April 23, 2023 | By Lee Spencer

Kyle Busch gambles on fuel for second win with Richard Childress Racing

Kyle Busch won the Geico 500 at Talladega Superspeedway in double overtime on Sunday.

Busch led just three laps throughout the race and restarted on the front row on the final restart. After Bubba Wallace attempted a late block on Ryan Blaney and spun, Busch surged into the lead with a push from Brad Keselowski as the race ended under caution.

For Busch, the victory marked his second win in the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet and his first at Talladega since 2008.

“Sometimes you got to be lucky,” Busch said. “Some of these races come down to that. You got to take 'em when they come your way. The seas kind of parted there when they went up the racetrack. They were trying to push draft. These cars are just not stable enough to do that. I saw the 23 just turn a little bit sideways. I was like, Get out of the way, just miss it. Tried to see if I was ahead of the 12 by the time it was called.

“Just a great day for another new sponsor at RCR with McLaren Custom Grills…We have a great time being able to come out and here and race and be part of Team Chevy and Chevrolet and get this Camaro into Victory Lane.”

Blaney, who led a race-high 47 laps, finished second. Although he was sympathetic about putting Wallace in the wall, Blaney couldn't believe Wallace triple-blocked on the restart.

“You get big runs, take 'em when you can,” said Blaney, who extended his winless streak to 56. “I'm glad everyone's okay, but in my mind you kind of triple move like that, triple block, you can't block three times. I don't know. Runs are so big. As a leader, with Bubba, trying to block, which is the right thing to do. But I think a lot of those, I got to go somewhere.

“I hate that cars got torn up, I hate for us being so close to the win. I'm not blaming anybody. Just hard racing at the end of this thing. Unfortunately, cars got torn up and we missed out on another win.”

Chris Buescher, Chase Briscoe, Keselowski, Erik Jones, William Byron, Christopher Bell, Daniel Suarez and Todd Gilliland rounded out the top 10.

The first of eight cautions occurred just three laps into the race when Michael McDowell cut a tire and spun into oncoming traffic in Turn 4.

Tyler Reddick locked up his brakes coming to pit road on Lap 34, spun and hit the interior wall. Six laps later, Briscoe had a similar issue coming into the pits hot and spun in front of his fellow Fords. When he couldn't get the car restarted, NASCAR called the second caution. The race re-started on Lap 48 with Chase Elliott in the lead. The driver of the No. 9 Chevy held on to win Stage 1 on Lap 61.

Stage 2 went caution free for 54 circuits with Aric Almirola winning his first stage of the season on Lap 121. Harrison Burton took over the lead when the race returned to green on Lap 127. He traded the point with Blaney and led 11 laps before Noah Gragson sent the No. 21 Ford into the spin cycle in Turn 3 on Lap 141. As the field checked up behind, Zane Smith turned Joey Logano who tagged Austin Dillon. Dillon finished 38th.

Blaney and Wallace exchanged the lead as the race returned to green on Lap 148. Ty Gibbs took a turn at the point but Blaney never let the No. 54 Toyota dominate. With five laps remaining to decide the contest, Blaney was in control when a chain-reaction incident mid-field saw Ricky Stenhouse Jr. bumping Corey LaJoie, who plowed into Logano. The No. 22 Ford slammed into Daniel Suarez and nailed Stenhouse.

The first attempt at an overtime finish occurred on Lap 190. Blaney lined up first on the bottom with Almirola and Harvick behind. Gragson opted for the outside lane followed by Chevy drivers Ross Chastain and Kyle Larson.  But before the cars could get up to speed, Chastain attempted to thread the needle between Gragson and Blaney. He turned Gragson into the wall and wrecked Larson. With nowhere to go, Ryan Preece plowed into the No. 5 Chevy. Both drivers were evaluated and released from the infield care center.

With the exception of Byron, who had topped off with fuel earlier, the leaders were testing their gas reserves. Crew chief Randall Burnett called for Busch to pit, but the driver didn't feel comfortable making that move. He lined up alongside Blaney on Lap195. Wallace grabbed the lead but didn’t make it out of Turn 2.

Busch escaped the melee and—on fumes—cruised to the checkered flag. His 62nd career Cup victory is the most among active drivers and ninth on the all-time win list.

“It shut off right here when I was trying to do a burnout,” Busch said. “Maybe it's out (smiling). I went left instead of going right. Fuel pickup is on the right. Maybe it ran it out. I'll see.

“We were sweating it being close. I thought back to California, Fontana, earlier this year where we have a win. I am like, We got to gamble. You're up here, got to take the track position when you have it, give it what you can on the restarts, see what happens. Lo and behold, it worked out. Knock on wood for this one.”

Bell maintains the points lead by 11 over Chastain.