“This One’s For Charlie” – Christopher Bell Dedicates His Win In The NASCAR Cup Series Bristol Night Race To Charlie Kirk

This one’s for Charlie.

Since his horrific assassination on Wednesday, tributes have been pouring in from all over the world for conservative media personality Charlie Kirk, who was gunned down during an event at Utah Valley University.

Many country artists have paid tribute to Kirk during their shows over the past couple days, including Jason Aldean, HARDY, and Morgan Wallen, among many others.

And in the sports world, several teams have taken time before games to honor Kirk, including the New York Yankees and the Chicago Cubs.

Meanwhile in the NFL, the Green Bay Packers held a moment of silence before their Thursday Night Football game the day after the murder.

NASCAR is also among the sports leagues that have paid tribute to Kirk, holding a moment of silence before the Craftsman Truck Series race on Thursday.

And when the cars hit the track for tonight’s NASCAR Cup Series Bass Pro Shop Night Race at Bristol tonight, two of them were carrying special decals in honor of Kirk.

The Richard Childress Racing teammates of Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon both had tributes to Charlie Kirk on their cars, as did the team’s Xfinity Series drivers, Austin Hill and Jesse Love during the race yesterday:

And it was a wild race. With tire wear being an issue all night, drivers were forced to conserve their Goodyear tires early on when it became apparent that the tires were shredding after 20 or 30 laps. From then on, it was a game of who could protect their tires the most through all the chaos.

A caution flew with just a handful of laps to go, and when the final restart came there were only 4 laps left in the race – for a total of 2 miles around the high-banked half mile track.

Carson Hocevar and Zane Smith were in the lead, but their teams had run out of tires so the were forced to restart on tires that were 20-some laps older than the cars behind them. That allowed Christopher Bell, who restarted in the 4th position, to sneak through and take the lead, while holding off a hard-charging Brad Keselowski to score his first win at Bristol in a chaotic race.

After the win, Bell took time during his interview to dedicate his win to Charlie Kirk, with the Bristol crowd erupting in cheers:

Meanwhile over in country music, Eric Church didn’t directly mention Kirk during his show in Pittsburgh, but he did speak on the “tough week for America” while reflecting on the “monsters” that still walk among us:

“It was a tough week for America. And I was thinking about a song, and it wasn’t something I was gonna play tonight, but I remember very vividly my three-year-old son. He came to me when he was three.

He was like, ‘Hey, there’s a monster underneath my bed.’ We went in; we prayed. And I said, ‘There’s no monster there.’ But I remember walking out of his room and thinking, ‘Man, if we only had to worry about the monsters underneath the bed.

It’s the other monsters in the world [that we have to worry about]. I didn’t plan to do this tonight. I don’t know how this is gonna go. We’ve never done it this stripped down, but we’re gonna give it a try. This is ‘Monsters.'” 

@concertsin4k

Eric Church performed Monster for the first time in over two years at opening night of his Free the Machine Tour last night in Pittsburgh. He wasn’t planning to play it but added it to the setlist after the Charlie Kirk incident this week. @Eric Church #ericchurch #freethemachinetour #ericchurchmusic #ericchurchconcert #countrymusic

♬ original sound – ConcertsIn4K

And Morgan Wallen dedicated his song “I’m A Little Crazy” to Charlie’s widow, Erika Kirk.

“I’m not gonna say a whole bunch on this, but this song has been hitting me harder in the last couple days and I just wanted to let Erika Kirk know that me and my family are sending prayers her way.”

“I’m A Little Crazy” was written by Hardy, Smith Ahnquist, Hunter Phelps and Jameson Rodgers and is the closing track on his mega hit album I’m The Problem. The song finds him reflecting on the state of the world and how he keeps a “loaded .44 by the bed” even though he hopes he never has to use it.

The chorus sums it up eloquently and perfectly, and I think is a representation of how many of us already felt, and obviously even more so now:

“I keep a loaded .44 sittin’ by the bed
For the jeepers and the creepers who ain’t right in the head
Hope I never have to use it, but you never know these days
I’m a little crazy, but the world’s insane”

@love.country.music

Morgan Wallen in Edmonton Night 1 @morganwallen #morganwallen #fyp

♬ original sound – love.country.music

The post “This One’s For Charlie” – Christopher Bell Dedicates His Win In The NASCAR Cup Series Bristol Night Race To Charlie Kirk first appeared on Whiskey Riff.