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Kyle Busch had just enough gas to cross the finish line in first place on Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway, picking up his first victory at the track in 15 years.
Busch needed to push through in double overtime and under caution for the win. “Rowdy” barely had enough gas to get through to the end.
His crew chief made a late call for Busch to come in for some extra fuel, but the message was received too late and the No. 8 stayed out for the two-lap sprint. Additionally, Ryan Blaney turned Bubba Wallace to spark a late crash and ultimately end the race with the RCR driver in first place.
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Kyle Busch, driver of the #8 McLaren Custom Grills Chevrolet, drives during the NASCAR Cup Series GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on April 23, 2023, in Talladega, Alabama. (James Gilbert/Getty Images)
“Sometimes you’ve got to be lucky. Some of these races come down to that,” Busch said. “You’ve got to take them when they come to your way. The seas kind of parted there when they went up the racetrack. I saw [Wallace] turn just a little bit sideways, and I was like, ‘Get out of the way!’ Just miss it and try to see if I was ahead of [Blaney] by the time it was called.”
Before he could finish up the burnout and victory lap, Busch’s car stalled. He was out of gas.
“We were sweating it being close … and I’m like, ‘We’ve got to gamble. We’re up here.’ You’ve got to take the track position when you have it and go get what you can on the restarts and see what happens. And lo and behold, it worked out. So, knock on wood for this one,” he added.
Blaney got caught up with Wallace at the end, and it probably cost him his first win in the NASCAR Cup Series since 2021.
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Kyle Busch celebrates in Victory Lane after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Talladega Superspeedway, Sunday, April 23, 2023, in Talladega, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
“In my mind, you kind of triple move like that, triple block, and you can’t block three times,” Blaney said. “Runs are just so big, and as the leader with Bubba, he’s trying to block, which is the right thing to do, but I think he kind of moved three times. You don’t really get a lot of those. I’ve got to go somewhere.”
Wallace didn’t put the onus on Blaney.
“Close, close, close block,” he said. “Not [Blaney’s] fault. I honestly thought that he would leave me high and dry coming back around. Hate it, I caused that one. Man, I thought it would play out a little different, obviously not getting wrecked.”
Blaney finished in second place, Chris Buescher finished third, Chase Briscoe recovered from a spinout on pit road to finish in fourth, and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top five.
A crew member for the NASCAR Cup Series driver Todd Gilliland car watches during the NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Talladega Superspeedway, Sunday, April 23, 2023, in Talladega, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
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Busch has two wins on the season so far.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
