Paludo’s truck flipped over and slid on its roof down the frontstretch, spraying sparks as the metal scraped the asphalt. In the aftermath of the melee, Busch sat dazed — the wind knocked out of him — with his back against the concrete wall in the tri-oval.
 
Sauter was the clear winner, having escaped the last-lap crash to win for the third time this season and the ninth time in his career. When NASCAR sorted out the rest of the finishing order, David Starr took second place, followed by Ross Chastain, Parker Kligerman, Armstrong and Timmy Hill.
 
Off the final corner, series leader Matt Crafton was pushing ThorSport Racing teammate Sauter, Busch was shoving Armstrong, and Kligerman was pushing Chastain. Those three tandems appeared ready to settle the issue between them, before Paludo and Burton entered the fray and tried to force their way through the trucks ahead of them.
 
Paludo and Burton, however, ran out of room, and every other potential winner but Sauter ran out of luck.
 
"When we just crested the tri-oval there coming to the start/finish line, I saw smoke and trucks spinning everywhere," Sauter said. "I saw Matt was gone, and I was like, ‘Uh, oh, this isn’t good.’ It’s unfortunate. It would have been pretty cool to have a 1-2 finish, but what a great day for everybody at ThorSport."
 
After exiting the infield care center, Busch talked ruefully about a great superspeedway truck that left the track on a wrecker.
 
"It’s all done for," he said. "It’s unfortunate. The (truck) was really awesome. I don’t know what happened. Somebody just came up from underneath me and hit me, turned me left, and then the wreck was on.
 
"When you see the checkered flag, and you see things going in front of you, you just keep your foot on it. I drove it all the way to the start/finish. I guess I knocked the wall down there on pit road. That wasn’t very fun. There were a couple of really good licks that I took, so there’s no sense in sitting in a hot vehicle, you might as well get out and get some fresh air."
 
Crafton, who finished ninth after spinning short of the stripe, expanded his series lead to 57 points over 14th-place finisher Ty Dillon.
 
Justin Lofton, who was involved in the last-lap crash, was examined in the infield care center and transported to a local hospital for further evaluation. He was discharged from the hospital with a fractured left thumb on Saturday night, according to his official Twitter account.

MORE:

READ: Smoke itching to return	READ: ‘Dega: Wild Card or ace up the sleeve?	WATCH: 2014 Cup Series schedule release	READ: ‘Dega dynamics present challenges

"Coming to this track you have to expect the worse and it doesn’t matter if it’s just 30 feet from the line, something’s gonna happen.

"It’s just scary coming through there and getting hit and seeing a car upside down getting hit. All of a sudden I’m in the wall getting hit, then on pit lane, it happened so fast, just glad it’s all over with."

Wallace was unhurt even as his No. 54 Camping World/Good Sam Toyota Tundra was among the dozen cars totaled in the day’s final and most dramatic edition of Talladega’s "Big One."

Of the 12 drivers involved in the accident, only Chevy driver Justin Lofton was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation. Lofton suffered a fractured left thumb and was discharged on Saturday night, according to his official Twitter account.

The incident happened as the field was approaching the finish line. Three two-car drafts spread out across the track heading out of the final turn when just behind them Miguel Paludo’s Chevy got into the back of polesitter Jeb Burton’s Chevy triggering the accident.

Burton’s truck veered right and hit Sprint Cup Series driver Kyle Busch’s Toyota – which was one of the twosomes in the front of the field. As Busch’s truck ricocheted off the wall and came down across the track it collided with Paludo’s truck, flipping it on its roof for what looked like a frightening upside down ride around the tri-oval.

Busch’s car continued and made a hard impact in the pit wall. After climbing out of the wreckage, Busch sat down on track and leaned against the wall to catch his breath. Paludo was treated at the infield care center but declined to speak to reporters.

"I don’t know what happened there," Busch said after walking out of the care center. "Somehow the guys inside of me got turned around and hit me and I got turned left. Once you see a truck on fire you just keep your foot in it and try to drive through it.

"My truck was killed and I didn’t have any steering but I was still driving and then hit the end of pit road which wasn’t very smart. But when you’re racing for points you keep going till you see nothing.’’

“We were going to finish out the way it was — three tandems to the line, whoever made it there first was going to win."

Busch, who led twice for five laps, was pushing the less-experienced Dakoda Armstrong toward the finish and had resigned himself to a top-10 and 10th is amazingly what he ended up despite the accident.

Johnny Sauter won the race and five of the 12 drivers involved in the last lap wreck finished among the top-10.

"He (Armstrong) didn’t have enough experience to be able to side-draft those guys and it was frustrating being up there but not being able to do anything to go for the win."

Busch assured reporters he was fine, more aggravated at not having a real shot to win at the end.

"I took a couple good licks and instead of sitting in a hot steamy vehicle you might as well get out and get some fresh air that’s what I always try to do.

"It was going to end up okay, we just weren’t making up the ground we wanted to up top."

MORE:

READ: Smoke itching to return	READ: ‘Dega: Wild Card or ace up the sleeve?	WATCH: 2014 Cup Series schedule release	READ: ‘Dega dynamics present challenges