Kyle Busch holds off Denny Hamlin for NASCAR Cup Series win outside St. Louis

Associated Press | Sunday, June 4, 2023 9:34 p.m.

Kyle Busch drives ahead of Denny Hamlin during Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race.

MADISON, Ill. — Kyle Busch held off Denny Hamlin through a series of late restarts to win the chaotic, caution-filled NASCAR Cup Series race at World Wide Technology Raceway just outside of St. Louis in overtime Sunday.

Bubba Wallace brought out the 11th and final yellow when his brake rotor let go with five laps remaining. There also were two red flags to go with a two-hour weather delay that caused the mid-afternoon race to finish in the twilight.

With the lights coming on around the speedway, Busch got a big push from Denny Hamlin on the final restart — the fifth over the last 40-some laps — and pulled away for his third win of the season for Richard Childress Racing.

Hamlin finished second, and Joey Logano, the winner a year ago in the Cup Series debut at the track, got around Kyle Larson on the final lap to finish third. Martin Truex Jr. rounded out the top five ahead of Ryan Blaney, last week’s winner at Charlotte.

The win especially was gratifying for Busch’s crew chief, Randall Burnett, who not only produced a car fast enough to win the pole in his hometown but also made all the right calls Sunday. Burnett was born in nearby Fenton, Mo., and had plenty of friends and family in a sellout crowd of about 60,000 on a brutally hot day.