NASCAR at Talladega 2018 Results: Aric Almirola Gets OT Win over Kurt Busch

Aric Almirola survived a late caution and came through in overtime to win the 1000Bulbs.com 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

Kurt Busch led 108 laps and was ahead on the final lap in overtime until he ran out of gas with a few turns remaining. This allowed Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Almirola and Clint Bowyer to finish in the top two spots.

The first-place finish for the No. 10 car also clinches a spot in the next round of the Monster Energy Cup playoffs, joining Chase Elliott in the Round of 8 with one more race left in the Round of 12.

Final Results

1. Aric Almirola (10)

2. Clint Bowyer (14)

3. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (17)

4. Denny Hamlin (11)

5. Joey Logano (22)

6. AJ Allmendinger (47)

7. Jimmie Johnson (48)

8. Erik Jones (20)

9. Paul Menard (21)

10. Regan Smith (95)

Full results available at NASCAR.com.

Gas maintenance was the major storyline at the end of the race, as a caution with three laps remaining led to an overtime shootout.

Busch and Kevin Harvick had enough gas to finish in regulation, but the extra action pushed them from the top two spots to outside the top 10. Ryan Blaney and Brad Keselowski also ran out of gas.

This allowed Almirola to come through with his first victory of the 2018 season:

The race finished with eight total cautions but began relatively quiet, as Busch faced little resistance on his way to a Stage 1 victory. The pole winner stayed ahead of the field to find a new level of success at this track:

This was part of an impressive run by Stewart-Haas Racing, which finished 1-2-3-4 in the opening stage.

Harvick kept things going for the team, taking Stage 2 while leading 46 laps during the middle section of the race.

Meanwhile, several notable drivers fell behind with spins and collisions:

Martin Truex Jr. also had car trouble that pushed him well off the lead.

As the laps counted down, the Stewart-Haas drivers of Busch, Harvick, Bowyer and Almirola continued to dominate and control the action:

They pulled away from the field with three laps remaining until a collision in the middle of the pack led to a caution and restart.

Only two were able to survive the restart, putting pressure on the rest of the drivers to do well next weekend.

The next race will now cut the playoff field down from 12 to eight with several drivers facing must-win situations. The Hollywood Casino 400 is scheduled for next Sunday at Kansas Speedway.