Kyle Busch staves off multiple late wrecks, wins GEICO 500 at Talladega

They say to expect the unexpected when you come to Talladega, and with big names like Joey Langano, Ryan Blaney, and Chase Elliott as the odds on favorites to win it all, it shouldn't surprise anyone that a veteran driver like Kyle Busch took the checkered flag at the GEICO 500.

"It's pretty hard to win these things so you'll take them when you can get them and at the superspeedway races it lends itself a lot down to circumstances at the end of the race, having a little bit of luck on your side and today we had some of that", said GEICO 500 champion Kyle Busch.

Busch didn't lead the most laps, he didn’t have the fastest car, and he certainly was not picked by many to win this race, but something he was; opportunistic. Being in the right place at the right time, and when opportunity presented itself, the No. 8 car seized the moment.

"When I saw Bubba starting to get turned a little bit in the middle of the corner I just shot low because I knew he was going to come down and I've been hit in the right rear before and shot back up the race track so I didn't want any part of that", said Busch.

And when it comes to Talladega Superspeedway, sometimes you’re best ability is your availability, lesson Busch learned in his career long ago.

"Tony Stewart said it a few years ago, if we don't wreck 85-percent of the field we might as well keep running until we do. Sometimes it happens that way. Today there was a few cars that got tore up, especially there late, but when you get everybody stacked up tight there together and pushing for everything that it's worth to win one of these things that's going to happen", said Busch.

So much emphasis is put on just surviving until the end at Talladega, and with a few laps left you can expect the big one, and if you can survive that you have a shot to end up in victory lane. That was the exact formula Kyle Busch followed Sunday afternoon at Talladega. His first victory as this iconic race track since 2008, it was certainly a celebration 15 years in the making.