Less than a week after extending his all-time records in NASCAR national series wins with number 234 and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series wins with number 69 at Dover Motor Speedway, two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch tragically passed away at the age of 41.
Entering 2026, Busch had been looking forward to taking advantage of NASCAR's new loosened restrictions on a rule that had quite literally become known as the "Kyle Busch rule" over the years, due to how often he enjoyed running (and usually winning) lower series races.
NASCAR upped the limit on full-time Cup drivers with at least three years of experience from five to eight Truck races for 2026. Busch had been scheduled to run his fifth Truck race of the year, having already won twice, at Charlotte Motor Speedway just two days after his passing.
Final driver announced for what was supposed to be Kyle Busch's 2026 Truck schedule
Corey Day filled in for him in this race, yet it was still Busch's performance which ironically earned the No. 7 Chevrolet the pole position, since qualifying was canceled and NASCAR used the metric to set the starting lineup. It was a fitting way of immediately showing NASCAR fans that his impact will indeed be felt for generations to come.
Busch, who sold his Kyle Busch Motorsports team to Spire Motorsports after the 2023 season, had been running his Truck Series races with Spire since 2024. He won at both Dover and EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta Motor Speedway) this year and also placed second at Texas Motor Speedway and eighth at Bristol Motor Speedway.
In addition to Charlotte, he had been in line to compete at Nashville Superspeedway the following weekend. Instead, Rajah Caruth was called upon to fill in for him and finished second. Neither Day nor Caruth, two full-time O'Reilly Auto Parts Series drivers, have competed in any additional Truck races this year.
Chase Elliott then took over Busch's No. 7 Chevrolet in the race at North Wilkesboro Speedway about a month ago and drove it to a seventh place finish in his one and only Truck Series start of the year, and first since 2023.
This weekend, Busch had been scheduled to make his eighth and final start of the Truck Series season. Shane van Gisbergen is set to get behind the wheel of the No. 7 Chevrolet in his place.
SVG, a full-time Cup driver like Elliott, has run select Truck Series races this season, two with Spire Motorsports in their part-time No. 71 entry and one with Niece Motorsports in their No. 4 Chevrolet. He placed third at both Watkins Glen International and North Wilkesboro and 15th at Charlotte.
Beyond this weekend, Connor Mosack, who leads all drivers with nine starts in the No. 7 Chevrolet this season, is set to run five of the season's final eight races, including four of the seven playoff races.
Spire Motorsports also still need somebody to drive the No. 77 Chevrolet in four playoff events, with Tristan McKee set to compete in three. The 16-year-old is not old enough to run on ovals that measure 1.5 miles or longer.
Friday's Black's Tire 250 is set to be shown live Fox Sports 1 from Richmond Raceway starting at 7:30 p.m. ET. Begin a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss any of the action!
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