Texas. Heading into this weekend’s race at Atlanta, the Dawsonville, Georgia native is fifth in the point standings. Elliott is also a champion of the second-tier O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, has won The Duel at Daytona three times, won the first Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium in 2025, won the All-Star Race in 2020, and has been named NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver for eight consecutive years.
Following Busch’s death, Elliott told reporters he withdrew his name from the Most Popular Driver ballot for this season with the hope that Busch wins it. His father did the same thing in 2001 when Dale Earnhardt Sr. died in a crash at Daytona.
"I just think it's one of those things that I think Kyle is a guy that really deserves something of an award like that," Elliott said. "I think he's a guy that has had a lot of fans over the course of his career."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Chase Elliott to drive truck Kyle Busch last won in at North Wilkesboro
Continue reading...
