CONCORD, NC – Former Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) driver, Daniel Suárez won the rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600 and dedicated the victory to the late Kyle Busch on Sunday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

The NASCAR industry grieved all weekend after the unexpected passing of Busch on Thursday. Prior to the 67^th running of the prestigious event, Kurt, Kyle’s older brother, placed eight white roses on the No. 8 painted on the frontstretch turf and the entire Busch family was recognized and honored by the industry as taps echoed throughout Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Busch impacted many in the NASCAR garage, but it was stunning to see Spire Motorsports, a team that operated out of KBM’s old garage win with Suárez, who competed for Busch in 26 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and then mentored throughout his NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series journey.

“A few days ago I was still hoping that somebody was going to say that it wasn’t real,” Suárez said about the passing of his former boss and friend. “So the fact that Kyle helped me so much to — through the Xfinity Series and eventually that led me to have a Cup opportunity, that relationship that Jeff Dickerson has — had with Kyle for many years. Spire Motorsports actually operates in KBM, Kyle Busch Motorsports, building, trade shop. This is no coincidence. The stars align.”

The Toyota teams of 23XI Racing and Joe Gibbs racing were without a doubt, the class of the field, leading 289 of the 373 laps ran. NASCAR battled Mother Nature all weekend, and Sunday night was no different. Rain shortened the event by 27 laps and thanks to pit strategy for two right-side tires from crew chief Ryan Sparks, Suárez catapulted to the front and held off the hard-charging Toyotas in the final two restarts to win his first Coca-Cola 600 in 10 attempts. The win marked the third series victory of his career.

“It really means a lot,” Suárez said. “It really means a lot. I’ve been saying for years this is my favorite race of the year. I get to have my family here every year. This is most of the time the only race I get to come.”

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell finished second in the No. 20 Interstate Batteries Toyota. Bell led 44 laps throughout the night and won Stage 3. He was in prime position in the closing laps, but Suárez was able to clear him and hold on to the lead until the rain came.

“I knew after the first restart, I knew he couldn’t get clear,” Bell said. “I was going to have to stay beside him (Suárez). I couldn’t stay beside him. He cleared me. Once he cleared me, I knew it was going to be a really tough pass with it being a short run.

“If we would have had all the laps, he was going to block like hell and probably — yeah, he did a good job blocking, but he won the race.”

Bell’s teammate, Denny Hamlin finished third in the No. 11 National Relief Debit Toyota. Hamlin won Stage 2 and led 75 laps throughout the race. He had been strong all race long, scoring points in every stage, but at the end of the night, the tight competition kept him at bay from challenging Suarez for the win.

“I thought the car was really fast and could make moves and kept getting aside the 20 (Bell) but couldn’t quite clear him and make a move on the 7 (Suarez),” said Hamlin. “Looked like he was struggling a little bit as well.

“Dang it, we were really, really good all day. I thought we were at our best when it really mattered at the end, just didn’t get to see it through.”

Polesitter Tyler Reddick finished fourth, and Kyle Larson finished fifth. Rounding out the top-10 was Ty Gibbs, Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, William Byron and Zane Smith.

There were 32 lead changes among 13 drivers. Reddick led a race high of 119 laps.

The caution flew on 12 occasions for 75 laps.

Josh Berry spun in Turn 2 on Lap 36 to bring out the first caution of the day.

Austin Cindric was hammered by Connor Zilisch as he was trying to avoid the accident on Lap 54.

Chase Elliott crashed hard into the inside wall on the backstretch after spinning out of Turn 2 to bring the caution out on Lap  91.

On Lap 211, Katherine Legge lost a wheel.

Contact with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. sent Ross Chastain hard into the inside wall on the backstretch on Lap 319.

The final caution for an accident occurred on Lap 330, when a contact between Chris Buescher and Chase Briscoe ignited a chain reaction that involved Ryan Preece and Berry.

Reddick continues to lead the standings. Hamlin trails by 122 points.

The NASCAR Cup Series will visit Nashville Superspeedway on Sunday, May 31, for the Cracker Barrel 400. Live coverage will stream on Amazon Prime at 7 p.m. ET.

Photo Credit: Mitchell White/TheFourthTurn.com