Denny Hamlin Pays Tribute to Kyle Busch After Tying NASCAR Legend on Wins List

Denny Hamlin paid tribute to Kyle Busch after tying the late NASCAR legend for the ninth-most NASCAR Cup Series wins of all time.

Hamlin celebrated his 63rd Cup Series win on Sunday at Michigan International Speedway by carrying a flag honoring Busch during his victory lap.

Hamlin started in the rear Sunday before coming back to win by more than 11 seconds to clinch a Toyota 1-2-3 in front of Erik Jones and Bubba Wallace.

Busch, a two-time Cup Series champion, died last month at age 41.

The racing world has since honored his memory with tributes to the numbers he was associated with during his racing career, especially his No. 8 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing and No. 18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing.

The Coca-Cola 600, at which Busch's family was in attendance over Memorial Day weekend, honored Busch with No. 8 painted on the grass of the racetrack.

RCR announced ahead of the race its No. 8 car would be suspended and remain reserved for Busch's 11-year-old son Brexton Busch "when he is ready to go NASCAR racing."

Tributes to Busch at the Indianapolis 500 included Dale Coyne Racing running its No. 18 car and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway lighting the pylon on Lap 18.

Those tributes continued at Michigan with Hamlin's flag, which combined Busch's No. 18 and No. 8.

Hamlin won the Cracker Barrel 400 last Sunday at Nashville Superspeedway despite a pole-start penalty.

Instead of taking pole position at Michigan after that win, Hamlin dropped to the back for a second straight race due to what NASCAR considered an unapproved adjustment to his car.

Hamlin went back to front for a second straight race to continue climbing NASCAR's all-time wins rankings.

Richard Petty ranks first in NASCAR Cup Series history with 200 career wins. One more victory would move Hamlin past Busch to rank behind Dale Earnhardt (76 career wins) and stand alone in ninth place on the all-time leaderboard.