NASCAR official explains Kyle Busch's restart placement in Nashville OT

Richard Childress Racing driver Kyle Busch was not deemed to be involved in Sunday’s NASCAR Overtime restart wreck at Nashville Superspeedway, NASCAR Cup Series Managing Director Brad Moran explained Tuesday in a radio appearance with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Though his No. 8 RCR Chevrolet did make contact with the wall in the aftermath of an incident between Kyle Larson and Ross Chastain on the second of a series-record five overtimes, Busch was lined up in the fourth position for the ensuing green flag despite slowing to avoid the incident and getting passed by other cars as a result.

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“It‘s not so much getting his spot back. His spots weren‘t taken away,” Moran said. “Our rule clearly states that you must maintain a reasonable speed — reasonable speed for what track conditions are at the time. We don‘t want to encourage drivers to stay on the gas and just bang their way through. What he did was he avoided the incident. We deemed him not involved in that incident. He didn‘t stop. If he stopped, he probably would have ended up toward the back of the field.

“He was scored in the fourth-place position when that caution came out, and he didn‘t get into the 1 (of Chastain) or the 5 (of Larson). Made very sight contact with the wall. We would deem that as not being involved in the incident, and that‘s why he was able to restart where he was scored.”

The determination was also based on scoring-loop data, which NASCAR officials monitor in real-time during the race and showed Busch in fourth place at the time of the incident.

“That was right off the scoring loop; loop No. 4,” Moran said. “That was the last loop that the leaders were scored on. It really came down to, do we view him as being involved in the wreck? We determined he avoided being involved in the wreck.”

Later in the race, Larson’s No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet ran out of fuel in front of Busch, collecting the No. 8 in a separate incident and saddling the two-time Cup Series champion with a 27th-place finish.