CONCORD, NC — Last Friday, Kyle Busch won the final race of his NASCAR career by taking the checkered flag in the Spire Motorsports No. 7 truck at Dover.
Following Busch’s shocking and sudden death due to complications from pneumonia that progressed into sepsis, Corey Day jumped into the No. 7 seat in the Craftsman Truck Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway this weekend.
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But Day’s race was cut short when he endured a hard crash on lap 47 on Sunday, May 24.
On the backstretch, Day received contact from Gio Ruggiero, turning him toward the infield. As Day spun, he went airborne with all four tires of the No. 7 truck leaving the track. The truck settled back onto the track without flipping, but then Day’s left side slammed into the SAFER barrier and he spun back into the track where he was tagged by Mini Tyrell.
“My spotter didn’t do anything wrong and he told me (Ruggiero) was there, I just thought I was clear and I wasn’t,” Day told FS1.
Day climbed out of the truck under his own power, but the crash was a scary one nonetheless. He was released from medical evaluation shortly after.
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“I just hate it for the No. 7 guys,” Day said. “This is exactly what I didn’t want to do today. I just wanted to deliver them a good run. I feel terrible.”
The North Carolina Education Lottery 200 was the 14th Truck Series race of Day’s career and first of this season. The 20-year-old had four top 10 finishes in the series last season.
Day placed fifth in Saturday night’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race and has two wins in that series this season for Hendrick Motorsports.
In addition to his prowess in the top-level Cup Series, where he won two championships for Joe Gibbs Racing, Busch is the most accomplished Truck Series driver in the history of NASCAR, winning 69 races in the competition – the most ever. Busch had 234 career victories across all three of NASCAR’s top three national touring series, which is also the most all-time.
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It was a long and emotional weekend for the No. 7 Spire truck team. The truck race was originally scheduled for Friday night and postponed three times due to rain.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kyle Busch’s truck, driven by Corey Day, crashes in Charlotte race
