Busch wins under caution at Talladega in double overtime

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Running low on fuel and unsure he could make it to the end of a double-overtime finish, Kyle Busch and his new Richard Childress Racing team debated their late-race Talladega Superspeedway strategy.

If he stopped for a splash of gas, Busch would surrender valuable track position and essentially concede any chance at racing for Sunday's win.

Not stopping meant he'd be at the front of the field for the final restart, but with zero guarantee he had enough gas to complete two laps or challenge for the victory. As the debate raged, crew chief Randall Burnett called Busch in for fuel at the last second.

«Too late,» replied Busch, who couldn't make the pit road entrance when he finally received the message.

The gamble and miscommunication paid off when Busch won under caution and in double overtime for his second win of the season and second at Talladega — 15 years after his other victory on NASCAR's biggest and fastest track.

«In my own mind, I was like there's no way you come to pit road and just throw away your day. Like, your day is done,» Busch said. «So I was just like, 'Why not just take the chance?' And so he said, 'Pit, pit, pit' and it was too late, anyway.

»But also, I wouldn't have anyway. I would have just taken the chance and said, 'You know what? Roll the dice. Let's go.'"

Busch, who spent 15 years driving for Joe Gibbs Racing before an offseason move to Richard Childress Racing, gave car owner Childress his 13th victory at Talladega. The bulk of those wins came from the late Dale Earnhardt, but Childress had last won at Talladega with Clint Bowyer in 2011.

Childress entered the postrace news conference carrying an open bottle of champagne from his vineyard.

«I think my stomach was in knots, but