As Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart circled Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, providing fans a stirring tribute to two legendary drivers, Kyle Busch was near the start/finish line, smoking up the joint with the 166th victory burnout of his NASCAR career.
It was both fitting and ironic. As Gordon and Stewart were saluting each other, Busch was putting the finishing touches on another dominating and historic performance by sweeping the weekend at Indy and winning his second straight Brickyard 400. It was one of those past-meets-present, passing-of-the-torch moments.
Gordon and Stewart are wrapping up hall-of-fame careers, Stewart running his final season and Gordon coming out of retirement to fill in for Dale Earnhardt Jr.