After Denny Hamlin cruised past the finish line at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday — the next closest car more than 11 seconds behind him — a member of his crew brought a flag to his car.
Hamlin then started going down the backstretch in the opposite direction so every fan at the FireKeepers Casino 400 could see the flag as it unfurled. It was a No. 18, designed to merge the two numbers most recently used by the late Kyle Busch.
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Busch raced in a No. 18 Toyota for the longest stretch of his NASCAR career with Joe Gibbs Racing, winning a pair of Cup Series championships. But for the past four seasons, he had piloted the No. 8 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing. The No. 18 was etched on the flag to incorporate both the JGR No. 18 and the RCR No. 8, the latter of which was personally stylized by Busch.
It was a fitting tribute by Hamlin for his former teammate. They raced together for Gibbs from 2018 to 2022.
And on Sunday, Hamlin captured the 63rd victory of his Cup Series career, moving him into a tie for ninth all-time in wins with Busch, who shockingly died on May 21 at the age of 41 due to complications from pneumonia that progressed into sepsis.
After the race, Hamlin explained how the flag came together. Hamlin said planning started last Monday morning, the day after he won his 62nd race at Nashville.
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“I appreciate RCR letting us use the stylized 8 with the Joe Gibbs Racing the 1. It was just a happy balance that I felt good about when it all came out,” Hamlin said. “The NASCAR community has kind of just been through it over the last — certainly the last few weeks, but then just generally in the last six, eight months. It’s been tough. I just wanted to pay my respects to someone that I really did look up to and taught me so much as a teammate. There’s nothing we can say or do that’s going to make his family feel better, but at least during that little time, you can pay him the respects that he deserves.”
Hamlin joked that Busch would’ve been mad about him moving ahead of his former teammate on the all-time leaderboard.
“He would have been pissed today, absolutely,” Hamlin said. “But I would have said to him, you’ll be around here longer. You’ll get me back.”
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Hamlin also wore a hat with the stylized No. 18 on it, but indicated that it was a one-time use and likely wouldn’t be available for sale to fans.
The 45-year-old Hamlin is having one of the best years of his career, now having notched three victories. He’s quickly closing in on Tyler Reddick — driver of the No. 45 Toyota for 23XI Racing, the team Hamlin co-owns with NBA Legend Michael Jordan — at the top of the point standings this season.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NASCAR’s Denny Hamlin honors Kyle Busch after tying him in victories
