Kurt Busch led a race-high 108 laps and led the field to green during the overtime attempt at Talladega, but his No. 41 ran out of gas exiting Turn 4 and gave the lead and win to his teammate Aric Almirola.
Busch was critical of NASCAR for what he believed were two missed calls at the end of the race – feeling that he should never have been in a position to run out of gas.
“There was two missed calls by NASCAR at the end,” Busch told NBC after the race. “Why did we have an extra yellow flag lap is beyond me. The track was ready to go.
“And at the end. Once we crossed the white flag, if there’s a wreck and an ambulance needs to be dispatched. I’ve been on the other side of that where I was racing coming back to win the race and they said ‘Well, we had to dispatch an ambulance.’ There was two cars dead in the water.”
NASCAR issued a statement in response to Busch’s comments: “We were closely monitoring each car involved, and were actively communicating with spotters and safety trucks in turn 1. All cars were able to either roll off under their own power or signal they were clear. As always, we make every effort to end under green for our fans in the stands and at home, which we did.”
Busch believed the yellow should have been waved when Trevor Bayne and Matt DiBenedetto triggered a multi-car accident at the end of the race. Chase Elliott also was involved and he spun into the infield and could not continue.
“Chase Elliott’s safety is of my concern,” Busch said. “So was the 32 car. It’s a human call. There’s rules that need to be stricter at the end of these races.”
