Category: NASCAR Cup Series

NASCAR Cup Series

NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Las Vegas

Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished 10th at Las Vegas.

“I’ve got a comfortable points lead,” Harvick said. “There’s a safe distance between me and the cut off line. And that’s exactly how I plan to race at Talladega—a ‘safe distance’ from the front.”

2. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin won Stage 1 at Las Vegas and went on to a third-place finish in the South Point 400.

“I’m now a co-owner with Michael Jordan of a car to be driven by Bubba Wallace,” Hamlin said. “It’s great to have M.J. involved in our sport. And I’m sure this isn’t the first time Michael’s ‘put money on’ NASCAR.”

3. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski started 12th and finished 13th at Las Vegas.

“I battled handling issues all day,” Keselowski said. “The No. 2 Auto Trader Ford was just not responsive. And trust me, I was talking to it all day, with language unfit even for Kyle Busch’s radio.”

4. Chase Elliott: Elliott finished 22nd in the South Point 400.

“Hendrick Motorsports was fined $100,000 for a wind tunnel violation,” Elliott said. “Apparently, we exceeded the amount of time you’re allowed in the wind tunnel. That’s pretty much the definition of ‘blowing’ $100,000.”

5. Kurt Busch: Busch secured his spot in the playoff Round of 8 with a win in his hometown of Las Vegas.

“There was a little luck involved,” Busch said. “I took the lead when a caution flew during green-flag pit stops. So, maybe I didn’t have the best car, but I had enough car. It’s a case of ‘Local boy makes good enough.’”

6. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex finished fourth at Las Vegas and is now sixth in the playoff points standings.

“We’ve got Talladega next on the schedule,” Truex said. “And who knows what might happen there? That’s always the question at Talladega, and as questions go, it’s a ‘big one.’”

7. Joey Logano: Logano finished 14th at Las Vegas, as an early tire issue set him back in the field.

“That ‘tire issue’ was caused by contact with Kyle Busch,” Logano said. “Trust me, if I could have no contact with Kyle Busch, I’d be thrilled.”

8. Alex Bowman: Bowman finished fifth at Las Vegas and now stands seventh in the standings.

“I’m one of the drivers who are hovering around the cut off line,” Bowman said. “It’s tough on one’s mental state. Plus, we’ve got Talladega to deal with. That means we may have to deal with wrecks, all while trying not to be a nervous wreck.”

9. Kyle Busch: Busch finished sixth in an up-and-down day at Las Vegas.

“I’ve now gone 30 races without a win,” Busch said. “So I know I’m due. And I’m counting on ‘when’ and ‘win’ intersecting at Talladega.”

10.Aric Almirola: Almirola finished 17th in the South Point 400.

“I’ll most likely need a win to advance,” Almirola said. “And Talladega will be a challenge, so I’ll need good aerodynamics and the good Lord on my side. So, I’m heading to Alabama’s superspeedway on a ‘wing and a prayer.’”

September 29, 2020
Kurt Busch achieves first triumph at Las Vegas; clinches Round of 8 spot

For Kurt Busch, there is no greater feeling than winning at home. Taking the lead with over 30 laps remaining, the former Cup Series & Daytona 500 champion outlasted the field through two late restarts and persevered in a two-lap shootout to win the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, September 27, and achieve his first victory at his home track in his 22nd attempt. The win marked Busch’s 32nd of his NASCAR Cup Series career as it also snapped his 46-race winless drought dating back to July 2019 at Kentucky Speedway.

The starting lineup was based on four statistical categories: current owner standings, the driver’s result from a previous Cup race, the team owner’s result from a previous Cup race and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Cup race. With that, Kevin Harvick started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Kyle Busch.

When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Chase Elliott, who started in third place, jumped on the gas and overtook Harvick and Kyle Busch entering Turn 2 to lead the first lap. Behind, Joey Logano also moved up to second place while Austin Dillon battled Harvick and Kyle Busch for third place.

By the fifth lap, Elliott was ahead by less than two-tenths of a second over Logano while Kyle Busch settled in third place. Harvick continued to run in fourth place followed by Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr. while Austin Dillon joined the party. Behind, teammates Aric Almirola and Clint Bowyer along with Alex Bowman and Ryan Blaney battled for spots inside the top 10. By then, the remaining 12 Playoff contenders were scored inside the top 15.

Following the first 10 laps of the race, Elliott continued to lead by more than a second over Logano followed by Kyle Busch, Harvick and Kurt Busch. Meanwhile, Bowman, Blaney and Truex battled for sixth place while Austin Dillon and Bowyer were running inside the top 10. Almirola fell back to 12th in front of Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Jimmie Johnson and Matt DiBenedetto.

With the early portions of the race continuing to progress, Elliott continued to stabilize and extend his advantage to more than three seconds over Kyle Busch, who overtook Logano earlier for the runner-up spot. During the early green flag run, Harvick overtook Logano for third place while Blaney moved into the top five ahead of Hamlin, Austin Dillon, Bowman, Truex and Kurt Busch.

When the competition caution flew on Lap 25, Elliott was still scored ahead of the field and by more than three seconds over Kyle Busch with Harvick, Logano and Blaney in the top five. By then, Hamlin, Austin Dillon, Bowman, Truex and Bower were running in the top 10 while Keselowski, Almirola and Kurt Busch were in 13th, 14th and 17th.

Under caution, the leaders pitted and Kyle Busch emerged with the lead after exiting pit road in first place. Harvick exited in second place followed by Hamlin, Logano and Elliott. Following the pit stops, Christopher Bell and William Byron were sent to the rear of the field due to speeding on pit road.

When the race restarted under green on Lap 30, teammates Kyle Busch and Hamlin restarted on the front row followed by Hamlin, Logano, Elliott and Truex. At the start, Truex attempted to make a move beneath Logano, but Logano blocked him and was nearly turned in the process. At the front, Hamlin emerged with the lead followed by Kyle Busch, Logano, Harvick, Elliott and Truex.

The following lap, Elliott attempted to pull beneath Logano for position, but Logano pulled an aggressive block on Elliott and the two made contact. Both, nonetheless, continued to run towards the front despite the on-track altercation.

Shortly after, Logano moved into second place after passing Kyle Busch while Harvick, Truex and Elliott closing in behind. In addition, Bowyer and Bowman started to join the battle towards the front while Hamlin continued to lead by less than three-tenths of a second over Logano.

By Lap 40 and with the competitors towards the front continuing to battle, Hamlin continued to lead by half a second over Logano while Kyle Busch trailed by less than a second. Elliott and Truex were in the top five followed by Harvick, Bowman, Austin Dillon and Bowyer. Kurt Busch and Almirola were in 15th and 19th while Keselowski was mired back in 22nd. By then, Ryan Blaney was the highest-running non-title contender in 10th place while DiBenedetto, Erik Jones, Johnson and Bubba Wallace were running inside the top 15. Earlier, Tyler Reddick made an unscheduled pit stop due to a loose right-rear wheel.

Ten laps later, on Lap 50, Hamlin started to extend his advantage to nearly a second over Logano followed by Kyle Busch, Elliott and Harvick, who overtook Truex for position and was followed by Bowman. Meanwhile, Keselowski was still mired back in 21st while Byron moved up to 19th. By then, eight of the 12 Playoff contenders were running in the top 10. Bowyer was in 11th, Kurt Busch was in 14th and Almirola was in 16th.

Another ten laps later, on Lap 60, Hamlin stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Logano followed by Kyle Busch, Elliott and Harvick while Bowman, Austin Dillon, Blaney, Truex and Matt DiBenedetto were scored in the top 10. Bowyer was in 11th place ahead of Jimmie Johnson and Erik Jones while Almirola and Kurt Busch were in 14th and 15th. Keselowski was back in 20th place behind Cole Custer, William Byron, Bubba Wallace and Michael McDowell.

With 70 laps complete, Hamlin extended his advantage to three seconds over Logano. By then, eight of 12 Playoff competitors led by Hamlin were running inside the top 10. Bowyer was in 11th place, teammate Almirola and Kurt Busch were in 14th and 15th and Keselowski gained a spot to 19th place. Meanwhile, Blaney and DiBenedetto were the two highest-running non-title contenders in eighth and 10th.

When the first stage concluded on Lap 80, Hamlin retained the lead by two seconds over Logano as he claimed his ninth stage win of the season. Logano settled in second place followed by Kyle Busch, Elliott and Harvick while Austin Dillon, Blaney, Bowman, Truex and Bowyer were scored in the top 10. By then, Keselowski dropped back to 21st place.

Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Kyle Busch reassumed the lead following a stellar stop from his pit crew. Logano exited in second place followed by Hamlin, Elliott, Austin Dillon and Bowyer.

The second stage started on Lap 86 with Kyle Busch and Logano on the front row. At the start, Busch and Logano battled dead even for the lead as the field behind battled in a three-wide situation. Back at the line Logano led Lap 87, but in Turn 2, Hamlin made a bold three-wide move on teammate Kyle Busch and Logano to reassume the lead.

By the time the field returned to Turn 4, Logano started to slide out of the top 10 after he sustained a left-rear tire run on his No. 22 Pennzoil Ford Mustang as a result from contact with Kyle Busch. Two laps later, he pitted under green and he lost a lap to the leaders.

At the front, on Lap 90, Hamlin was ahead while Elliott started to close in on Hamlin for the lead. On Lap 91, Elliott passed Hamlin on the inside line through Turns 2 and 3 to return to the lead. Bowman was in third place followed by Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon while Truex, Harvick, Bowyer, Johnson and DiBenedetto were scored in the top 10.

On Lap 100, Elliott stabilized his advantage to more than half a second over Hamlin while Bowman, Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon continued to run inside the top five. Truex, Harvick and Bowyer were in the top 10 while Kurt Busch was in 12th place ahead of Keselowski and Almirola. Logano was mired back in 30th place.

Ten laps later, on Lap 110, Elliott continued to lead by less than a second over Hamlin followed by Bowman, Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon. While Truex and Harvick continued to run in sixth and seventh, Keselowski made his way up to 13th place behind Kurt Busch and Bowyer. Almirola was in 14th while Logano was still mired in 30th place. Johnson was in eighth place followed by Blaney and DiBenedetto while Byron made his way back up to 15th place ahead of Jones, Cole Custer, Bell, John Hunter Nemechek and McDowell. Matt Kenseth was in 21st ahead of Chris Buescher while Ryan Newman was in 25th behind Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

With approximately 150 laps remaining in the overall race, green flag pit stops started to occur as Truex pitted followed by Harvick, Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Austin Dillon, Elliott and Bowman. During the cycle of green flag pit stops, Kyle Busch had a slow stop due to a broken pit gun to change the tires. In addition, Johnson was assessed a speeding penalty on pit road while Kurt Busch slid slightly over his pit box.

Nearly six laps later and with most of the lead lap competitors pitting under green, Byron was scored as the leader followed by Buescher, Newman and Corey LaJoie, all of whom needed to pit. Elliott and Hamlin were back in fifth and sixth.

At the halfway mark on Lap 134, Byron continued to lead over Buescher, Newman, LaJoie, Elliott and Hamlin.

By Lap 140, teammates Buescher and Newman were running first and second on the track followed by Elliott, Hamlin, LaJoie and Truex. A few laps earlier, Byron pitted under green after leading 12 laps.

Five laps later, on Lap 145, Elliott reassumed the lead after Buescher pitted. Hamlin returned to second place followed by Bowman, Truex and Austin Dillon while Blaney was in sixth place. Prior to this, Newman also pitted under green.

With five laps remaining in the second stage and the leaders encountering lapped traffic, Elliott was scored as the leader by half a second over Hamlin followed by Bowman, Truex and Austin Dillon. Blaney, Harvick, DiBenedetto, Kyle Busch and Bowyer were in the top 10 followed by Byron, Almirola, Keselowski, Custer and Bell. Kurt Busch was in 17th while Logano was mired back in 27th.

With the laps in the second stage dwindling, Hamlin started to close in and challenge Elliott for the stage win. Though Hamlin continued to pounce behind him, Elliott was able to navigate his way through lapped traffic and win the second stage on Lap 160 for his eighth stage victory of the season. Hamlin emerged in second place followed by Bowman, Truex and Blaney while Austin Dillon, Harvick, Bowyer, DiBenedetto and Byron were scored in the top 10. Kyle Busch, Almirola and Keselowski were in 11th, 12th and 13th while Kurt Busch was in 17th and Logano was in 27th. Prior to the stage’s conclusion, Reddick scrubbed the Turn 1 outside wall after sustaining a flat right-front tire and he limped back to pit road with right-side damage on his No. 8 Caterpillar Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE.

Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Hamlin emerged with the lead after exiting pit road in first place followed by Bowman, Elliott, Truex, Blaney and Austin Dillon. Harvick fell back to 10th place behind Bowyer, DiBenedetto and Byron.

The final stage commenced with 102 laps remaining and with the sun starting to set. At the start, Bowman shoved Hamlin clear of Elliott and into the lead through Turns 1 and 2. Then, Bowman overtook Hamlin to assume the lead for the first time with 100 laps remaining.

With Bowman leading and Hamlin pursuing him, Elliott and Truex battled for third place while Blaney was in fifth place ahead of Bowyer, Austin Dillon, DiBenedetto, Byron and Custer.

Nearly five laps later, Hamlin reassumed the lead after overtaking Bowman. He then started to extend his advantage to nearly half a second while Elliott battled and overtook teammate Bowman for the runner-up spot. Truex and Blaney were in the top five followed by Bowyer, DiBenedetto, Austin Dillon, Byron and Harvick. Meanwhile, Keselowski moved up to 11th place while the Busch brothers were in 13th and 14th. Almirola was in 15th while Logano was mired back in 26th, a lap down.

With 80 laps remaining, Hamlin maintained a three-tenths of a second lead over Elliott while Bowman, Truex and Blaney were scored in the top five. Bowyer was in sixth place followed by DiBenedetto, Austin Dillon, Keselowski and Byron. Harvick and Kurt Busch were in 11th and 12th while Kyle Busch and Almirola were in 14th and 15th. Logano was still mired in 26th place behind Jimmie Johnson. Meanwhile, Nemechek, Custer and Bell were in 13th, 16th and 18th while Kenseth and Newman were in 20th and 23rd.

Two laps later, the caution flew due to debris spotted in Turn 2. Under caution, the leaders pitted and Hamlin retained the lead after exiting pit road in first place followed by Truex, Bowman, Elliott and Blaney. Following the pit stops, Austin Dillon was sent to the rear of the field due to a safety violation.

The race restarted under green with 71 laps remaining and with teammates Hamlin and Truex on the front row ahead of teammates Bowman and Elliott. At the start, Hamlin retained the lead in Turn 2 while DiBenedetto made a bold four-wide move on Bowman, Truex, Elliott and Blaney to move into second place.

While DiBenedetto went to work on Hamlin for the lead, Bowman retained third place followed by Truex, Blaney and Bowyer while Elliott fell back to seventh place ahead of teammate Byron. Not long after, Bowman moved into second place after passing DiBenedetto while Truex and Blaney joined the party. Behind, teammates Elliott and Byron battled for sixth place while Keselowski moved into ninth place over Bowyer, Harvick and Kyle Busch.

With 60 laps remaining and the track falling into night conditions under the track’s lights, Hamlin continued to lead by half a second over Bowman while DiBenedetto continued to hold strong in third place ahead of Truex, Blaney, Elliott and Byron. Keselowski moved up to eighth place followed by Erik Jones, Bowyer, Harvick and Kyle Busch. Almirola and Kurt Busch were in 14th and 15th while Austin Dillon, following his late pit road penalty, moved back up to 20th place. Logano, however, was mired in 28th place and was still a lap down.

Ten laps later, with 50 laps remaining, Hamlin extended his advantage to over Bowman. DiBenedetto retained third place while Elliott started to challenge Truex for fourth place and with Blaney lurking behind. Erik Jones moved up to seventh place in front of Byron, Keselowski, Harvick, Bowyer, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch and Almirola.

By then, Austin Dillon, who was trying to work his way back to the front following his pit road penalty, pitted under green due to power steering and overheating issues, and to have broken belts replaced. Though he continued following the repairs, the late mechanical issues were enough to evaporate Dillon’s recent strings of strong results and to start the Round of 12 in the Playoffs.

Down to the final 40 laps of the race, Hamlin stabilized his advantage to less than a second over Bowman while Truex, one of the fastest cars on the track, moved into third place. DiBenedetto settled in fourth place while Blaney and Elliott battled for fifth place. Jones, Keselowski, Byron and Harvick were scored in the top 10 ahead of Bowyer, the Busch brothers, Almirola and Christopher Bell. Johnson was in 17th place behind Custer while Logano and Austin Dillon were in 27th and 33rd. Meanwhile, Kenseth and Newman were in 22nd and 23rd, Bubba Wallace was in 28th behind Logano and Buescher was in 18th ahead of Nemechek, McDowell and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Under the final 40 laps, green flag pit stops occurred as Kyle Busch pitted along with Harvick, Bowman, Blaney, Truex, Byron, Hamlin, Elliott, Bowyer and Keselowski.

Shortly after, the caution flew with 32 laps remaining due to debris coming off of Johnson’s No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE with Johnson sustaining a flat right-rear tire. By then, some that included DiBenedetto had yet to pit while Bowman passed Hamlin to emerge as the first car a lap down. Under caution, some that included Kurt Busch, Buescher, Nemechek, Bell, Kenseth and McDowell pitted. Ultimately, DiBenedetto cycled back as the leader of the race followed by Kurt Busch while Bowman was back in 10th place. Others that included Hamlin, Truex, Blaney, Elliott, Keselowski, Jones, Kyle Busch, Byron and Harvick would take the wave around to cycle back on the lead lap.

Following a cleanup session and when the field cycled through, the race restarted under green with 25 laps remaining and with DiBenedetto and Kurt Busch on the front row. At the start, the field expanded to three- and four-wide racing through the turns while Kurt Busch and DiBenedetto battled dead even for the lead.

With 23 laps remaining, Kurt Busch emerged with the lead over DiBenedetto while Bell, Nemechek and Newman moved into the top five over Kenseth and Buescher. Blaney carved his way to eighth place followed by Johnson and McDowell. Meanwhile, Playoff contenders Bowman, Hamlin, Elliott, Harvick, Truex and Keselowski were mired back in 11th through 16th.

Three laps later, with 20 laps remaining, Kurt Busch continued to lead by a narrow margin over DiBenedetto. Bell continued to settle in third place followed by Nemechek and Newman. Behind, Blaney and Bowman overtook Kenseth for sixth and seventh as both continued to march to the front with fast cars.

A few laps later, the caution flew when Nemechek spun below the apron in Turn 3 before he came up across the track, where he was avoided by the field, though Jones and Stenhouse made contact with one another and against the Turn 3 outside wall to avoid hitting Nemechek.

Under caution, some that included Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Truex, Harvick, Keselowski, Jones, Almirola and Byron pitted while the rest led by Kurt Busch and DiBenedetto remained on the track. In addition, Logano, the first car pinned a lap behind, received the free pass to return on the lead lap.

With 13 laps remaining, the race restarted under green with Kurt Busch jumping in front of DiBenedetto and retaining the lead. Behind, Blaney was the first competitor to peak out in a three-wide battle for positions while Bowman started to battle Newman, Bell and others for third place.

Down to the final 10 laps of the race, Bowman and Blaney, both of whom were the fastest cars on the track, started to gain ground on Kurt Busch and DiBenedetto for the lead while Hamlin also started to move back into the top five.

With eight laps remaining, Kurt Busch was still ahead by less than two-tenths of a second over DiBenedetto and Bowman was in third while Hamlin started to battle Blaney for fourth place and the field behind continued to dice for positions. During this time, Bell fell off the pace after making contact with the wall on the backstretch.

Shortly after, the caution returned when Byron spun across the frontstretch after bumping into Bell as LaJoie also sustained damage, which evaporated a slim lead for Kurt Busch and created an opportunity for Bowman, Hamlin and Blaney to pounce again.

The racing under green resumed with two laps remaining and with Kurt Busch and DiBenedetto on the front row followed by Bowman, Blaney, Hamlin and Newman. At the start, Kurt Busch jumped ahead with a strong start. In Turn 2 and with the field fanning out, Hamlin passed Bowman and DiBenedetto to move into second place through Turns 3 and 4 as Kurt Busch started the final lap of the race.

On the final lap, Hamlin was stuck in a battle with DiBenedetto for second place. By then, Bowman, Truex and Blaney battled for fourth through sixth on the track while Kyle Busch made his way up to seventh place. Though DiBenedetto cleared Hamlin for second place in Turn 2, Kurt Busch was starting to stabilize his narrow advantage entering Turn 3. In Turn 4, Kurt Busch was able to pull ahead and win by a tenth of a second over DiBenedetto.

With the win, Busch punched his ticket into the Round of 8 in the Playoffs as he became the 12th winner of this year’s Cup season while recording the first victory of the season for Chip Ganassi Racing. In addition to achieving its sixth victory of the season, Chevrolet achieved its 1,500th win across NASCAR’s three major division series (Cup, Xfinity and Truck).

“This is what kids dream of when they grow up racing,” Busch said in Victory Lane on NBCSN. “You dream of winning at your hometown track and for two decades, it’s kicked my butt. Tonight, with this Monster Energy Chevy, I’m in awe. I knew the race would come to us we needed it to get to nightfall. One of those quirky [crew chief] Matt McCall pit sequences finally unfolded. We got lucky. You got to be lucky and you have to be lucky in any race, but we did it tonight with teamwork and pulling through and just not giving up. This is Vegas.”

“[Hamlin] had ton of speed,” Busch added. “I was wide open and you just have to manipulate the draft. I pulled out some old drag racing skills on the restarts. I knew that that was our strong suit, I knew that that was the Ford’s weak suit. We just put ourselves in position and we held them off. [Team owner] Chip Ganassi was up in the suites somewhere and I could feel him breathing over my neck, ‘I wanna win,’ and we did it.”

DiBenedetto tied his career-best Cup result by finishing in second place as he came up one position shy of recording the 100th win for the Wood Brothers Racing team while Playoff contenders Hamlin, Truex and Bowman rounded out the top five.

“Two seconds at Vegas,” DiBenedetto said. “It’s tough to come that close, just wanted it so bad for this team. I love driving for the Wood Brothers. I want that number 100 [win] for them so bad and for Menards, the whole family and everything they do for us and the team, and having Duracell on the car this week, we’re keeping her charged up good. Our car was the best it had been at the end, just couldn’t get control on those restarts. [Kurt Busch] did a great job. We had completely different ratios for the restarts and once he gained control of the race, he played the right games on the restarts, knew what we had on our weakness there. Man, it’s tough to come that close. I just want it so bad, but I’m proud of the team. They did a great job. My pit crew did a great job tonight and really earned that one for us.”

“We had a dominant car today and I’m proud of the whole FedEx team for giving me such a great car,” Hamlin said. “By far the best car I’ve had in Las Vegas in a long time. It was really, really good. Happy with it and this new tire here. We’ll run that a few more times this year. Really encouraged by the way we ran, but very disappointed that we didn’t get a win. It’s just been the way that the playoffs have gone. Whoever stays out the longest puts themselves in a great spot to win. I feel good about it. I certainly had a great day. It’s something I’m happy about, it’s about how we ran and how fast we were. We restarted 13th there with just a few laps and then the top got shuffled and we were able to make some ground on the bottom. If either one of the cautions don’t happen, we’re still in great shape, but it took them like seven laps to get a piece of debris off and then we had debris right in the fuel window.”

“I guess it is good to be disappointed in a fifth-place finish,” Bowman said. “We did not need that caution to come out in the middle of the pit cycle like that. I thought it was going to be ok for us, but we just couldn’t get through traffic as well as we needed to. Our program is continuing to improve and I just feel like this is another Vegas race that go away from us. At least it was a good points day, which is what we need.”

Kyle Busch, who won at his home track in the Cup circuit in 2009, settled in sixth place while Blaney, Erik Jones, Buescher and Harvick rounded out the top 10.

“We weren’t great early on and didn’t quite have the long run speed,” Kyle Busch said. “We worked on it and I thought we were making some gains on it and then we got that damage and got way back in traffic. Then there towards the end, was just able to get lucky on a couple of the last restarts in order to pick off a few spots with the M&M’s Camry and get ourselves in a better position for the finish. It was a pretty dismal day I guess. I looked like it was going to be about 12th or 14th if we didn’t have some good moves on that last restart there to get us a sixth-place finish.”

Keselowski finished in 13th followed by teammate Logano while Almirola and Elliott finished 17th and 22nd. Austin Dillon ended his night in 32nd place. Jimmie Johnson finished in 11th place in his 22nd and final run at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

There were 20 lead changes for 11 different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 36 laps.

Results.

1. Kurt Busch, 29 laps led

2. Matt DiBenedetto, eight laps led

3. Denny Hamlin, 121 laps led, Stage 1 winner

4. Martin Truex Jr.

5. Alex Bowman, five laps led

6. Kyle Busch, six laps led

7. Ryan Blaney, one lap led

8. Erik Jones

9. Chris Buescher, 10 laps led

10. Kevin Harvick

11. Jimmie Johnson

12. Clint Bowyer

13. Brad Keselowski, two laps led

14. Joey Logano, one lap led

15. Ryan Newman

16. Cole Custer

17. Aric Almirola

18. Matt Kenseth

19. Ryan Preece

20. John Hunter Nemechek

21. Michael McDowell

22. Chase Elliott, 73 laps led, Stage 2 winner

23. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

24. Christopher Bell

25. William Byron, 12 laps led

26. Ty Dillon, one lap down

27. Corey LaJoie, one lap down

28. Bubba Wallace, two laps down

29. Daniel Suarez, three laps down

30. Brennan Poole, three laps down

31. Gray Gaulding, six laps down

32. Austin Dillon, seven laps down

33. J.J. Yeley, seven laps down

34. Quin Houff, nine laps down

35. Joey Gase, 12 laps down

36. Josh Bilicki – OUT, Suspension

37. Timmy Hill – OUT, Rear end

38. Tyler Reddick – OUT, Accident

39. Chad Finchum – OUT, Engine

Bold indicates Playoff contender

Playoff standings.

1. Kurt Busch – Advanced

2. Kevin Harvick +61

3. Denny Hamlin +58

4. Brad Keselowski +16

5. Martin Truex Jr. +15

6. Joey Logano +11

7. Chase Elliott +10

8. Alex Bowman +9

9. Kyle Busch -9

10. Clint Bowyer -20

11. Aric Almirola -27

12. Austin Dillon -32

The Round of 12 in the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs will continue next Sunday, October 4, at Talladega Superspeedway for the YellaWood 500. The race will occur at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.

September 28, 2020

Weekend schedule for Las Vegas

All three NASCAR national series will compete at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this week. The Cup Series will begin the Round of 12 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Sunday night as the Playoffs continue.

Friday night the Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series will kick off the weekend’s events with the second race of the Round of 10 on their playoff schedule. The Xfinity Series will hit the track Saturday at 7:30 p.m. for the second race in their Round of 12.

Saturday night will also feature the ARCA Menards Series West at the Las Vegas Bullring.

All times are Eastern.

Friday, September 25

9 p.m.: Truck Series World of Westgate 200 (Stages 30/60/134 Laps = 201 Miles) FS1/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Pole: Brett Moffitt

Saturday, September 26

10 a.m.: ARCA Menards Series West Qualifying (at Las Vegas Bullring)
3:05 p.m.: ARCA Menards Series West General Tire 150 (at Las Vegas Bullring)
7:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series Alsco 300 (Stages 45/90/200 Laps = 300 Miles) NBCSN/PRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Pole: Chase Briscoe

Sunday, September 27

7 p.m.: Cup Series South Point 400 (Stages 80/160/267 Laps = 400.5 Miles) NBCSN/PRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Pole: Kevin Harvick

Cup Series Round of 12 Playoff Drivers

Rank	Driver	Points
1	Kevin Harvick	3067
2	Denny Hamlin	3048
3	Brad Keselowski	3035
4	Joey Logano	3022
5	Chase Elliott	3021
6	Matin Truex Jr.	3016
7	Alex Bowman	3009
8	Austin Dillon	3005
9	Aric Almirola	3005
10	Kyle Busch	3004
11	Clint Bowyer	3004
12	Kurt Busch	3001

September 24, 2020

Harvick awarded pole position for Cup Playoff race at Vegas

In what has been a dominating season for him and his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford team, Kevin Harvick will start on pole position for the upcoming NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, September 27.

Harvick, who won last weekend’s Playoff race at Bristol Motor Speedway, was awarded the pole based on four stats: current owner points standings, driver’s results, and team owner’s results from a previous Cup race, and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Cup race.

Sunday’s race at Vegas will mark the fifth time this season, the second time at Vegas, and the third time in the previous five Cup races where Harvick will lead the field on pole position as he continues his quest for a second Cup championship.

Sunday’s race at Vegas will also serve as the first race in the Round of 12 in the 2020 Cup Playoffs after last weekend’s race at Bristol featured the first four contenders (Ryan Blaney, William Byron, Cole Custer, and Matt DiBenedetto) eliminated from the Playoffs.

Kyle Busch, who aims to snap his 29-race winless drought of this season at his home track this weekend, will start alongside Harvick on the front row. Chase Elliott, Aric Almirola, and Joey Logano will start in the top five.

Clint Bowyer will start in sixth place followed by Austin Dillon, Alex Bowman, and Kurt Busch. Denny Hamlin, coming off a historic announcement to field a NASCAR Cup Series team with NBA legend Michael Jordan and to have Bubba Wallace as the team’s driver in 2021, will start in 10th place. Martin Truex Jr. and Brad Keselowski will start in 11th and 12th.

Starting in positions 13-26 are Erik Jones, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher, Michael McDowell, Jimmie Johnson, Matt DiBenedetto, Matt Kenseth, Ryan Preece, Cole Custer, Bubba Wallace, Ty Dillon, John Hunter Nemechek, and Christopher Bell.

Starting in positions 27-39 are Ryan Newman, William Byron, Daniel Suarez, Gray Gaulding, Corey LaJoie, Quin Houff, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Joey Gase, Brennan Poole, Timmy Hill, J.J. Yeley, Josh Bilicki, and Chad Finchum.

The NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will occur on Sunday, September 27, at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

September 23, 2020
Almirola, Kurt Busch and Bowyer claim final transfer spots to the Round of 12

The 2020 Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 19, was the site of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff’s Round of 16 finale. Following an eventful 500-mile battle under the lights at Thunder Valley, with a number of competitors vying for transfer spots to the Round of 12 in the Playoffs, four competitors had their title hopes for this season eliminated. While some were left disappointed, others were left with relief feelings of transferring to the second round. Among those left satisfied included Aric Almirola, Kurt Busch and Clint Bowyer, all of whom were three of 12 competitors who will continue to battle for the title entering the second round of the Playoffs.

For Almirola, he came into Saturday night’s race at Bristol with a four-point cushion above the top-12 cutline after finishing ninth and eighth during the first two races of this year’s Playoffs at Darlington Raceway and at Richmond Raceway, respectively.

Starting in 10th place in his No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang, Almirola dealt with early loose-handling conditions. Under caution past the Lap 30 mark, he pitted for fresh tires and adjustments and was able to drive up to as high as sixth place on the ensuing restart. During a long green flag run, Almirola fell back to the top 15 and went on to conclude the first stage on Lap 125 in 18th place.

Restarting in 17th place for the second stage, Almirola was able to fight his way back inside the top 10, where he spent throughout the stage. Racing in ninth place by Lap 236 and gaining a spot on pit road, he went on to conclude the second stage in seventh place as he earned a handful of stage points.

Restarting in seventh place for the final stage, he made his way into the top five with less than 100 laps remaining. With approximately 92 laps remaining, the caution flew for a multi-car wreck and Almirola was one of six competitors left on the lead lap. Hitting pit road for the final time under caution, Almirola restarted in sixth place and was able to drive his way up to fifth place with 50 laps remaining. For the remainder of the race, Almirola retained fifth place on the track as his top-five result was more than enough for him to transfer into the second round of the Playoffs.

Almirola’s career-high sixth top-five result at Thunder Valley not only extended his momentum and surge in competing for the title, but it also extended the Floridian’s consistent stretch since June as he claimed his 14th top-10 result since June at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

“Yes, we’re moving on to round two in the Playoffs and keeping our championship hopes alive,” Almirola said in a post-race statement on Twitter. “We had a top five tonight at Bristol, which was a great run for us. We missed it a bit to start. [Crew chief Mike] Buga [Bugarewicz] and the guys just kept fighting and kept adjusting. I was scrapping in the car to get everything I could get. We drove back into the top 10 after falling behind and then, was able to make some more adjustments and drive up into the top five and finish fifth. Really proud of everybody on this race team. Excited to be going on to round two in the Playoffs. Thank you to Smithfield, Ford,…everybody that makes this deal go round. It felt so good to have 30,000 fans back in the stands tonight. That was really nice tonight. Looking forward to Vegas, kicking off round two in the Playoffs and seeing if we can’t go get some more.”

Since this year’s Playoffs began at Darlington Raceway, Kurt Busch came into the postseason with a game plan and a competitive approach to contend for this year’s championship since he won his first and only title in 2004. After finishing eighth and 13th during the first two Playoff races, Busch and his No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team were also four points above the top-12 cutline.

Lining up in 13th place, the Las Vegas, Nevada, native dropped back inside the top 20 during the early portions of the race. He was scored in 17th place by Lap 30 and under caution. Restarting in 16th place on the ensuing restart and after pitting while addressing loose-handling conditions to his race car, Busch methodically made his way towards the front and was able to crack the top 10 as the long run under green progressed. By the time the first time concluded on Lap 125, Busch was scored in sixth place as he collected valuable stage points.

Restarting inside the top 10 for the second stage, Busch was able to carve his way into the top five despite battling loose-handling conditions to his car. He kept himself well inside the top five throughout the stage and he brought the No. 1 car home in fifth place when the second stage concluded, thus collecting more stage points.

Lined up in fifth place for the final stage, Busch quickly fell back to 10th place while reporting a vibration to his No. 1 car. He surrendered his track position to make an unscheduled pit stop with approximately 175 laps remaining. Nearly twenty-five laps later and by the time he returned to the track, he was scored in 26th place, three laps behind the leaders and on the bubble zone in vying for a transfer spot to the Playoffs. For the remainder of the race, Busch gained one of his laps back, but he was unable to make up the lost time and positions from the vibration issues. When the checkered flag flew, Busch finished in 15th place, two laps behind the leaders. His result, nonetheless, was enough for him to transfer into the second round of the Playoffs.

Though Kurt Busch has yet to score his first victory of this season, his 15th-place result marked his third consecutive top-15 result to start the Playoffs as he sets his focus on the second round of the Playoffs, beginning next weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, his home track.

Photo by Tim Jarrold for SpeedwayMedia.com.

“It was a good day, we had a loose wheel and we battled after that, but our stage points are what really helped the Monster Energy Chevy tonight.” Busch said. “That gave us the cushion we needed to absorb the problem that we had. All-in-all we advanced and that’s what we expected to do and that is what we have to continue to do. We will do it through teamwork and execution. The next round we have a mile-and-a-half [Talladega] Superspeedway and then the [Charlotte] Roval. We’ve just got to be on our toes, keep adjusting and adapt to all the things that are coming our way in the next round.”

For Bowyer, his results during the first two races of this year’s Playoffs have been like his 26-race regular-season stretch, where they have been consistent. Having finished 10th at Darlington and Richmond, the Emporia, Kansas, native started the night at Bristol holding sole possession of the 12th and final transfer spot to the Round of 12 by a mere three points over William Byron.

Starting in 11th place in his No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Cummins Ford Mustang, Bowyer was scored in 10th place through the first 30 laps of the race while under caution. Throughout the stage and under a long green flag run, the handling of Bowyer’s car went away as he was fighting loose conditions. Losing spots on the track, he went on to conclude the stage in 19th place.

Restarting in 16th place for the second stage, Bowyer kept himself inside the top 20 throughout the stage. By then, however, he was scored outside of the top-12 cutline and was in jeopardy of not advancing to the second round of the Playoffs. Then, in the closing laps of the stage, good fortune came for Bowyer and his No. 14 team when William Byron, whom Bowyer was battling for a transfer spot in the Playoff standings, wrecked. Pitting under caution and finishing in eighth place in the second stage while also collecting a handful of stage points, Bowyer moved back inside the top-12 cutline.

Scored in eighth place for the final stage, Bowyer began to make his way into the top five. With approximately 80 laps remaining, he was one of six competitors scored on the lead lap following an on-track incident. Restarting in second place on the ensuing restart, Bowyer dropped back to sixth place as he battled with teammate Aric Almirola for position. Knowing he needed to race cautiously for the remainder of the event, Bowyer brought the No. 14 car home in sixth place and was able to race his way into the second round of the Playoffs.

Bowyer’s accomplishment allowed three of Stewart-Haas Racing’s four-car lineup to transfer into the Round of 12 in the Playoffs. For Bowyer, notching three consecutive top-10 results to start the Playoffs gave him an extra sense of boost to conclude this season on a high note with his racing plans for next still currently undetermined.

“I was struggling, way too loose pretty much all night,” Bowyer said in a post-race conference on Zoom. “I saw [Byron’s wreck]. That’s a shame for William. He had a good run going. It’s short track racing. You don’t have time to think about points and all that stuff. There’s nothing you can do. You attack the race track one hundred percent every lap, especially at a bull ring like this. I love these short tracks. Obviously, [I] was hoping to be a little bit better, but at the end of the day, we did what we came here to do. That was to advance. You come here to win the race, but proud of [teammate] Kevin Harvick and everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing for winning the race here, taking care of business with the Nos. 10 and 14. We’ll move on and live to see another round here in the Playoffs.”

With their accomplishments, Almirola, Kurt Busch and Bowyer join Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Martin Truex Jr., Austin Dillon, Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman and Kyle Busch as the 12 competitors who will continue to compete for this year’s Cup title in the Round of 12 in the Playoffs.

Almirola, Kurt Busch and Bowyer, along with their fellow competitors, will return for the next scheduled NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, September 27, at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

September 20, 2020
DiBenedetto’s Playoff Run Ends with 19th-Place Finish at Bristol

Matt DiBenedetto and the No. 21 Menards/Dutch Boy team had some good luck and some bad in Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, but in the end, not enough good fortune to advance to the Round of 12 in the Cup Series Playoffs.

DiBenedetto started Saturday’s 500-lapper, the final race in the first Playoff round, from 16th place. He moved up to 12th place then took the lead by taking just two tires during a caution period at Lap 30. He ran among the top five for more than 60 laps, but the caution flag he needed for the two-tire strategy to work never flew. At a disadvantage tire-wise, he ended the Stage in 12th place.

DiBenedetto and the Menards/Dutch Boy team again experienced equal doses of good and bad luck in the second Stage. On the 61st lap of the second Stage, DiBenedetto had to make a green-flag pit stop because of a loose wheel.

He rejoined the race in 29th place, three laps down, but good luck was riding with him. His fresher tires allowed him to regain one of the laps under the green flag, then he regained another lap by taking the wave-around when fellow Playoff driver William Byron wrecked in the closing laps of that Stage. Then when the caution flag flew to end the stage, DiBenedetto was in the free pass position and was able to return to the lead lap for the start of the final segment of the race.

A penalty for speeding on pit road sent him to the rear of the field for the restart, but he worked his way forward and was running seventh, a lap down, with less than 100 laps to go.

Still, the win he needed to advance in the Playoffs remained a long shot. DiBenedetto held his position until the bad luck returned in the form of a cut tire with just under 10 laps remaining.

A green-flag pit stop put him back three laps and left him with a 19th-place finish and elimination from the Playoffs.

DiBenedetto said after the race that the team’s perseverance at Bristol gives him hope for a strong finish to the 2020 season.

“Tonight shows the fight that we have as a team, rebounding like that,” he said. “I just hate that we miss the next round.

“We had some not-so-good races, bad luck tonight, you name it, but we’ve got a lot of season left. We still have a lot of positions in points to fight for, and we have fast race cars like you see tonight, so we still have a lot of stuff left and hopefully a lot of good things to come.”

Eddie Wood said it just wasn’t in the cards for his family team to advance in the Playoffs.

“It was a long shot going into Bristol,” he said. “We ran pretty good. The car was tight early in the race, but adjustments got it better.

“We needed some luck on our side and got some at times in the race. But luck goes both ways and we saw that with a cut tire at the end.

“We’ll move on and make the most of these next seven races.”

DiBenedetto and the No. 21 team now head to Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where they finished second earlier this season.

Menards

A family owned company started in 1958, Menards is headquartered in Eau Claire, WI. Menards has more than 300 retail stores located throughout the Midwest in the states of IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, MI, MN, MO, NE, ND, OH, SD, WI and WY. Menards is known throughout the home improvement industry as the low price leader. It’s famous slogan “Save Big Money at Menards” is widely known and easy to remember. For more information, visit Menards.com, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest.

Wood Brothers Racing

Wood Brothers Racing was formed in 1950 in Stuart, Va., by Hall of Famer Glen Wood. Wood Brothers Racing is the oldest active team and one of the winningest teams in NASCAR history. Since its founding, the team won 99 races (including at least one race in every decade for the last seven decades) and 120 poles in NASCAR’s top-tier series. Fielding only Ford products for its entire history, the Wood Brothers own the longest association of any motorsports team with a single manufacturer. Glen’s brother, Leonard, is known for inventing the modern pit stop. The team currently runs the Ford Mustang driven by Matt DiBenedetto in the famous No. 21 racer.

September 20, 2020
Four Takeaways from the NASCAR Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series Race at Bristol
The NASCAR Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series visited Bristol Motor Speedway this past Thursday night for race No. 1 of the 2020 Truck Series Playoffs, and for the most part, the racing didn’t disappoint.

Surprisingly, the UNOH 200 was run mainly under caution-free conditions and provided a new series winner. Sam Mayer, one of the up and coming rising stars in the stock world, broke through and won for the first time in the NASCAR Truck Series after passing teammate and playoff driver, Brett Moffitt, with less than 30 to go. The Wisconsin native became the second-youngest winner in Truck Series history at the age of 17.

While Mayer got the victory in the series, there were other drivers who also enjoyed their most recent best runs of the night. But most of the playoff grid struggled with Moffitt being the highest of the 10 in the point standings, finishing second in the running order.

Let’s take a look at some of the highlights and stories you may have missed in this week’s Takeaways following the UNOH 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
1. Tanner Gray Matches Career-Best – Tanner Gray in the No. 15 DGR-Crosley Ford enjoyed another career-best of third Thursday night at Bristol. Gray’s 2020 rookie season has been a learning curve for the most part since coming over from the NHRA Pro Stock division the year prior. The third-place finish was his second of the year since he finished third at Michigan earlier in the summer. It was a great run that was needed after having recent finishes outside the Top 15.
2. Chandler Smith and Parker Kligerman Grab Top Five Finishes – Speaking of much needed runs, Chandler Smith grabbed a top-five finish at Bristol. Smith has not had a kind 2020 so far with most of his finishes coming in either 20th or 23rd place. In fact, his last top-five finish in the Truck Series came last year at Phoenix where the Georgia native finished third for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Meanwhile, Parker Kligerman was back in the No. 75 Henderson Motorsports Chevrolet for his sixth start of the season. Kligerman used strategy to his advantage and ran a clean race to bring home the No. 75 for a fourth-place result, his best finish at Bristol since 2018.
3. Trevor Bayne Disqualified – Trevor Bayne was entered in only his third Truck start of his career and season last Thursday for Niece Motorsports. The Nashville, Tennessee driver originally finished fifth in the running order, in what would have been his best career Truck Series finish. Unfortunately for Bayne, he was disqualified and relegated to a last-place finish for failing post-race tech due to ride heights.
4. Camping World Returns In 2021 – Announced late last week, previous title sponsor Camping World, will return to sponsoring the Truck Series next year for 2021. Camping World last sponsored the series in 2018, before Gander RV and Outdoors took over in 2019 and through the end of this year.
September 20, 2020
Blaney, Custer and DiBenedetto fail to transfer in the 2020 Cup Playoffs

While the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 19, was a good race for some, it was a disappointing night for others, particularly those vying for a transfer spot to the Round of 12 in the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs and came into Bristol on the outside of the top-12 cutline in the standings. When the checkered flag flew, the championship runs for Ryan Blaney, Cole Custer and Matt DiBenedetto came to an end as they joined William Byron in failing to transfer to the Round of 12 in the Playoffs.

For Custer, he was coming off 12th- and 14th-place results during the first two Playoff races of this season. Despite the top-15 results, he was eight points below the top-12 cutline to advance to the Round of 12 in the Playoffs.

Starting back in 12th place while battling with early loose landing conditions to his No. 41 HaasTooling.com/Autodesk Ford Mustang, the Ladera Ranch, California, native was in 14th place by Lap 30 under the competition caution. On the ensuing restart, Custer jumped to 11th place and he continued to run in that position through Lap 50. Twenty-five laps later, he was back in 21st place. By Lap 100, Custer had fallen back to 24th place. By the time first stage concluded on Lap 125, he settled in 24th place.

Throughout the second stage, Custer continued to struggle with the handling of his No. 41 Ford as he was mired outside the top 20 on the track. Falling a lap behind the leaders, he could only move up to 21st place when the second stage concluded on Lap 250, the halfway point of the race.

Battling tight conditions to his car and still pinned a lap behind the leaders while also struggling to keep pace with his Stewart-Haas Racing teammates, Custer was on the verge of being eliminated while running below the top 20. With 100 laps remaining, he fought his way up to 16th place. Though he was scored in 13th place under the final 100 laps of the race, he made multiple pit stops to have the front nose of his car repaired as a result of making contact prior to a restart. The loss of track positions and the laps behind the leaders ended his run towards the front as he crossed the finish line in 23rd place, three laps behind the leaders.

With his result, Custer was eliminated from title contention, having missed the cutline by 28 points, while teammates Kevin Harvick, Aric Almirola and Clint Bowyer advanced to the Round of 12. Being eliminated from title contention was a disappointing outcome for the Californian in a season where he achieved his first Cup career win at Kentucky Speedway in July and wrapped up the 2020 Cup Rookie-of-the-Year title in being the lone rookie candidate to make this year’s Playoffs.

“We just struggled here,” Custer said. “I don’t know why. I’ve always liked Bristol, it just hasn’t come together this year here. We’ve just really struggled. I just can’t thank everybody enough at SHR, everybody at HaasTooling.com, Autodesk. I just wish we had a better night. We were just a little bit off. I think we can hang our heads high on what we’ve done this year, but we still have a lot of races to win the rest of this year, so we just have to keep building.”

If there was an underdog that was a part of this year’s Playoffs, it was DiBenedetto in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford Mustang. For DiBenedetto, he was coming off 21st- and 17th-place results during the first two races of the Playoffs. With his pair of results, the Grass Valley, California, native was 25 points below the top-12 cutline and needed a strong run at Bristol Motor Speedway to keep his title hopes alive.

Starting in 16th place in the No. 21 Menards/Dutch Boy Ford Mustang, DiBenedetto had a decent opening run on Saturday night as he settled inside the top 15 on the track. Nearing the Lap 30 mark and when the first caution flag of the race flew, DiBenedetto and the No. 21 crew made an early gamble and came out of pit road with the lead following a two-tire pit stop. Restarting in first place on Lap 40, he led a total of seven laps, including under caution, before he was overtaken by Brad Keselowski on Lap 43. Despite only have two fresh tires compared to the majority of the field, DiBenedetto continued to run in second place. For nearly the next 50 laps, he continued to run in second place until he was overtaken by Chase Elliott. From there, DiBenedetto continued to slide backwards throughout the long run under green as he dropped out of the top five. When the first stage concluded on Lap 125, he was out of the top 10 and was scored in 12th place as he failed to record a stage point.

In the early laps of the second stage, DiBenedetto was in 15th place. By then, he was scored outside of the top-12 cutline in the Playoff standings. As the race progressed, he dropped back to the top 20. Near the Lap 190 mark, things started to fall apart for DiBenedetto when he was forced to pit under green due to a loose right-rear wheel as a result of running over debris on the track. By the time he returned to the track, he was three laps behind the leaders and was unable to regain the lost laps for the remainder of the second stage.

For the final half of the 500-lap race, DiBenedetto was en route to regain the lost laps from the second stage. Running in 11th place at one point in the race, he, ultimately, crossed the finish line in 19th place, three laps behind the leaders. As a result, he fell 41 points shy of transferring to the second round in the Playoffs.

The end result served as a disappointing outcome for DiBenedetto, who started this season as the newest driver of the iconic No. 21 Ford Mustang for Wood Brothers Racing and achieved two top-five results and seven top-10 results throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch, including a 12th-place run in the regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway in August, to make this year’s Playoffs.

“If we didn’t have bad luck, we wouldn’t have any luck at all,” DiBenedetto said on NBCSN. “I don’t know. It’s just frustrating. I wanted to get Menards, Dutch Boy, this team a good run like they deserve because we’ve had a rough couple of weeks. Had a loose wheel, overcome it, drive through the entire field and a lot of green flag [run]. We get seventh hoping for a caution, but either way, we drove in the top 10, good run. And I was screaming debris in [Turn] 1 three damn times and we found it. We ran it over multiple times and that cuts the right rear [tire], and it just ruins our day.”

Though he was disappointed in being eliminated from title contention, DiBenedetto remained positive and was pleased with the opportunity in making his first Playoff appearance as a title contender and experiencing the competitiveness with the Wood Brothers Racing team this entire season. Though he does not have his racing plans for next season set, he sets his primary focus towards the final seven races of this season in earning as many strong results before the season concludes.

“I can’t possibly explain to people the emotional roller coaster of doing this for a living,” DiBenedetto added. “I am very appreciative to do it, love it and I hope I’m driving for this team next year and hope to keep on doing it. We have a lot to build off of. We’re just barely getting started. It is tough. I’m glad we made the Playoffs, I’m proud of my team. Tonight shows the fight we have as a team, rebounding like that. I just hate we missed the next round and had some not good races, bad luck, you name it. We got a lot of season left. We still have a lot of position in position to fight for. We have fast race cars like you see tonight. So, we still have a lot of stuff left and hopefully, lot of good things to come.”

A few days prior to the Bristol Night Race, Blaney issued a stern warning to his fellow competitors and the competition that he would do whatever it took, especially with a fast race car, to move others out of his path to win by any means and keep his title hopes alive. After coming off finishes of 19th and 13th in the first two races of this year’s Playoffs, Blaney was 27 points below the top-12 cutline in the Playoff standings and in jeopardy of not transferring to the second round in the postseason.

Starting in 14th place, Blaney wasted no time making his way to the front in the No. 12 Advance Auto Parts Ford Mustang. By Lap 60 and after methodically fighting his way towards the front, he was scored in fifth place while his two Penske teammates, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano, were also running at the front. Initially primed for a strong result in the first stage, things slowly backfired as the race went into a long run under green. During the run, he dropped out of the top five and out of the top 10 as he continued to lose more spots while battling tight conditions. By the time the first stage concluded on Lap 125, Blaney was mired back in 23rd place.

Throughout the second stage, Blaney was mired back in and out of the top 20 on the track and was struggling to fight his way back to the front. During an eight-lap dash to the conclusion of the stage, however, he was able to march his way back inside the top 15 and conclude the stage in 11th place, missing an opportunity claim a stage point by one position.

Needing to win and give it his all in the final stage, Blaney started the final stage on a strong note as he made his way back into the top 10 and not long after, in the top five. Less than 150 laps remaining, however, Blaney pitted under green due to a right front issue on his No. 12 Ford. Falling back, Blaney managed to work his way back to 13th place, two laps down, when the checkered flag flew and he finished.

The top-15 result, however, was not enough for Blaney to keep his championship hopes alive as he missed the top-12 cutline by 37 points. The end result at Bristol served as a disappointing outcome for Blaney and his No. 12 Ford team following an up-and-down 26-race regular-season stretch, where he won at Talladega Superspeedway in June, achieved eight top-five results, 11 top-10 results and started the season with veteran crew chief Todd Gordon. Blaney’s team was also hit with a 10-point penalty prior to the Playoff opener at Darlington Raceway early in September due to an improperly mounted ballast that was discovered on his car, a penalty that had Todd Gordon suspended for one race.

“We started off tight and then that second run, we got really tight after the competition caution,” Blaney said on NBCSN. “[We] Lost a lot of track position. After that, we kind of was able to drive up through there. I think we got to fifth or sixth at one time. We got super tight again and it went really long. That just kind of made it worse. We just got behind there. The track just swung really tight. I was tight all night, but it swung really tight on us. That was just the wrong direction that the track needed to be at. That stinks. I thought we got our car pretty close there in the second half of the race, second stage and then, we were on the cycle of pitting and getting laps down and was on old stuff. Unfortunate end for this No. 12 group, but I’m really proud of the effort this year. We’re not done, for sure. We can still go try to win races and try to get fifth in points. Thanks to Advance Auto Parts, Menards and Ford for what they do. We got seven more races.”

Blaney, Custer and DiBenedetto, along with their fellow competitors, will return for the next scheduled NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, September 27, at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

September 20, 2020
Byron’s title hopes ends at Bristol

A long season filled with on-track challenges, resilience and late momentum for William Byron, crew chief Chad Knaus and the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team ended with a disappointing outcome in the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 19. Following an on-track incident with a lapped car in the closing laps of the second stage throughout the main event, Byron ended his night in the garage and as one of four competitors who were knocked out of title contention this season.

For Byron, he was coming off a fifth-place run at Darlington Raceway, the Playoff opener in the beginning of September, and a 21st-place result last weekend at Richmond Raceway. Coming into Bristol, he was three points below the top-12 cutline and he needed a strong run under the lights at Thunder Valley to transfer into the Round of 12 of the Playoffs.

Starting in 15th place, Byron gained four spots on the track through the first 30 laps of the race and just as the first caution of the race flew for an on-track incident. During the ensuing restart, he was able to crack the top 10 as he continued to methodically work his way towards the front. When the first stage concluded on Lap 125, Byron and the No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE were scored in eighth place as he collected a handful of stage points. By then, the Charlotte native moved back inside the top-12 cutline.

Restarting in seventh place when the second stage started, Byron remained within the top 10 on the track for the majority of the stage and was in position of transferring to the second round of the Playoffs.

It all came to a crashing end, however, with less than 20 laps remaining in the second stage. He was running in 10th place when he ran into the back of Christopher Bell, who checked up for the lapped car of Joey Gase, and sustained front-nose damage with smoke coming out of the No. 24 car. The damage was enough to force Byron to nurse his No. 24 Chevrolet to the garage, where he parked it and climbed out dejected as his hopes of winning at Bristol and advancing to the second round of the Playoffs came to an end.

The final scoreboard placed Byron in 38th place, 268 laps shy of the finish, while teammates Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman transferred to the Round of 12 in the Playoffs after finishing seventh and 16th, respectively.

“I think [Gase] – it was like a black and green car – checked up in the middle of the straightaway,” Byron said on NBCSN. “As fast as we were running the top [lane], I was riding behind [Christopher Bell] and I had, literally, nowhere to go. You can’t stop in the middle of the straightaway when everybody’s so committed to the top like that. Just ridiculous that that’s what takes us out. I thought, honestly, we had a shot to run top five or seven. The car was really, really good. We just needed a couple good pit stops. We were running ninth or 10th there. Just super disappointing. I gotta go back and watch that because that was ridiculous.”

The late misfortune of not advancing to the Round of 12 in the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs served as a disappointing end to Byron’s run for a first Cup title following an up-and-down 26-race regular-season stretch, where he finished in last place in the season-opening Daytona 500 due to an early accident, earned nine top-10 results and rallied by scoring his first Cup career victory in his 98th career start at Daytona, the regular-season finale, in August and to claim a Playoff berth for this season, second of his career.

The Charlotte native will remain as a Hendrick Motorsports competitor in the NASCAR Cup Series through 2022.

Byron, along with his fellow competitors, will return for the next scheduled NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, September 27, at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

September 20, 2020
Harvick scores ninth Cup victory of 2020 at Bristol

Having won two weeks ago at Darlington Raceway and securing his spot to the second round of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, Kevin Harvick came into the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 19, with an objective to win again and extend his momentum to a dominating season. Under the lights at Thunder Valley and with the grandstands packed with a limited number of fans, Harvick accomplished his mission after outlasting a vicious battle from Kyle Busch over the final 40 laps and grabbing another thrilling victory of this season. The victory marked Harvick’s career-high ninth of the season and the 58th of his Cup career, which kept him in ninth place in the all-time Cup wins list.

The starting lineup was based on four statistical categories: current owner standings, the driver’s result from a previous Cup race, the team owner’s result from a previous Cup race and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Cup race. With that, Team Penske’s two-car lineup occupied the front row with Brad Keselowski on pole position and teammate Joey Logano starting next to him.

Prior to the race, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Erik Jones started at the rear of the field due to their respective cars failing pre-race inspection twice. J.J. Yeley also dropped to the rear of the field due to a driver change along with Bubba Wallace and Corey LaJoie, both due to unapproved adjustments.

When the green flag waved and the race started, Keselowski jumped ahead with the lead as he led the opening lap while Kevin Harvick moved up to second place over Logano. Behind, Chase Elliott moved up to fourth place followed by Martin Truex Jr., Alex Bowman and Austin Dillon.

Five laps into the race, Keselowski stabilized a nearly two-tenths of a second lead over Harvick. Behind, teammates Aric Almirola and Clint Bowyer battled for eighth place in front of teammate Cole Custer, all of whom were also vying for transfer spots to the Round of 12 in the Playoffs. Settling behind Custer were Ryan Blaney and Matt DiBenedetto, both of whom started the evening below the top-12 cutline.

With the first 10 laps of the race complete and the early racing around the circuit settling in, Keselowski continued to stabilize his advantage to nearly three-tenths of a second over Harvick followed by Logano, Elliott and Truex. Behind, teammates Kyle Busch, Hamlin and Jones made their way into the top 30 after starting at the rear of the field.

On Lap 18, Harvick made his way into the lead after passing Keselowski. Two laps later, Harvick started to extend his advantage to nearly a second over Keselowski followed by teammate Logano, Elliott and Truex while Austin Dillon was closing in for a top-five spot. Way behind the leaders, Kyle Busch was using the high lane to march his way to the front. By then, he was scored inside the top 25.

The first caution of the race flew near the Lap 30 mark when contact from Jimmie Johnson entering Turn 2 sent Ricky Stenhouse Jr. spinning and making head-on contact into the inside wall just before he slid across the banking in Turn 3. The damage to Stenhouse’s No. 47 Kroger Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, which was engulfed in flames and spilling oil through Turns 3 and 4, was enough to end his night with a wrecked race car. The caution for Stenhouse’s incident served as the competition caution originally planned on Lap 30. By then, Harvick was ahead by nearly two seconds over Keselowski.

Under competition caution, the leaders pitted and DiBenedetto, driving the Wood Brothers Racing’s No. 21 Menards/Dutch Boy Ford Mustang, emerged with the lead following a two-tire stop. Tyler Reddick exited in second place after he also elected for a two-tire stop followed by Keselowski (the first on four tires), Logano, Harvick and Elliott. During the pit stops, Kyle Busch was pinned behind Daniel Suarez in his pit box and was shuffled all the way back to 25th place. In addition, Ryan Newman was sent to the rear of the field for speeding on pit road.

When the race restarted on Lap 40, DiBenedetto retained the lead followed by Keselowski and Logano. On Lap 43, Keselowski reassumed the lead from DiBenedetto. Behind, Reddick slipped back to ninth place behind Logano, Elliott, Bowman, Almirola, Blaney and Truex.

By Lap 50, Keselowski extended his advantage to more than a second over DiBenedetto while Logano also trailed by more than a second. Meanwhile, Harvick was in 10th place followed by teammate Cole Custer, Christopher Bell, Austin Dillon, Bowyer and William Byron. Hamlin was in 16th followed by Kurt Busch while Kyle Busch was back in 22nd behind Erik Jones.

Ten laps later, on Lap 60, Keselowski was still ahead by nearly two seconds over DiBenedetto while Logano was locked into a battle with Elliott for third place. In addition, Blaney and his No. 12 Advance Auto Parts Ford Mustang cracked the the top five while Almirola and Truex stared to catch Alex Bowman for sixth place. By then, Harvick was in ninth, Byron was in 13th, Hamlin was in 15th and Kyle Busch moved back into the top 20. With that, all 16 Playoff contenders were running inside the top 20.

Another 10 laps later, on Lap 70, and with the leaders starting to approach lapped traffic, Keselowski and his No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang were ahead of second-place DiBenedetto by more than two seconds with Logano and Elliott trailing by approximately three seconds. By then, Kyle Busch and his No. 18 Skittles Toyota Camry continued to muscle towards the front in 14th place behind Austin Dillon’s No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE.

With the laps winding down in the first stage, Keselowski was still leading by more than two seconds over DiBenedetto, who was still holding strong with two fresh tires, while Elliott made his way into third place over Logano. Blaney continued to run in fifth place while Harvick muscled his way into sixth place in front of Bowman and Truex. In addition, Kyle Busch made his way up to ninth place followed by Almirola, Reddick and Byron. Kurt Busch, Austin Dillon, Hamlin and Clint Bowyer were running in the top 20 while Cole Custer was the lowest-running Playoff competitor in 24th place.

By Lap 93, Elliott made his way into second place after passing DiBenedetto. In addition, Harvick passed Blaney and started to track DiBenedetto and Logano for more. Additionally, Kyle Busch started to challenge Blaney for sixth place.

When the field reached the Lap 100 mark, Keselowski was still ahead by more than a second over Elliott. Behind, Kyle Busch made a bold move on the inside lane in Turn 3 to move into fourth place ahead of DiBenedetto and Harvick. Soon after, Busch moved into third place after passing Logano. By then, Harvick was still stuck behind DiBenedetto as Bowman started to join the party.

With the battling around the track continuing to intensify, the battle for the lead started to ignite as Elliott cut the deficit to a tenth of a second over Keselowski. On Lap 107, Elliott and his No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE emerged with the lead over Keselowski.

By Lap 110, Elliott extended his advantage to nearly a second over Keselowski while Blaney fell all the way back to 14th place. Kyle Busch was still in third place followed by Logano, Harvick and Bowman while DiBenedetto had fallen back into eighth place ahead of Kurt Busch and Byron.

With five laps remaining in the first stage, on Lap 120, Elliott was still leading by less than a second over Kyle Busch, who continued to close for the lead while encountering heavy lapped traffic, while Harvick passed Keselowski to move into third place.

When the first stage concluded on Lap 125, Elliott was able to claim his seventh stage win of the season. Kyle Busch settled in second place followed by Harvick, Bowman and Bell. Kurt Busch, Keselowski, Byron, Logano and Bubba Wallace were scored in the top 10. With his top-10 result in the first stage, Logano clinched his spot for the Round of 12 in the Playoffs. By the time the first stage concluded, Hamlin, DiBenedetto, Truex, Almirola, Bowyer and Austin Dillon were in 11th, 12th, 15th, 18th, 19th and 20th. In addition, Blaney fell all the way back to 23rd place ahead of Custer.

Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Kyle Busch emerged with the lead followed by Elliott, Harvick, Bowman and Kurt Busch. Prior to the restart and under the Choose Rule effect, Bowman moved up to the front row beneath Kyle Busch while Elliott and Logano lined up in the second row. Byron and Harvick lined up in the third row followed by Kurt Busch, Hamlin, Keselowski and Wallace,

The second stage started on Lap 136 with Kyle Busch launching ahead with the lead while Bowman was able to move in front of teammate Elliott and retain second place. Elliott, Harvick, Logano and Kurt Busch retained third through sixth in a single-file line followed by Keselowski, Byron, Hamlin and Bell. Behind, Truex and DiBenedetto were in 14th and 15th while running in front of teammates Bowyer and Almirola. Custer and Austin Dillon were mired back in 21st and 22nd while Blaney was back in 26th.

By Lap 150, Kyle Busch was ahead by less than a second over Elliott. Harvick and Logano moved up to third and fourth while Bowman settled back in fifth place ahead of Kurt Busch and Keselowski. By then, Bowyer, Custer, DiBenedetto and Blaney were scored outside the top-12 cutline in the Playoff standings.

Ten laps later, on Lap 160, Elliott cut Kyle Busch’s advantage to nearly six-tenths of a second while Harvick was trailing the two leaders by more than a second. Logano continued to run in fourth place followed by Kurt Busch, Bowman, Hamlin, Keselowski and Byron. Truex was back in 14th in front of Erik Jones, DiBenedetto, Bowyer and Almirola. Austin Dillon was mired back in 21st followed by Blaney and Custer while names like Ryan Newman, Daniel Suarez and Corey LaJoie were pinned a lap behind the leaders.

By Lap 175, Kurt Busch was scored in fifth place ahead of Hamlin while Bowman slipped back to seventh place. At the front, Kyle Busch was still leading by four-tenths of a second over Elliott with Harvick closing in on his rear bumper for the spot. Meanwhile, DiBenedetto and Blaney were mired back in 19th and 20th while Austin Dillon and Custer were in 21st and 23rd.

Nearing the Lap 190 mark, DiBenedetto made a pit stop under green due to a loose right-rear wheel. By the time he returned to the track, he was three laps behind the leaders as his title hopes for this season was slowly diminishing. At the front, Kyle Busch continued to lead despite encountering lapped traffic while Elliott and Harvick continued to battle for second place.

When the raced reached its 200-lap mark, Elliott and Harvick closed in to the rear bumper of Kyle Busch’s No. 18 Toyota for the lead while Custer, who was in 23rd place, was fighting to remain on the lead lap. Behind, Logano and Hamlin were still in the top five followed by Kurt Busch, Bowman, Bell, Keselowski and Byron. Almirola was in 13th while Bowyer was in 16th place, two spots ahead of Blaney. Truex and Austin Dillon were mired back in the top 20.

Nearing the Lap 220 mark, Truex made a pit stop under green due to a tire issue as a result of tapping the Turn 2 outside wall a few laps earlier, where he went straight into the wall. During Truex’s incident, teammate Hamlin, who had nowhere else to go, ran into the back of Truex’s No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota. Despite the damage to the front nose of his No. 11 FedEx Toyota, Hamlin continued to run in sixth place and the race remained under green.

By Lap 220, Kyle Busch was still leading by more than a second over Harvick and Elliott while Logano and Kurt Busch were in the top five. Ten laps later, on Lap 230, Harvick and Elliott were less than a second behind Kyle Busch while Logano and Kurt Busch continued to run inside the top five. Hamlin continued to run in sixth place despite the damage while Keselowski, who fell back inside the top 20, was lapped by Kyle Busch.

With less than 20 laps remaining in the second stage, the caution flew when smoke started billowing out of the No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE driven by William Byron as a result of Byron running into the back of Christopher Bell, who checked up for the lapped car of Joey Gase, and damaging the front nose of his Chevrolet on the track. The smoke was enough to send Byron to the garage as his hopes of moving to the second round of the 2020 Playoffs came to an end.

Under caution, the leaders pitted and Kyle Busch retained the lead following his pit stop ahead of Harvick and Logano.

With eight laps remaining in the second stage, the race restarted and Kyle Busch received a strong start to retain the lead. Harvick was in second place followed by Logano, Elliott and Kurt Busch. By then, teammates Almirola and Bowyer moved inside the top 10 along with Austin Dillon while Blaney was outside the top 10.

The second stage concluded under caution when Ryan Newman spun in Turn 2. At the front of the field when the stage concluded, the leader Kyle Busch was able to claim his second stage victory of the season. Harvick was scored in second place followed by Elliott, Logano and Kurt Busch. Bowman, Almirola, Bowyer, Erik Jones and Austin Dillon settled in the top 10 ahead of Blaney and Keselowski. With his result in the second stage, Elliott clinched his spot for the second round of the Playoffs.

In terms of points, Bowyer moved back inside the top-12 cutline while Custer, DiBenedetto, Blaney and Byron were scored outside of the cutline and in position of being eliminated from title contention.

Under the stage break, some like Keselowski, Bell, Matt Kenseth, Michael McDowell, Truex and Hamlin pitted while the rest led by Kyle Busch, Harvick and Elliott remained on the track. Prior to the restart and under the Choose Rule effect, Logano moved up to restart in second place beneath Kyle Busch while Harvick and Kurt Busch restarted in the second row.

With 240 laps remaining, the final stage commenced and Kyle Busch retained the lead following a strong start on the outside lane. Harvick moved up to second place in front of Logano while Elliott and Kurt Busch were in the top five. Behind, Blaney’s car started to come back alive as he moved up to eighth place behind Bowyer following his early struggles. In addition, Austin Dillon fought his way back to 10th place.

With 220 laps remaining, Harvick started to battle Kyle Busch for the lead. A lap later, Harvick emerged with the lead for the first time since Lap 34 following a pass on the outside lane. By then, Elliott was in third place ahead of Logano followed by Kurt Busch, Bowman, Blaney, Bowyer, Jones and Almirola. Austin Dillon was back in 11th place, Keselowski was in 13th and Custer was all the way back in 23rd. DiBenedetto was mired back in 24th while Truex was back in 28th.

Down to the final 200 laps of the race, the battle for the lead between Harvick and Kyle Busch continued to ignite while Keselowski was lapped by the leaders as he was battling power steering issues to his No. 2 Ford. In addition, Bowman made an unscheduled pit stop due to a vibration report on the No. 88 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. Elliott continued to run in third place while Logano and Kurt Busch settled in the top five. Blaney, who was still scored outside of the top-12 cutline in the Playoff standings, continued to march forward in sixth place while Bowyer, grasping with sole possession of the 12th and final transfer spot in the Playoffs, was in seventh place.

With less than 190 laps remaining, Blaney made his way into the top five in fifth place followed by Bowyer. At the front, Harvick continued to lead by approximately half a second over Kyle Busch while Elliott and Logano continued to run in third and fourth. A few laps later, Keselowski, who was black-flagged and pitted to address the issues to his No. 2 Ford, made the turn to the garage.

Fifteen laps later, with 175 laps remaining in the race, Harvick stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Kyle Busch while Elliott, Logano and Blaney continued to run in the top five. By then, non-title contenders like Erik Jones, Reddick and Jimmie Johnson were running inside the top 10. In addition, Kurt Busch, who was running in 12th place, made an unscheduled pit stop under green due to a loose wheel on his No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE.

Down to the final 150 laps of the race, Harvick extended his advantage to less than two seconds over Kyle Busch while Elliott trailed by less than six seconds. Meanwhile, Bowyer moved up into fourth place followed by Reddick, Logano, Johnson, Jones, Almirola and Austin Dillon. By then, Blaney, who fell back to 13th place, was lapped by Harvick as only 12 competitors were scored on the lead lap. Soon after, Blaney made a pit stop under green due to a right front issue.

With approximately 130 laps remaining, 10 competitors were scored on the lead lap. Not long after, Logano made a pit stop under green as Harvick continued to lead.

With 120 laps remaining, Harvick was still leading by less than four seconds over Kyle Busch. Behind, Elliott remained in third place, trailing the two leaders by six seconds, while Bowyer was in fourth place in front of Reddick and Johnson. Almirola was in eighth, Austin Dillon was in ninth and DiBenedetto was in 11th, a lap behind.

Down to the final 100 laps of the race, Harvick continued to navigate his way through the lapped traffic and maintain a nearly six-second lead over Kyle Busch. By then, eight competitors were scored on the lead lap while Austin Dillon was lapped in ninth place. In addition, pit stops under green started to occur as Hamlin pitted.

With 93 laps remaining, the caution flew when James Davison spun and made contact into the Turn 1 wall following on-track contact with Austin Dillon. The contact into Davison was a result of Dillon reacting to Harvick, who was slowing down, pulling his car below the apron and was initially prepared to pit before opting out due to the wreck, thus escaping with no damage. The wreck also nearly collected Custer, Truex and Johnson as Davison’s No. 53 car was coming back down from the banking. By then, six cars were scored on the lead lap.

Under caution, the leaders pitted and Harvick retained the lead followed by Kyle Busch, Bowyer, Reddick and Almirola. Prior to the restart and under the Choose Rule effect, Bowyer moved into second place and beneath teammate Harvick on the front row while teammates Jones and Kyle Busch lined up in the second row.

With 82 laps remaining, the race restarted and the outside lane continued to prevail as Harvick retained the lead followed by Kyle Busch and Bowyer. Jones settled in fourth followed by Reddick and Almirola with only six competitors scored on the lead lap. DiBenedetto was the first competitor a lap behind in seventh place followed by Chris Buescher, Ryan Preece and Michael McDowell.

At the front, the battle for the lead between Harvick and Kyle Busch started to ignite with 70 laps remaining. With both separated by three-tenths of a second, Busch would gain a run running on the outside lane entering the turns, but Harvick would have enough momentum entering the straightaways to maintain his advantage while running on the inside lane.

Ten laps later, with 60 laps remaining, Kyle Busch gained another run towards the rear bumper of Harvick’s No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang in his pursuit for the lead. Despite his late charge, Harvick managed to stabilize his advantage by less than half a second over Busch’s No. 18 Toyota. Behind, Erik Jones trailed by nearly three seconds while Bowyer was in fifth place in between Reddick and Almirola.

With less than 45 laps remaining, Harvick approached a handful of lapped traffic that included Austin Dillon and Blaney. With Harvick stalled behind the lapped cars of Blaney and Gray Gaulding, Kyle Busch made a move beneath Harvick and reassumed the lead with 41 laps remaining, though Harvick kept Busch within his sights.

With approximately 30 laps remaining, Harvick reassumed the lead following a tight, vicious battle with Kyle Busch, who was being held up by Logano’s No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang. By the time both cleared Logano, Harvick was back ahead by four-tenths of a second over Kyle Busch while Jones trailed by two seconds.

With approximately 20 laps remaining, Harvick and Kyle Busch continued to run in first and second, separated by two-tenths of a second. Meanwhile, Bell made contact into the wall after cutting a tire, but the race remained under green.

Down to the final 15 laps of the race, Harvick was still ahead by two-tenths of a second over Kyle Busch while Jones was behind by approximately a second and trying to close in on the two leaders. Five laps later, with 10 laps remaining, Kyle Busch continued to close by being a tenth of a second behind Harvick and with Jones trailing in third place by a second.

With five laps remaining, only three-tenths of a second separated Harvick and Kyle Busch with Erik Jones behind by eight-tenths of a second. Though Kyle Busch continued to remain within sight of Harvick, he could not close the gap to his rear bumper.

On the final lap, Harvick was still ahead with a narrow margin over Kyle Busch. Entering Turn 3, Busch gained a run and tried to run into the back bumper of Harvick’s No. 4 Ford to loosen him up for the lead and the win. He could not, however, draw himself to the rear bumper of Harvick entering the turn as Harvick had enough momentum to win and claim the checkered flag by three-tenths of a second over Busch.

With his victory, Harvick became the first competitor to claim two victories in this year’s Cup Playoffs, he claimed his third win at Bristol Motor Speedway and he notched his 35th win while driving for Stewart-Haas Racing in NASCAR’s premier series. In addition, Stewart-Haas Racing claimed its 65th Cup career win while Ford claimed its 17th victory of 2020.

“Yeah! Bristol, baby!” Harvick exclaimed on the frontstretch on NBCSN. “Man, I just wanna say thank you to all the fans. Thank you, guys! I was so jacked up when we started this race because of you guys and Bristol Motor Speedway. Just proud of everybody on our Busch Light Ford…To beat Kyle Busch at Bristol, I kind of got myself in a little bit of a ringer there. I hit a lapped car and got a hole in the right-front nose, but just kept fighting. We don’t have anything else to lose. We were here to try to win a race. I know how much [crew chief] Rodney [Childers] really enjoys coming here. Hell, how could you not enjoy coming here with all this enthusiasm. Everybody’s tired of being at home! I’m glad we’re all here having a hell of a time. Thank you!”

Kyle Busch settled in a disappointing second-place result for the fourth time this season and for his 12th top-five result of this season despite rallying from the rear of the field as his winless streak to the 2020 Cup season extended to 29 races. Though Busch was displeased with the lapped traffic, particularly at Logano, for interfering with his chances of beating Harvick, the lone silver lining for Busch and his No. 18 team was transferring to the Round of 12 in the Playoffs with an opportunity to defend last year’s title.

“[I] Just didn’t have enough there at the end,” Busch said on pit road on NBCSN. “The guys did a great job and gave me a really good piece tonight to contend and at least be up there and be close. Unfortunately, just didn’t have enough. Lapped cars were definitely a problem, but it’s part of racing. You got to try to get around them where you can. There’s just no room for me to do what I needed to do on a couple of those opportunities to get pass them. [Harvick], obviously, had the better car, the faster car, than us tonight. [Crew chief] Adam [Stevens] made some good adjustments on that last run in order to keep us in the ball game and keep us close…I don’t know. Just come up short. What do you say?”

Erik Jones finished in third place for his seventh top-five result of this season and as the highest-finishing non-title contender followed by Reddick. Teammates Almirola and Bowyer finished fifth and sixth as both Stewart-Haas Racing competitors transferred to the Round of 12 in the Playoffs. Elliott ended his night in seventh place, a lap behind, while Buescher, Preece and McDowell finished in the top 10. Jimmie Johnson finished 17th in his 38th and final run at Bristol.

Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr., Alex Bowman, Austin Dillon, Aric Almirola, Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer and Kurt Busch transferred into the Round of 12 in the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Cole Custer, Matt DiBenedetto, Ryan Blaney and William Byron were eliminated from title contention.

There were 14 lead changes for eight different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 50 laps.

Results.

1. Kevin Harvick, 226 laps led,

2. Kyle Busch, 159 laps led, Stage 2 winner

3. Erik Jones

4. Tyler Reddick

5. Aric Almirola, one lap led

6. Clint Bowyer

7. Chase Elliott, one lap down, 23 laps led, Stage 1 winner

8. Chris Buescher, one lap down

9. Ryan Preece, one lap down

10. Michael McDowell, two laps down

11. Joey Logano, two laps down

12. Austin Dillon, two laps down

13. Ryan Blaney, two laps down

14. Matt Kenseth, two laps down

15. Kurt Busch, two laps down

16. Alex Bowman, two laps down

17. Jimmie Johnson, two laps down

18. Ty Dillon, three laps down

19. Matt DiBenedetto, three laps down, seven laps led

20. John Hunter Nemechek, three laps down

21. Denny Hamlin, three laps down, one lap led

22. Bubba Wallace, three laps down

23. Cole Custer, three laps down

24. Martin Truex Jr., four laps down

25. Ryan Newman, four laps down

26. Daniel Suarez, five laps down

27. Gray Gaulding, 12 laps down

28. Christopher Bell, 13 laps down, one lap led

29. Quin Houff, 17 laps down

30. J.J. Yeley, 21 laps down

31. Joey Gase, 37 laps down

32. Garrett Smithley, 64 laps down

33. Corey LaJoie – OUT, Steering

34. Brad Keselowski, 88 laps down, 82 laps led

35. James Davison – OUT, Accident

36. Reed Sorenson – OUT, Electrical

37. Timmy Hill – OUT, Steering

38. William Byron – OUT, Accident

39. Josh Bilicki – OUT, Fuel pump

40. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Accident

Bold indicates Playoff contenders

Playoff standings.

1. Kevin Harvick – Advanced

2. Denny Hamlin – Advanced

3. Brad Keselowski – Advanced

4. Joey Logano – Advanced

5. Chase Elliott – Advanced

6. Martin Truex Jr. – Advanced

7. Alex Bowman – Advanced

8. Austin Dillon – Advanced

9. Aric Almirola – Advanced

10. Kyle Busch – Advanced

11. Clint Bowyer – Advanced

12. Kurt Busch – Advanced

13. Cole Custer – Eliminated

14. Matt DiBenedetto – Eliminated

15. Ryan Blaney – Eliminated

16. William Byron – Eliminated

The Round of 12 in the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs will commence at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the South Point 400. The race will occur on Sunday, September 27, at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

September 20, 2020