Hendrick Motorsports Legend Reveals How Kyle Busch Delivered the “Most Shocking Moment” of the Week

Erik Jones won, and won big at the Cook Out Southern 500, giving the #43 car its first win in eight years. However, the win was arguably still not the most shocking moment of the evening, as Hendrick Motorsports legend explains how it was Kyle Busch who delivered the most jaw-dropping moment of the race.

With the way things were going at Darlington, people were sure Busch will take the win considering his pace all weekend. In fact, the driver led a race-high, 155 laps. Of course, victory was at arm’s length for the Candyman. But everything went downhill as we saw a stream of smoke gushing out of the #18 car, caused by an engine failure, ending his day then and there.

In fact, Hendrick Motorsports legend, Steve Letarte, described that as the most shocking moment of the race.

It caught him off guard as he explained, “I didn’t believe what I was seeing. I see smoke billow out of the #18 all of a sudden.”

“It was the most shocking moment, really, for all of us. We didn’t know that was going to happen.”

Amidst NASCAR Links, Richard Childress Assaulted Kyle Busch & Karma Hit With a $150,000 Dent in His Wallet Few Years Ago

Busch was running an incredible race, with a 3-second gap over the 2nd driver, Tyler Reddick. Clearly, the #18 being driven to Victory Lane for the 2nd time this season seemed to be very close. More importantly, it would be the first win of the playoffs.

Unfortunately, it all went south for the driver. And his future in the Cup Series doesn’t look too bright yet either. On the other hand, there is someone that benefited heavily from the engine failure, and it’s none other than Erik Jones.

Erik Jones made the best of Kyle Busch’s bad day

Jones passed Reddick in the pit lane, and the only one to deal with now was Kyle Busch. But that threat didn’t last too long.

Busch’s engine killed his day along with itself, and this is where the #43 came in to maximize the opportunity. Letarte said, “Once you gave Erik Jones the lead, then you only have to hold off, I don’t know, one of the best drivers ever at Darlington? And, Denny Hamlin, he made it look simple but it was it was a challenge.”

WATCH THIS STORY: NASCAR Spotter Believes “God at Stewart-Haas Racing” Kevin Harvick Will Veto Kyle Busch’s Move

In the end, #18 had a bad day, but it made Richard Petty’s day. So, it seems the Southern 500 was not so bad after all. What do you think? Was it a good race?