Kyle Busch’s greatness makes every weekend a painful reminder of the person and driver he was. In the sport’s first visit to St. Louis, since his death, Richard Childress Racing and its driver Jesse Love paid tribute to Rowdy in a particularly special way. And on the same weekend that Love snapped his 25-race winless streak, he revealed a heartbreaking reminder that Busch isn’t around anymore.

Love revealed in the post-race interview that he had set a reminder on his calendar after the spring Darlington race to talk to Busch and get an idea of how to get better around the iconic raceway. Last week, before NASCAR returned to Darlington, that reminder popped up, leaving Love emotional.

“As you can imagine, that hit me like a ton of bricks because I wasn’t able to do that anymore. And that was really hard for me. I’m an emotional person, as you guys probably know,” Love said in the interview in St. Louis.

For Love, the first Darlington race of 2026, held on 21st March, was a frustrating outing. He qualified in 10th place but struggled to make any strides on the track, falling down a place by the end to finish 11th. He wanted to get tips from Busch, who drove for RCR like him, on how to “figure out the track”.

Busch had done that. Darlington was a track that showcased Rowdy’s versatility at its best, with him recording one win, four top-fives, and 10 top-10s across 28 races there. That’s a fairly consistent record at one of the most difficult tracks for drivers to master. At the 2025 Southern 500, he finished eighth, despite having a difficult season with RCR.

When the notification popped up on Love’s phone, he was filled with sadness at the fact that he didn’t have Busch around him to guide him in difficult moments anymore.

“I miss the ability to be around somebody so great, and somebody that didn’t get enough credit for how kind he was,” Love said in the same press conference.

It was not the best Darlington race for Love last week either, as he began the Chase on a quieter note. He started fourth, finished eighth in the stage, led one lap in the race, but ultimately fell down the order to finish 13th. It makes you wonder whether Busch’s advice could have helped him over the weekend, or whether the reminder notification simply got into his head.

Love made up for that this weekend, at a track that was also special to Busch and RCR. Busch won three races in 2023, the year he joined the team, and had remained winless in the Cup Series thereafter. The third of those wins — his 63rd and last in the Cup Series — came at World Wide Technology Raceway. And this year to celebrate his legacy, the winner of the Enjoy Illinois 300 will be presented with the ‘Rowdy Trophy.’

The Rowdy Trophy features a replica of the St. Louis Gateway Arch, with a picture of Busch taking his signature victory bow centered inside it. Love, who won the O’Reilly Series race at the track on Saturday, pulled out the Kyle Busch flag, wore the hat, and also brought the trophy to Richard Childress’ media center. Kyle would be proud of the 21-year-old driver.

This victory moved Love up to fourth in the NOAPS Chase, up from sixth. He now has 2,159 points and is just 16 behind championship leader Sheldon Creed. It would be quite the statement for Love to sign off from the series with a second consecutive championship. Next year, he will have to prove himself at the Cup Series level, driving the iconic No. 21 Ford for Wood Brothers Racing.