NORTH WILKESBORO, NC — After burning out in his No. 38 Ford on the front stretch of the historic speedway that first opened in 1947, Chandler Smith hopped out of his truck, grabbed the checkered flag and bowed.
Like so many other winning drivers who have captured victories this season since the shocking death of Kyle Busch, Smith paid homage to the late two-time Cup Series champion by performing his iconic celebration, the “Busch Bow.”
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Busch died on May 21 at the age of 41 due to hemorrhagic shock and disseminated intravascular coagulation, complications arising from sepsis caused by presumed bacterial pneumonia, which he had been dealing with for “days to weeks,” according to his death certificate.
Smith’s Craftsman Truck Series win in the FaithFest 250 was his first victory since Busch, whom Smith called a “mentor,” passed away.
“Kyle meant a lot to me, truthfully. He meant a lot to me in a sense of, he took the time out of his day when I had questions,” Smith said. “Not to rush me, he would sit me down and explain what I was asking and give me the answer and be very thorough about it and not be short-winded. He cared really deeply about his drivers and the ones he believed in. You could definitely tell because those are the ones that he really wanted to take time with.”
The 24-year-old Smith broke into NASCAR in 2019 with Busch’s former Truck Series team, Kyle Busch Motorsports. The Georgia native became a full-time driver for KBM in 2021 and won the Rookie of the Year award after taking victories at Bristol and Phoenix.
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Smith won three races with KBM the following season — at Las Vegas, Pocono and Richmond — and finished third in the point standings. Smith went racing in the second-tier O’Reilly Auto Parts Series in 2023 with Kaulig Racing. At the end of that season, KBM closed shop and sold its assets to Spire Motorsports.
Several drivers competing in the top-level Cup Series today got their start in NASCAR with KBM. Among them are Bubba Wallace, Erik Jones, Christopher Bell, William Byron, Todd Gilliland and John Hunter Nemechek. Drivers such as Daniel Suarez and Riley Herbst also got racing reps in KBM machines.
“Kyle was an amazing boss, a great mentor,” Smith said. “Truthfully, Kyle’s the one that kind of taught us all his tricks up his sleeves, and then, funny enough, we’d go out there and beat him with his own tricks.”
Smith’s margin of victory on Saturday — 8.4 seconds — was the largest ever for a Truck Series race on a short track in NASCAR history.
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Clearly, as evidenced by his celebration, Busch was on Smith’s mind during his victory lap.
“Away from the racetrack, Kyle was one of the most sweetest individuals that you’d ever meet,” Smith said. “We miss him deeply. The garage still isn’t the same and it never will be.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Chandler Smith, NASCAR winner at North Wilkesboro, remembers Kyle Busch as a mentor
