Wallace led the way on the start of the final lap in second overtime but Ryan Blaney was closing fast to challenge for the lead.
Wallace moved his No. 23 Toyota high, low to block and finally on the third attempt got hit by Blaney to trigger a multi-car wreck, which ended the race under caution.
Busch, who had lined up third to start the second overtime, was ahead of Blaney when the caution was displayed and declared the winner. He led three times in the race for a total of three laps, including the last one.
The win is the second of the 2023 season for Busch, who joined Richard Childress Racing to drive the No. 8 Chevrolet this year. It’s the 62nd career victory Busch and his first win at Talladega since 2008.
“Sometimes you got to be lucky,” Busch said. “Some of these races come down to that. You got to take them when they come your way. The seas kind of parted there when they went up the race track. They were trying to push-draft. These cars are just not stable enough to do that.
“I saw (Wallace) just turn a little bit sideways. I was like, ‘Get out of the way, just miss it.’ Tried to see if I was ahead of (Blaney) by the time it was called.”
Before the start of the second overtime, Busch’s team quizzed him on pitting for fuel but he opted not to. Asked how close he was to running out, Busch said, “It shut off right here when I was trying to do a burnout.
“We were sweating it being close. I thought back to California, Fontana, earlier this year where we have a win. I am like, ‘We got to gamble.’ You’re up here, got to take the track position when you have it, give it what you can on the restarts, see what happens.
“Lo and behold, it worked out. Knock on wood for this one.”
Blaney was credited with second, Chris Buescher third, Chase Briscoe fourth and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top-five.
Completing the top-10 were Erik Jones, William Byron, Christopher Bell, Daniel Suarez and Todd Gilliland.
Stage 3
Following the break between Stages 2 and 3, the lead-lap cars all pit with Aric Almirola first off pit road.
On the restart on Lap 127, Almirola was followed by Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott and Wallace.
Noah Gragson gave Harrison Burton a big push into the lead on the restart as Martin Truex Jr. ran third.
Blaney moved ahead into the lead thanks to a shove from Wallace with 50 laps remaining.
Gragson got into the right-rear of Burton in Turn 3 on Lap 142 to send Burton spinning out of the lead in an incident that also collected Austin Dillon, Austin Hill and Zane Smith.
.@HBurtonRacing spins from the lead, but thankfully keeps it on the apron and avoids a much bigger wreck.
— Motorsport.com (@Motorsport) April 23, 2023
@NASCAR pic.twitter.com/ghO77f4FLM
Both Dillon and Smith suffered too much damage from the incident to continue. All the lead-lap cars pit with Blaney the first off pit road.
The race resumed on Lap 148 with Blaney out front, followed by Almirola, Wallace, Hamlin and Truex. With a shove from Hamlin, Wallace quickly powered back to the lead after the restart.
Blaney reclaimed the lead on Lap 150 with help from Almirola.
With the field running three-wide, Ty Gibbs – in the middle lane – moved out to the lead for the first time on Lap 155 with a shove from Wallace.
Blaney, on the bottom lane, moved back to the lead with 31 laps to go.
With 15 laps remaining, several cars in the bottom lane, led by Blaney, separated themselves from the rest of the field. Gibbs, leading the outside lane, was trying to move back into contention.
Gibbs finally cleared to the lead with eight laps to go. But Blaney’s inside lane powered back to the front with seven laps remaining.
On Lap 184, Joey Logano tried to move into a third lane that had formed on top and spun after contact with Corey LaJoie, which also collected Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Burton in the process.
The caution sent the race into a two-lap overtime with Blaney out front followed by Almirola, Gragson, Kevin Harvick and Ross Chastain.
Entering Turn 1, Chastain got into Gragson, who got turned into the outside wall and collected Kyle Larson and Ryan Preece, which sent the race into a second overtime.
To start the second overtime, Blaney – who was low on fuel – led the way followed by Almirola, Busch, Wallace and A.J. Allmendinger.
Stage 2
Working the middle lane, Almirola came out ahead of a three-wide move to win Stage 2.
Elliott ended up second, Harvick third, Wallace fourth and Burton rounded out the top-five.
Following the break between Stages 1 and 2, the lead-lap cars all pit with Hamlin first off pit road thanks to a fuel-only stop. Buescher has to restart from the rear of the field after running over his air hose on pit road.
On the restart on Lap 68, Hamlin was followed by Harvick, Justin Haley, Chastain and Suarez.
A shove from Truex moved Harvick ahead of Hamlin and into the lead on Lap 71.
On Lap 77, Logano edged ahead of Harvick to move into the lead for the first time in the race.
Truex, with Hamlin right behind him, powered to the front on Lap 78. Harvick fell back in line at third.
Haley helped Logano edge back out front on Lap 83, but Truex came right back on Lap 84 to reclaim the top spot on the outside lane.
With 25 laps remaining in the stage, Truex maintained a small lead over Harvick while controlling the outside lane. Preece had moved into third.
Wallace went to the outside to form a third lane and quickly made his way back to the front, reclaiming the lead on Lap 98.
The third lane forms with @BubbaWallace taking full advantage! #GEICO500 pic.twitter.com/NTX4wEnUgE
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) April 23, 2023
With a shove from Preece, Harvick moved back out front on Lap 100.
The first group of cars to hit pit road for green-flag pit stops came down on Lap 103. Another group followed on Lap 104. Most of the Fords pit on Lap 105.
Logano was penalized for speeding and had to serve a pass-through penalty.
Once the cycle of stops was completed on Lap 107, Truex cycled back to the lead.
Elliott and Wallace traded the lead as the field went three lanes wide with Wallace coming out on top on Lap 110.
With five laps to go, Elliott edged back out front followed by Almirola and Harvick.
Stage 1
Elliott outdueled his Hendrick teammate Alex Bowman on the final lap to take the Stage 1 win, his first stage victory of the 2023 season.
Chastain was third, Byron fourth and Larson rounded out the top-five.
Hamlin started on the pole but Almirola quickly powered into the lead on Lap 1.
On Lap 2, Michael McDowell got loose and spun off Turn 4 in the middle of the field, which brought out the first caution of the race.
Several lead-lap cars decided to pit with Chastain first off pit road. Almirola remained on the track and in the lead when the race returned to green on Lap 7.
Wallace shoved Briscoe into the lead shortly after the restart and then took over the top spot himself on Lap 8.
With 40 laps remaining in the stage, Wallace continued to maintain a small lead over Briscoe as Gibbs ran third followed by Almirola.
On Lap 30, with a shove from Busch, Suarez moved into second to challenge Wallace for the lead. Suarez got around Wallace to move into the lead on Lap 31.
On Lap 36, several cars decided to kick off green flag stops, but Tyler Reddick spun and hit pit wall at the entrance to pit road. There was no caution and he proceeded back on the track.
Chastain inherited the lead as another group of Chevrolets pit on Lap 39. A number of Fords followed on Lap 42 but Briscoe spun out entering pit road and ended up stopped and unable to reach his pit stall.
NASCAR finally displayed a caution for Briscoe’s No. 14 Ford on Lap 44 while Elliott was leading the race.
Six cars that had not yet stopped, pit under the caution. On the restart on Lap 48, Elliott led the way followed by Bowman, Larson and Chastain.
Bowman got around Elliott to take the lead shortly after the restart.
With a push from Chastain, Elliott reclaimed the lead on Lap 53.
Austin Cindric, Gilliland and Allmendinger had to start from the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments earlier in the weekend to his No. 2 Ford.
