We always hear stories of racecar drivers overcoming the odds to score incredible finishes in races. Kyle Busch had an incredible story this past weekend, as he finished second in the Coca-Cola 600 after suffering a spin in the early laps of the race. However, Busch’s story pales in comparison to the story of his rear tire changer Lee Cunningham.
Cunningham, 35, according to the No. 18 team’s jackman Kellen Mills, broke his middle and ring finger on his left hand before Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600. Mills shared a photo of Cunningham before covering his hands with his gloves on pit road.
Here’s @Leebob1986 before stuffing his two broken, bloody fingers into his glove this weekend at the #coke600 and dropping fast stops all night for a chaotic P2 finish. @JoeGibbsRacing @KyleBusch pic.twitter.com/Qepa8E1xvu
— Kellen Mills (@kellenlmills) June 1, 2022
So, what happened? According to Mills, who replied to another Twitter user, an, “Air bottle cart broke and caught [Cunningham’s] hand on the way down, while we were getting set up pre race.”
Following Mills sharing the photo and story of Cunningham’s gutsy performance, which ultimately led to a second-place finish for Kyle Busch and the No. 18 team, Cunningham joked that of course it had to be the longest race of the year that the injury occurred at.
Had to be the longest race of the year ! Not the way I wanted to start my night for sure ! https://t.co/L1KiYrk3Kl
— Lee Cunningham (@Leebob1986) June 1, 2022
On a very, very warm afternoon and an extremely long race (longest distance of a race in NASCAR history), Cunningham stood on pit road, with busted fingers and waited for his opportunity to fire onto pit road to bust out fast pit stops for his team. And in the end, he was rewarded with a great finish.
