NASCAR races on at Charlotte as drivers mourn Kyle Busch's death

NASCAR will proceed with the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday, three days after two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch died of pneumonia-related sepsis at 41, with all 39 drivers choosing to honor his legacy by returning to the track he helped define.

The 600-mile race will serve as an unplanned but unanimous tribute to a driver who won 234 times across NASCAR's three national series — more than any competitor in history — in a career spanning more than two decades.

The mood inside the garage reflected the weight of the moment. "It just doesn't feel like a real race weekend," driver Connor Zilisch told ABC11. "Like the entire vibe in the garage, it's eerie here. It's gloomy. It's just, it's gonna be tough come Sunday for sure. There's gonna be a lot of emotion. It's gonna be sad."

Joey Logano, a longtime rival of Busch's on the circuit, told ABC11 he had never experienced anything like it. "It's definitely a very different vibe. I never really felt anything like this before at the racetrack. You just kind of see less smiles and everybody is sad," Logano said. "It's an emotion that we're all feeling - as raw as it can be - and we're all trying to handle it in our own way. There are some pretty heavy emotions on our hearts."

NASCAR will carry a series of tributes through the 600-mile race. The scoring tower will display only Busch's No. 8, all 39 cars will bear a black No. 8 decal and an in memoriam photo will appear on the video board. The series announced a temporary retirement of the No. 8 until Busch's 11-year-old son, Brexton, is ready to compete. Austin Hill will substitute for Busch in the Richard Childress Racing entry. Qualifying was rained out Saturday, leaving grid positions to be set by series points.

NASCAR CEO Steve O'Donnell said the decision to race was never in doubt. "Kyle Busch would probably be pretty (ticked) off if we didn't race, so we're going to honor his memory," O'Donnell told ABC11. Defending champion Ross Chastain agreed. "Go race. I know with Kyle, that's what he would want to do," Chastain said, according to ABC11. "It's what we do."

Busch had driven the No. 8 for Richard Childress Racing across four seasons. A two-time Cup Series champion, he collected 234 victories across NASCAR's three national series — a total no other driver has surpassed. The shock of his passing registered plainly in the garage. "This doesn't seem real. He was Superman," driver Zane Smith told ABC11.

Also racing Sunday is Katherine Legge, who is attempting "The Double" — starting in the Indianapolis 500 before immediately traveling to Charlotte for the 600, a combined 1,100-mile challenge on the same day. Only Tony Stewart has completed the feat, in 2001.

Despite the grief, Zilisch said the track offered an unexpected sense of solace. "I don't really wanna go to the track," he told ABC11. "But at the same time, though, this place is home. And I feel like it's easier to accept it here than it is laying in my bed and just scrolling on (social media) and continuing to see posts about it." The Coca-Cola 600 starts Sunday evening on the same 1.5-mile oval Busch raced on dozens of times — this time with his number on every car.