Daytona: Final-Lap Fireworks Leave Kyle Busch Junked

I’m guessing that mine wasn’t the only living room in America that erupted into cheers during the final lap of the 4th of July’s Sprint Cup race. Still and all, I was relieved to see Kyle Busch able to walk in a straight line after being slammed into the wall by race winner Tony Stewart, flung onto the windshield of Kasey Kahne, and T-boned by Joey Logano–a violent sequence of events that transformed his until-then dominant racecar into a heap of smouldering junk. And after all that, he was still able to do his usual post-wreck routine of storming off the track without speaking to anyone–at least until he was wrestled off to the infield medical center by a gang of NASCAR officials. In that last-lap pandemonium, I think I even caught a glimmer of the old-school Tony Stewart, prior to the whole I’m-a-nice-guy-now schtick, the one who didn’t take crap from punks and would sooner put you in the fence than look at you. All told, it was a pretty incredible race. It was cool to see Richard Petty’s vintage STP Pontiac out on the track, too! More pics below the jump, courtesy of Getty Images.