NASCAR Cup Series

Kyle Busch scores first superspeedway win in 15 years

3 Mins read
Credit: James Gilbert/Getty Images

A McLaren car has technically won a race in 2023.

In his maiden race with sponsorship from McLaren Custom Grills (no relation to that McLaren), Kyle Busch secured his first NASCAR Cup Series victory at Talladega Superspeedway and on such tracks since 2008. He battled with Bubba Wallace for much of the overtime restart and Wallace seemed to have the momentum on the outside as he received a push from his friend Ryan Blaney, only for Wallace to make too aggressive of a block and trigger a five-car wreck that collected himself.

Busch inched ahead of Blaney on the inside to assume the lead when the caution came out to end the race. Interestingly, all three of Busch’s superspeedway wins in the Cup Series came after the races ended under yellow.

“Last time I won here, fifteen years ago, my first year with JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing). Here we are with my first year in RCR (Richard Childress Racing) being able to get back into Victory Lane at Talladega,” commented Busch. “It’s been a little bit.

“We were obviously short on fuel, kind of stretching it. I don’t think we would have taken that chance, I probably wouldn’t have taken that chance of staying out but for the win in Fontana. That opened up our playbook, gave us a chance to be up front, restart up front and go for a win today.

“Just being in the right place at the right time. Sometimes you got to be lucky.”

Blaney had led a race-high forty-seven laps but the late carnage and nature of superspeedway racing prevented him from clinching victory. As multi-car wrecks mounted in the third stage, fuel mileage became a major concern among the field as many elected to stay out instead of pit for gas prior to overtime. This move ultimately bit Ty Gibbs, who was fighting with Blaney with twenty laps to go, when he ran out coming to the restart.

Gibbs was among nine retirements, with everyone else being taken out in the string of Stage #3 crashes. One of the victims was Blaney’s team-mate Joey Logano, who got shuffled out of line with twenty laps remaining and bumped by Corey LaJoie to trigger seven-car accident. An even bigger crash occurred on the ensuing restart when Ross Chastain attempted to force himself into a three-abreast battle for the lead with Blaney and Noah Gragson but instead collided with Gragson, who was shot up the track.

The crash culminated in Kyle Larson sliding off the racing surface before coming back into the oncoming path of Ryan Preece, and the ensuing T-bone was so destructive that it shot Larson’s door bar up and sheared off part of his passenger’s side door. Said bar is typically covered by a metal plate intended to protect the cockpit from fire but is not built for such high-speed collisions.

Larson’s car was eventually taken to NASCAR’s Research & Development Centre for further evaluation.

Race results

FinishStartNumberDriverTeamManufacturerLapsStatus
1178Kyle BuschRichard Childress RacingChevrolet196Running
2512Ryan BlaneyTeam PenskeFord196Running
31017Chris BuescherRFK RacingFord196Running
4414Chase BriscoeStewart-Haas RacingFord196Running
5206Brad KeselowskiRFK RacingFord196Running
62443Erik JonesLegacy Motor ClubChevrolet196Running
71824William ByronHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet196Running
8620Christopher BellJoe Gibbs RacingToyota196Running
92299Daniel SuárezTrackhouse Racing TeamChevrolet196Running
102836Todd GillilandFront Row MotorsportsFord196Running
113851J.J. Yeley*Rick Ware RacingFord196Running
12299Chase ElliottHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet196Running
132748Alex BowmanHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet196Running
143277Ty DillonSpire MotorsportsChevrolet196Running
153347Ricky Stenhouse Jr.JTG Daugherty RacingChevrolet196Running
161345Tyler Reddick23XI RacingToyota196Running
17111Denny HamlinJoe Gibbs RacingToyota196Running
183778B.J. McLeodLive Fast MotorsportsChevrolet196Running
192631Justin HaleyKaulig RacingChevrolet196Running
203615Riley Herbst*Rick Ware RacingFord196Running
21114Kevin HarvickStewart-Haas RacingFord196Running
22210Aric AlmirolaStewart-Haas RacingFord196Running
23231Ross ChastainTrackhouse Racing TeamChevrolet196Running
243162Austin Hill*Beard MotorsportsChevrolet196Running
25347Corey LaJoieSpire MotorsportsChevrolet196Running
26152Austin CindricTeam PenskeFord196Running
27719Martin Truex Jr.Joe Gibbs RacingToyota196Running
281223Bubba Wallace23XI RacingToyota195Accident
291916A.J. AllmendingerKaulig RacingChevrolet195Accident
30822Joey LoganoTeam PenskeFord195Running
31354Ty GibbsJoe Gibbs RacingToyota194Fuel
323042Noah GragsonLegacy Motor ClubChevrolet189Accident
3395Kyle LarsonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet189Accident
341641Ryan PreeceStewart-Haas RacingFord189Accident
352134Michael McDowellFront Row MotorsportsFord189Running
362521Harrison BurtonWood Brothers RacingFord183Accident
373538Zane Smith*Front Row MotorsportsFord141Accident
38143Austin DillonRichard Childress RacingChevrolet141Accident
Italics – Competing for Rookie of the Year
* – Ineligible for points
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Justin is not an off-road racer, but he writes about it for The Checkered Flag.
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