The No. 8 hauler left Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday night for the very last time, marking a somber end to the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season. After the championship race concluded, the 1.5-mile track was exited by this massive truck, which bore the signature of the late Kyle Busch, as it drove through the tunnel. Fans watched a video by Motorsport showing the team loading up the equipment out of deep respect for the driver who won 234 races across the top three series before his sudden death in May.
Austin Hill took over the ride for Richard Childress Racing, piloting the No. 33 Chevrolet to a 15th-place finish in the finale. The team changed the car number from 8 to 33 to honor Busch, yet they kept the old hauler on site until this final departure. In 2027, Hill is scheduled to return full-time to the No. 33, shouldering a season marked by both a championship and a tragedy. His best effort this year came at Talladega with a 14th-place result, but Sunday was about saying goodbye.
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The 2026 season will forever be remembered for two Kyles: Kyle Larson’s dominant playoff surge and Kyle Busch’s shocking death. Larson clinched his third Cup Series title during the opening stage of the finale, finishing 12th at Homestead-Miami Speedway to cap a 49-point victory over Christopher Bell. Even though Larson became the 11th driver in history to win three titles, he refused to look back at his achievements while the sport mourned.
“I just feel like when you’re in it and you’re competing, it’s just so hard to reflect in the moment,” Larson said, according to a report. He added that he still has more to accomplish and plans to keep looking out the windshield rather than stopping to admire the rearview mirror. The championship celebration at the annual awards banquet on Tuesday will likely name Busch the most popular driver, honoring a man who died after severe pneumonia progressed into sepsis.
NASCAR leadership made sure the memory of “Rowdy” stayed front and center during the final race. Every fan in the grandstands received a No. 8 Busch flag, and a memorial graphic dedicated to him was painted directly on the frontstretch. The NBC TV booth observed a silent Lap 8 in his honor, with many attendees holding up eight fingers to pay tribute to the two-time champion.
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“It’s tough to not talk about Kyle when you’re back in Miami,” NASCAR CEO Steve O’Donnell said. He described Busch as an extraordinary competitor who won the championship at this very track and left a forever mark on the sport. O’Donnell admitted that celebrating a championship feels different without him, noting that the community still misses him deeply. Busch won both of his Cup titles in 2015 and 2019 at Homestead, making his final farewell at this venue even more poignant.
