Kyle Busch had entered into an 8-race deal to drive the 7 Spire Chevrolet truck in the Craftsman Truck Series. One of those races was supposed to be in North Wilkesboro, the track where NASCAR is headed next weekend. 

Spire has found a replacement for the driver who tragically passed away a little over a week after he won the Truck race in Dover. Although just for the race in North Wilkesboro.

Chase Elliott, the 9 HMS Cup Series driver, was announced as the driver replacing Busch in the 7 Spire truck. Spire took to X and posted a creative of Elliott and wrote,

“Dawsonville, we've got some more racing for your TVs. @chaseelliottwill drive the No. 7 @HendrickCars Chevrolet next week at North Wilkesboro.”

And of course, the comment section of this post is absolutely buzzing.

Elliott hasn’t driven in the Truck series since 2023. And he has only 18 Truck starts, but in those he also has 3 wins, meaning he wins one in 6 of his Truck starts. 

Not just this, but Elliott will be one of the busiest drivers in North Wilkesboro, doing triple duty over the weekend. He is set to drive the 8 JR Motorsports car in the Friday night zMAX CARS Tour event while also tending to his usual duties behind the wheel of his 9 HMS Chevrolet Cup car. 

Fans are elated, and they hope Elliott not only wins but also remembers to do the famous Busch Bow after winning in the truck that Busch got his 234th NASCAR race win. 

Busch fans happy with Spire announcement

Spire announced Elliott taking over the responsibilities for the 7 Chevrolet Truck in North Wilkesboro via their social handles, and the comments on their X post are pure joy. 

Starting with the track’s official page, North Wilkesboro wrote, “Next Saturday’s show just got even better. 🔥”

With Elliott driving on all three days, the driver who withdrew his name from the Most Popular Driver award so Busch could win it posthumously will have a large on-track supporter base. Both his and Busch’s fans will be roaring his name. 

A fan who will be at the track wrote, “Coming to the race - was looking forward to see KB throughout the weekend. I have to say @chaseelliott has really gained points in my book how he responded to the passing of KB. I will be rooting him on in the 7, 8 and 9 car next weekend!!🏁”

Another fan wrote a note to Elliott, “Go win it for Kyle…..And make sure after you win, you do the bow.”

There’s always a Hocevar fan in the comments, and one such fan wrote about their dream lineup. “Please tell me Carson is in the 77 for NW, these 2 as teammates would be peak. 😭✌️”

And then there were fans acknowledging that Elliott will be driving three legendary numbered cars in North Wilkesboro. This fan wrote, “Chase doing a Litteral 7 8 9 at North Wilksburro - The JRM 8 Late Model On Friday / #7 Truck on Satuday / Cup Sunday. Tripple Duty.”

These fans are clearly excited to see Elliott back in a Truck race especially because of the car he gets to drive. 

Are you excited to see Elliott take over the truck Busch last won in? Let us know in the comments.

Read more at the RFK Racing Digest!

Written by

Debrup Chaudhuri

Edited by

Suyashdeep Sason