The Humboldt Broncos bus tragedy that took the lives of 16 people sent shockwaves through Canada and across the sports world.
NASCAR racer D.J. Kennington is no different than us, and like many Canadians, he was overwhelmed with sadness and a state of shock when he found out about the accident.
While some chose to donate to the GoFundMe page, others decided to show their support by wearing a sports jersey this past Thursday, or by leaving sticks outside as a show of solidarity.
Everyone has different ways of handling tragedies. The St. Thomas, Ontario, native played junior hockey growing up and still plays 'till this day. For Kennington, the choice was simple: Since his team didn't have a sponsor for this weekend's race, they decided to put a Broncos team logo decal on the hood of his No. 96 racecar ahead of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Food City 500 race in Bristol, Tennessee.
“Being from Canada and being a hockey player myself, I knew we didn’t have anything on the car as far as sponsorship this week,” Kennington said told USA Today. “I told Marty I’d like to do something for the boys and girls and everybody from Humboldt, the first responders, the families – everyone involved."
Marty is Marty Gaunt, who owns Kennington’s race machine and runs Gaunt Bros Racing. Following the race, the car will be auctioned off and proceeds will benefit families of the victims that passed away from the crash.
Here’s some footage of the FOX announcers discussing the Humboldt tragedy and the significance of D.J. putting the logo on his car from the broadcast.
Via ESPN motorsports reporter Bob Pockrass, Kennington came out to Tom Collins’ “The Hockey Song” during player introductions.
American driver Michael Annett showed his support by placing a decal on his No. 5 racecar, and took part in the #sticksoutfortheboys movement.
