Indy 500 Driver to Use Busch Font on No. 18 Car

Dale Coyne Racing driver Romain Grosjean will compete in Sunday's Indianapolis 500 in a car bearing the same number and lettering style that Kyle Busch used for most of his NASCAR career. The team altered the font on the No. 18 Honda to match Busch's longtime design.

The speedway pylon will be illuminated during the 18th lap of the race. Teams may also display a No. 8 decal honoring the number Busch drove at the end of his career. Busch never competed in the Indianapolis 500. He won the Brickyard 400 twice at the same track.

Busch died earlier this week after pneumonia progressed into sepsis. His family stated that complications developed rapidly. He had been hospitalized for what the family described as a serious illness. The Associated Press reported he became unresponsive the day before his death while testing a simulator in Concord, North Carolina.

A joint statement from the Busch family, Richard Childress Racing, and NASCAR called him a future Hall of Famer who set national-series win records and fostered new drivers as a Truck Series owner.