Kyle Busch was lucky enough to win the Geico 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, but he wasn’t able to celebrate with the traditional burnout. There’s an interesting reason for that.
Busch’s No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro was low on fuel over the final laps, but his Richard Childress Racing team decided to try to push for the win. The gamble paid off as Busch was able to capture the checkered flag. However, his No. 8 Chevrolet shut off during his burnout because it ran out of fuel.
You can see in this fan-shot video how the No. 8 shut off a few seconds into the burnout.
Kyle Busch takes the victory in Talladega! He just missed the turn 1 chaos on the final lap to take the victory! Had enough fuel to do half a burnout before it shut off! Amazing race, side by side the whole time. Can’t wait to be back!@TALLADEGA @KyleBusch pic.twitter.com/c5NcLqzYcu
— Ralph Greene (@Ralph_Greene945) April 23, 2023
Busch said after the race that the No. 8 team winning the Cup Series race at Fontana gave them the confidence to push forward and risk that they wouldn’t run out of fuel.
Kyle Busch said his car shut off when he was trying to do a burnout, that's how close he was on fuel at the end.
"We were sweating it on being close but I thought back to Fontana and we have a win, so we had to take the gamble and go for it"
— PRN (@PRNlive) April 23, 2023
“We were sweating it on being close but I thought back to Fontana and we have a win, so we had to take the gamble and go for it,” Busch said after the race.
Busch was able to secure the win by avoiding much of the trouble that happened on a last-lap crash that took out Bubba Wallace and several other drivers.
Can't hold back on the last lap. Here's a replay of the last-lap crash Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway. pic.twitter.com/IoxjJwtaUp
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) April 23, 2023
This is the second Cup Series win for Busch in his new car and his fifth top-10 finish in 10 races.
