1. Chase Elliott: Elliott raced his way into the playoff finale with a commanding win at Martinsville.
“This is the biggest win of my career,” Elliott said. “If I can still say that after the race at Phoenix, then you’ll know I’m not the 2020 Cup champion.”
2. Joey Logano: Logano finished third at Martinsville and will be joined by Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin and Penske Racing teammate Brad Keselowski in battle for the Cup at Phoenix.
“2020 has been one of the most trying years in racing,” Logano said. “But if I take the championship in Phoenix, I’m gonna party like it’s 2019.”
3. Kevin Harvick: Harvick’s championship hopes were dashed with a 17-place finish at Martinsville,
“I turned Kyle Busch on the last lap in a last-ditch effort to gain a position,” Harvick said. “Or maybe I just wrecked Kyle because it makes me feel so darn good.”
4. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished 12th at Martinsville and squeaked his way into the playoffs.
“Luckily,” Hamlin said, “my Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Erik Jones didn’t pass me there at the end. If he would have, it would have been the first time a driver was fired twice from a race team.”
5. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski overcame a late speeding penalty to finish fourth and qualify for the championship finale at Phoenix.
“The tension was noticeable at Martinsville,” Keselowski said. “You could feel it. You could taste it. You could smell it. Interestingly enough, you could say the same thing about a Martinsville hot dog, often two days after you’ve eaten one.”
6. Alex Bowman: Bowman finished sixth at Martinsville.
“Bubba Wallace will be driving the No. 23 for Michael Jordan’s race team next season,” Bowman said. “It’s currently unknown who will sponsor the No. 23 car in 2021. I’m sure Jordan will have some big-name sponsors for that car. By the way, when a sponsor places its paint scheme on that No. 23 car, Jordan calls it ‘putting money on.
7. Aric Almirola: Almirola finished seventh in the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville.
“It was a disastrous day for Stewart-Haas Racing,” Almirola said. “Kevin Harvick missed a shot at the Cup championship and Clint Bowyer and myself spun each other. And it all means Tony Stewart won’t be bringing donuts to the drivers’ meeting, or at least to share with others.”
8. Kyle Busch: Busch finished ninth at Martinsville.
“Kevin Harvick spun me just before the finish line,” Busch said. “It’s okay. I know he was trying to make a kamikaze move to miraculously make the championship final. But I guess God wasn’t looking out for Kevin. While he wasn’t touched by an angel, I was ‘touched by an a-hole.’”
9. Kurt Busch: Busch finished fifth at Martinsville.
“Kyle Larson has been reinstated,” Busch said. “He’ll be driving the No. 5 car for Hendrick Motorsports next season. I’m not sure what the paint scheme will look like, but I’m guessing the colors will be ‘muted.’”
10. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex led as late as lap 457 at Martinsville but a loose wheel forced a pit stop under green, and Truex finished 22nd.
“Congratulations to the four drivers with a chance to win the Cup,” Truex said. “I guess I’m pulling for my JGR teammate Denny Hamlin. I’m not Denny’s biggest fan, but team orders dictate that I have to say that. And I wasn’t supposed to say that out loud, like you would, say, on a radio.”
With a championship spot on the line and his back against the wall in the final laps and in a “must-win” scenario, Chase Elliott rose to the occasion and walked it off in style after dominating and pulling away late to win the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway and race his way into the Championship 4 round at Phoenix Raceway, where he will contend for his first NASCAR Cup Series championship. The victory was Elliott’s first at Martinsville, fourth of the season and the 10th of his career in his 184th start in NASCAR’s premier series.
The starting lineup was based on four stats: current owner’s standings, driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Cup race and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Cup race. With that, Brad Keselowski started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Martin Truex Jr. Garrett Smithley was the lone competitor who started at the rear of the field due to a driver change.
Prior to the race, Playoff contender Denny Hamlin faced early adversity when a travel packer was left in the shock of his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry during pre-race inspection. Hamlin’s team, however, opted to not remove it to not fall to the rear of the field as he will start in fourth place.
When the green flag waved and the race started, Brad Keselowski jumped ahead with the lead as he led the first lap ahead of Martin Truex Jr. Behind, Alex Bowman settled in third place in front of Denny Hamlin while Kurt Busch and Joey Logano overtook Kevin Harvick for fifth and sixth. Not long after, Chase Elliott joined the party along with Kyle Busch.
On the fourth lap, Truex emerged with the lead and Hamlin made contact with Keselowski’s No. 2 Dent Wizard Ford Mustang entering Turn 4 to move into second place. Kurt Busch, facing a “must-win” situation, also made a move for third beneath Keselowski, who was able to settle in front of Bowman.
By Lap 10, Truex, racing in his No. 19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota Camry, continued to lead the race over teammate Hamlin with Kurt Busch, Keselowski and Bowman in the top five. By then, Elliott, Logano, Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney and Harvick were in the top 10. Way behind the leaders, Michael McDowell was back in 28th place and he continued to fall below the leaderboard while dealing with a major left-rear tire rub on his No. 34 Ford Mustang.
A few laps later, the left-rear tire on McDowell’s car flattened, but he was able to nurse his car back to pit road as the race proceeded under green. The situation went from bad to worse for McDowell, who was hit with a commitment line violation and was hit with a speeding penalty while serving a pass-through penalty, thus pinning him multiple laps behind the leaders.
By Lap 20, Truex stabilized his advantage to more than a second over teammate Hamlin, who had Kurt Busch and Keselowski closing in on him for the runner-up spot. Elliott was in fifth followed by teammate Bowman, Logano, Blaney, Kyle Busch and Harvick. By then, Clint Bowyer was in 12th ahead of Matt DiBenedetto and William Byron while Aric Almirola, Erik Jones, Austin Dillon, Ryan Newman and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. were in the top 20. Tyler Reddick was in 21st ahead of Ryan Preece, Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson were in 25th and 26th, Bubba Wallace and Daniel Suarez were in 28th and 29th and Chris Buescher was in 30th.
By Lap 30, Truex continued to lead by more than a second over teammate Hamlin while Kurt Busch, racing in his No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, continued to pressure Hamlin for the runner-up spot. Elliott muscled his way into fourth place over Keselowski while Bowman, Logano, Blaney, Harvick and Kyle Busch continued to run in the top 10.
When 40 of 500 laps were complete, Truex stabilized his advantage to nearly two seconds over teammate Hamlin, who had Kurt Busch and Elliott closing in for the runner-up spot. Keselowski continued to run in fifth place followed by teammates Blaney and Logano. Bowman fell back to eighth in front of Harvick and Kyle Busch.
With 50 laps complete, Truex continued to lead while Elliott, who bumped Hamlin a lap earlier, made a move beneath Hamlin to move his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE into second place. Kurt Busch dropped back to fourth place as Keselowski closed in for more. Logano was in seventh behind teammate Blaney while Bowman and Harvick were in ninth and 10th behind Kyle Busch’s No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry.
With the leaders mired in lapped traffic, Elliott was able to narrow the deficit between himself and Truex to as close to two-tenths of a seconds. It was not enough, however, to overtake Truex, who retained the lead when the competition caution flew on Lap 60. By then, the remaining eight Playoff contenders remained in the top 10 on the track, with Harvick and Bowman mired back in ninth and 10th.
Under the competition caution, the leaders pitted and Truex retained the lead following a stellar four-tire pit stop and exiting pit road in first place ahead of Elliott, Logano, Keselowski, Bowman, Hamlin and Harvick. Kurt Busch, who entered pit road in the top five, fell all the way back to 12th place for the restart.
The race resumed under green on Lap 68 with Truex and Elliott on the front row followed by Logano, Keselowski, Bowman and Hamlin. At the start, Truex cleared the field and retained the lead while Elliott and Logano battled for second. Behind, Clint Bowyer suffered a left-rear tire rub, but he continued to run inside the top 15.
By Lap 70, Truex was at the front while Elliott, who lost second place to Logano, reassumed the spot following contact with Logano’s No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang while Keselowski and Hamlin were in the top five ahead of Bowman and Blaney.
Three laps later, the caution returned when contact from teammate Aric Almirola entering Turn 1 sent Bowyer spinning sideways and Austin Dillon had to slam on the brakes to avoid making contact into Bowyer’s No. 14 Ford Mustang.
The race restarted under green six laps later with Truex and Elliott on the front row. At the start, Truex retained the lead over Elliott while Hamlin retained third place on the outside lane over Logano. Keselowski was in fifth in front of Bowman and Blaney while Kurt Busch was in eighth ahead of Kyle Busch and Harvick.
By Lap 85, the front-runners settled into a single-file line of racing with Truex leading by a narrow margin over Elliott while Hamlin and Logano battled for third place. Keselowski continued to race in fifth while teammate Blaney overtook Bowman for sixth. Kurt Busch and Harvick continued to run in eighth and 10th with Kyle Busch mired in ninth.
On Lap 88, the No. 9 Chevrolet of Elliott blasted by Truex’s No. 19 Toyota for the lead in Turn 4 while Hamlin and Logano continued to battle for third place with teammates Keselowski and Blaney in fifth and sixth.
When the race reached its 100-lap mark, Elliott was leading by nearly three-tenths of a second over Truex with Hamlin in third. Behind, Team Penske’s Logano, Blaney and Keselowski battled for fourth place while Bowman and Kurt Busch continued to run in seventh and eighth. Harvick, meanwhile, was mired back in 11th in between William Byron and Almirola. Cole Custer was in 13th followed by Ryan Newman and Matt DiBenedetto.
The caution returned on Lap 104 when the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE driven by Garrett Smithley stopped on the track in Turn 4. Under caution, most of the leaders led by Hamlin and Logano pitted while Elliott and Truex were among six competitors who remained on the track. Following the pit stops, however, Blaney was penalized for speeding on pit road. In addition, Bubba Wallace was penalized and sent to the rear of the field for removing equipment from his pit box.
When the race restarted under green on Lap 109, Elliott retained the lead over Truex. In Turn 2, Bowyer ran into the rear bumper of teammate Almirola and moved him out of the racing groove as a possible payback from their earlier on-track altercation and incident. Following the contact with his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate, Almirola made contact with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. entering Turn 4 while trying to fall back in line amid a tight pack of racing.
Back towards the front, Hamlin moved into third place over Bowyer while Bowman was in fifth. By then, Keselowski and Logano were in the top 10 while Kurt Busch and Harvick were running outside of the top 10 on the track.
On Lap 113, Hamlin, racing on four fresh tires compared to Elliott and Truex, emerged with the lead after passing Elliott. Not long after, the caution returned when Joey Gase spun in Turn 4 following contact with Quin Houff.
With 10 laps remaining in the first stage, the race resumed under green with Hamlin and Elliott on the front row. At the start, Hamlin retained the lead and Elliott retained the runner-up spot. Behind, Bowman, racing on fresh tires, muscled his way into third place over Truex with Keselowski in fifth.
With the laps in the first stage coming to a close, Bowman overtook teammate Elliott for second place while Keselowski made his way into fourth place over Truex with Logano joining the party. By then, Hamlin was gone as he led by more than a second over Bowman’s No. 88 Planters Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE.
With the on-track battles ensuing behind, Hamlin was able to cruise away from the field and claim the first stage on Lap 130 for his 11th stage victory of the season. Bowman crossed the line in second place followed by Keselowski while Elliott held off Logano for fourth. Truex fell back to sixth followed by Kyle Busch, Byron, Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson. Harvick settled in 14th in between Bowyer and Matt Kenseth.
Under the stage break, most of the leaders pitted and following the pit stops, Elliott exited in first place followed by Hamlin and Truex. Back on the track, Kyle Busch emerged with the lead after remaining on the track followed by brother Kurt Busch, Cole Custer, Ty Dillon, Almirola and Bubba Wallace. Following the pit stops, Kenseth was penalized for improper fueling.
The second stage started on Lap 139 with the Busch brothers on the front row. At the start, brothers Kyle and Kurt battled dead even for the lead. Following an intense battle for the next several laps, Kurt cleared his brother Kyle for the lead with Custer in third. Behind, Elliott and Hamlin, both on fresh tires, carved their way int the top five.
On Lap 145, just as Elliott and Hamlin were up in third and fourth behind Kyle Busch, the caution returned when Buescher’s No. 17 Fifth Third Bank Ford Mustang spewed fluid and smoke on the track following an earlier contact with Suarez, an issues that ended Buescher’s race up in smoke and in the garage. Buescher’s engine issues occurred in front of Harvick, who was mired back in 25th and currently scored outside of the top-four cutline for the Championship 4 finale.
When the race restarted under green on Lap 158, Kurt Busch retained the lead ahead of Elliott while Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch and Hamlin were in third and fourth. Behind, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Custer and Almirola battled for fifth place in front of Truex. Logano was 10th behind Ty Dillon and Wallace while Bowman was in 12th. Keselowski was in 15th while Harvick was back in 26th.
On Lap 162, Elliott reassumed the lead following a pass on Kurt Busch in Turn 4. Shortly after, Hamlin made his way into second place while Kurt Busch remained in third place in front of brother Kyle. By then, Keselowski was mired back in 17th while Harvick could only work his way up to 24th place behind DiBenedetto.
By Lap 170, Elliott extended his advantage to more than a second over Hamlin while Kurt Busch continued to run in third place ahead of teammates Kyle Busch and Truex. Behind, Logano moved into sixth place over Almirola while Custer, Johnson and Byron were in the top 10 ahead of Bowman.
On Lap 180, Harvick made an unscheduled pit stop to address a flat left-rear tire on his No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang as a result of an earlier contact with Kenseth. The misfortune cost Harvick two laps from the leaders.
Back at the front, Elliott stabilized his advantage to nearly two seconds over Hamlin with Truex, Kurt Busch and Logano in the top five.
On Lap 185, the caution returned for Brennan Poole, who made contact into the outside wall due to a flat left-front tire. Under caution, the leaders pitted and Elliott exited the pits with the lead over Hamlin, Truex, Kyle Busch and Kurt Busch. Following the pit stop, Erik Jones made another pit stop due to removing equipment from his pit box.
When the race restarted on Lap 192, Elliott retained the lead over Truex with Hamlin settling behind his teammate for the spot. Kurt Busch retained fourth while Kyle Busch and Bowman battled for fifth. Logano moved up to seventh while Blaney, Byron and Custer were in the top 10.
With the race reaching its 200-lap mark, Elliott stretched his advantage to nearly a second over Hamlin with teammate Truex in third. The Busch brothers were in the top five followed by Logano, Bowman, Blaney, Custer and Bowyer were in the top 10. Keselowski was in 11th ahead of Byron while Harvick was in 31st, the first car a lap down to the leaders.
By Lap 210, Elliott continued to lead by nearly two seconds over Truex with teammate Hamlin trailing by more than two seconds. Kurt Busch and Logano were in the top five while Keselowski and Bowman were in eighth and ninth. Harvick was still mired back in 31st place.
Six laps later, the caution returned when Ryan Preece spun in Turn 3 following contact from John Hunter Nemechek. At the time of caution, Elliott lapped Timmy Hill and Hill received the free pass to return to the lead lap, leaving Harvick still trapped a lap behind the leaders. Under caution, some of the leaders led by Elliott and Truex pitted while the rest led by Hamlin remained on the track.
The race restarted on Lap 221 with Hamlin and Logano on the front row. At the start, Hamlin retained the lead while Blaney challenged and overtook teammate Logano for second place. Teammate Keselowski was in fourth followed by Bowman while Byron was in sixth. Behind, Elliott, racing on fresh tires, muscled his way into 10th place while Truex was stuck in 13th.
While Elliott continued to carve his way back to the front, Hamlin continued to lead Penske’s three-car lineup of Blaney, Keselowski and Logano with Bowman in fifth. Shortly after, Elliott overtook teammates Byron and Bowman to move back into the top five. Truex was in eighth place while Kurt Busch was in 14th behind Erik Jones.
Just as the field passed the Lap 230 mark, Elliott worked his way back to third place while Hamlin continued to lead by nearly half a second over Blaney. Keselowski and Logano dropped back to fourth and fifth while Truex overtook Bowman for sixth place. By then, Kurt Busch returned to the top 10. Harvick was still back in 31st place.
On Lap 239, Elliott carved his way back into the lead after passing Hamlin. Blaney settled in third behind Hamlin while Truex worked his way back to fourth place. Keselowski fell back to fifth ahead of Kyle Busch, Logano, Bowman, Kurt Busch and Byron.
By Lap 245, leader Elliott started to catch lapped traffic. He went on to lap J.J. Yeley and Timmy Hill, which placed Harvick in another deficit as he was no longer scored the first car a lap behind and currently scored outside of the cutline to the championship finale round. Behind Elliott, Hamlin continued to run in second place while Truex moved into third place. Blaney fell back to fourth while Kyle Busch was in fifth place ahead of brother Kurt.
With less than 10 laps remaining in the second stage and with the overall race surpassing its halfway mark, Truex passed teammate Hamlin for the runner-up spot while Elliott was ahead by more than three seconds. He soon started to catch teammate Jimmie Johnson to place him a lap behind while Blaney mounted a challenge on Hamlin for third place.
With no challengers closing in behind his No. 9 Chevrolet, Elliott coasted across the start/finish line to win the second stage on Lap 260 and for his 10th stage victory of the season. Truex settled in second while Hamlin held off Blaney and Kurt Busch, all of whom settled in the top five. Kyle Busch, Keselowski, Logano, Bowman and Newman settled in the top 10. Harvick was mired back in 31st place and scored the third car a lap down to the leaders.
Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Elliott retained the lead following a stellar pit stop and exiting the pits ahead of Truex, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch and Logano. During the pit stops, Hamlin suffered a slow pit stop due to issues getting the left-front tire on his No. 11 Toyota as he exited in eighth place. Afterwards, Hamlin made another pit stop to have the lug nuts on his car tightened as he dropped all the way towards the tail end of the field.
With 233 laps remaining, the final stage commenced with Elliott and Truex on the front row. At the start, Elliott retained the lead over Truex while Kurt Busch retained third place. Logano moved into fourth place over teammate Blaney and Kyle Busch while Bowman and Keselowski were in seventh and eighth.
With 220 laps remaining, Elliott stretched his advantage to nearly a second over Truex with Kurt Busch, Logano and Blaney in the top five. Kyle Busch was in sixth followed by Bowman, Keselowski, Bowyer and Almirola. Hamlin was mired back in 24th while Harvick was trapped in 30th, a lap behind the leaders and still scored outside of the championship finale cutline, with Elliott currently in by leading the race.
Ten laps later, with 210 laps remaining, Elliott stabilized his advantage to nearly a second over Truex with Logano, Blaney and Kurt Busch still in the top five. Kyle Busch retained sixth place while Keselowski closed in on Bowman for seventh. Bowyer and Byron rounded out the top 10 ahead of Almirola, Newman, Jones, Custer and Corey LaJoie. By then, Hamlin was in 21st behind Stenhouse.
Down to the final 200 laps of the race, Elliott continued to lead by less than a second over Truex with Blaney trailing by less than three seconds. Logano and Kurt Busch were in the top five followed by Kyle Busch, Keselowski, Bowman, Bowyer and Almirola. By then, 28 of 39 competitors on the track were on the lead lap, with John Hunter Nemechek scored the first car a lap behind in 29th and Harvick mired back in 30th place. Hamlin, meanwhile, was in 18th behind Christopher Bell, but he remained above the top-four cutline to the championship finale round.
Twenty laps later, with 180 laps remaining, Elliott’s No. 9 Chevrolet was still out in front of the pack as he approached lapped traffic. Truex, who nearly closed in on Elliott for the lead, dropped to nearly a second of a deficit behind Elliott. Blaney was back in third place followed by Logano and Kurt Busch while Keselowski overtook Kyle Busch for sixth. Bowman, Almirola and Bowyer continued to run in the top 10 while Hamlin was in 17th behind Ty Dillon. Harvick, meanwhile, was back in 28th.
As the laps progressed, Harvick was far from being the first car a lap down as Daniel Suarez, Nemechek, Ryan Preece, Bubba Wallace, Tyler Reddick and Austin Dillon were all lapped by Elliott.
Another 20 laps later, with 160 laps remaining, Elliott’s advantage grew to more than a second over Truex while Logano overtook teammate Blaney for third place. Kurt Busch and Keselowski were in fifth and sixth while Bowman was in eighth. Hamlin was in 16th behind Corey LaJoie while Harvick was still in 28th, a lap behind. By then, 20 cars were scored on the lead lap with 21st-place competitor Kenseth being lapped.
Down to the final 150 laps of the race, the No. 9 Chevrolet of Elliott was leading by nearly two seconds over Truex with Logano behind by more than two seconds. Moments after, the caution flew due to Timmy Hill cutting a right-rear tire in Turn 2. Prior to the caution, Jimmie Johnson made a pit stop due to a flat tire.
Under caution, the leaders pitted and Logano edged Truex to assume the lead upon exiting pit road followed by Blaney, Elliott and Kurt Busch. Following the pit stops, however, the situation went from bad to worse for Elliott, who was tagged with an over the wall penalty thanks to his Jackman upon his pit stop. For the moment, Elliott remained on the track as his team went to work in appealing the penalty. Moments before the restart, NASCAR rescinded the penalty due to his Jackman running back to the pit stall upon jumping over it too soon.
The race restarted under green with 142 laps remaining with teammates Logano and Blaney on the front row. At the start, Logano retained the lead over teammate Blaney with Kurt Busch in third ahead of Elliott and Keselowski. By then, with Logano leading, Harvick moved back into the top-four cutline by a narrow margin over Elliott.
With 132 laps remaining, Blaney passed teammate Logano for the lead. By then, Elliott moved into third place ahead of Keselowski and Kurt Busch, Truex was in sixth ahead of Bowman, Hamlin was in 12th and Harvick was in 23rd, the second car a lap behind with Bubba Wallace in front of him.
Twelve laps later, with 120 laps remaining, Blaney continued to lead by nearly a second over teammate Logano as Elliott continued to close in on Logano for the runner-up spot. Truex was in fifth behind Keselowski, Kurt Busch was in sixth ahead of Bowman, Hamlin was back in 14th and Harvick was in 22nd, the first car scored a lap behind.
With 110 laps remaining, Blaney stabilized his advantage to more than a second over teammate Logano with Elliott trailing by more than two seconds as he started to have Keselowski close in for position. Truex was back in fifth place and in front of Kurt Busch and Bowman while Byron, Bowyer and Almirola were in the top 10. Hamlin retained 14th while Harvick settled in 22nd, a lap behind.
With 100 laps remaining, the caution returned when James Davison stopped on the track in Turn 2. The caution served as a well-timing welcome for Harvick, who was able to return to the lead lap after being scored the first competitor a lap behind in 22nd.
Under caution, the leaders pitted and Logano reassumed the lead following another strong pit stop, with teammates Blaney and Keselowski, Truex and Bowman exiting in the top five. Elliott, who entered in third place, fell back to eighth place following a slow pit stop. Following the pit stops, disaster struck for Keselowski, who was busted with a speeding penalty and sent to the rear of the field. After returning to the lead lap, Harvick was scored back inside the top-four cutline by a decent margin.
With 92 laps remaining, the race restarted under green with Logano and Truex on the front row. At the start, Truex bolted ahead with the lead on the outside lane. Logano retained the runner-up spot and Blaney muscled his way into third place while Kyle Busch retained fourth place over Bowman. Behind, teammates Bowyer and Almirola battled for sixth in front of Elliott while Jones and Hamlin were in the top 10.
Down to the final 80 laps of the race, Truex, facing a “must-win” situation, was leading the field and over Penske teammates Blaney and Logano while Kyle Busch and Bowyer were in the top five. Elliott, Bowman and Hamlin were in sixth, seventh and eighth while Kurt Busch was in 11th. Keselowski, following his pit road speeding penalty, was in 16th and a few points below the cutline while Harvick was in 19th and currently inside the cutline by a narrow margin.
Five laps later, with 75 laps remaining, Truex stabilized his advantage by more than a second over Blaney with Logano trailing by more than two seconds. Elliott carved his way back into fourth place while Bowyer was in fifth ahead of Bowman. With Hamlin in eighth, Keselowski was in 15th behind Byron while Harvick was in 18th behind Ryan Newman.
Another five laps later, with 70 laps remaining, the deficit between Keselowski and Harvick to the cutline to the championship finale round was down to a single point with Harvick, running in 18th, retaining the spot for a moment as Keselowski was in 14th behind Byron.
As the run under the lights progressed, Elliott, who was now scored outside of the cutline, passed Logano for third place while Kurt Busch faded back to 10th place, two spots behind Hamlin. While Keselowski moved up to 12th, Harvick was still mired back in 18th behind Newman, who refused to surrender his spot.
With 59 laps remaining, the caution returned when William Byron spun due to a flat tire and made hard contact into the Turn 3 outside wall, thus demolishing the rear end of his No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE.
Under caution, the leaders pitted and Truex retained the lead after exiting pit road ahead of Logano, Elliott, Blaney, Bowman and Kyle Busch. Back on the track, Corey LaJoie remained on the track to assume the overall lead.
The race restarted under green with 51 laps remaining with LaJoie and Truex on the front row. At the start, Truex bolted ahead of LaJoie and the field for the lead while Logano and Elliott made a three-wide move on LaJoie in Turn 4 to move up with Elliott in second. While LaJoie was shuffled out of the picture, Elliott started to close in on Truex for the lead and a spot for the championship finale round. Logano was in third followed by Bowman and Kyle Busch while Kurt Bush was in sixth ahead of Blaney, Bowyer, Hamlin and DiBenedetto.
With 45 laps remaining, the battle for the lead intensified as Elliott shoved his nose beneath Truex for the lead, though Truex retained his spot. Behind, Bowman started to challenge Logano for third place.
Two laps later, the No. 9 Chevrolet of Elliott returned to the lead. By then, Elliott moved back into the cutline while Truex was shoved out. In addition, Harvick, who was back in 14th, was scored a single point ahead of Keselowski, who was in 10th, for another spot in the finale.
Down to 40 laps remaining, Elliott started to stretch his advantage to more than a second over Truex with Logano, Bowman and Blaney in the top five. The Busch brothers were in sixth and seventh while Hamlin, Bowyer and Keselowski were in the top 10. Harvick was in 14th behind Jones and following on-track contact with Jones’ No. 20 Toyota Camry.
With 30 laps remaining, Elliott continued to stretch his advantage to more than two seconds over Truex, who radioed concerns about a possible loose right-front tire on his No. 19 Toyota Camry. Logano, Blaney and Bowman continued to run in the top five while Kurt Busch and Hamlin were in sixth and 11th. Keselowski carved his way to eighth behind Kyle Busch while Harvick was in 13th behind DiBenedetto.
A few laps later, Truex surrendered his spot on the track to pit under green to address the loose wheel on his car. The pit stop all but evaporated Truex’s hopes of advancing to the Championship 4 round and contending for his second Cup title.
Back on the track, Harvick was in 12th behind Hamlin and scored below the cutline by a narrow margin while Keselowski, who was in fifth, moved back into the top-four cutline. Meanwhile, Elliott continued to flex his muscles as he led by more than four seconds over Blaney with Logano, Bowman and Keselowski in the top five.
Down to the final 20 leaps of the race, Elliott was still leading by more than four seconds over Blaney with Logano, Bowman and Keselowski in the top five. Kurt Busch was in sixth ahead of Kyle Busch, Almirola, Bowyer and DiBenedetto while Harvick passed Hamlin for 11th. By then, Hamlin’s hopes of advancing to the finale started to become dim as Hamlin, who was overtaken by Harvick for position, retained the final transfer spot to the finale by a narrow margin.
With 10 laps remaining, Elliott extended his advantage to more than five seconds over Blaney with Logano, Bowman and Keselowski in the top five. Kurt Busch was in sixth, Harvick was in 11th and Hamlin was in 12th while trying to fend off teammate Erik Jones for position.
Shortly after, Keselowski passed Bowman for fourth. By then, Keselowski and Hamlin were inside the cutline by a narrow margin while Harvick was outside by a narrow margin.
Down to the final five laps of the race, Elliott’s advantage grew to nearly six seconds as he was on his way to the finale. Keselowski continued to run in fourth, Harvick continued to battle DiBenedetto for 10th while Hamlin was still in 12th in front of Jones. By then, Harvick was scored out of the cutline by a single point behind Keselowski and Hamlin. In addition, Hamlin had teammate Jones and Custer close in for position.
When the white flag waved, Elliott was leading by more than six seconds. Keselowski was still in fourth behind teammates Blaney and Logano, Harvick was in 10th and Hamlin was in 12th.
With no challengers close behind his No. 9 Chevrolet, Elliott was able to smoothly navigate his way back to the finish line and claim his fourth checkered flag of the season.
By winning his first grandfather clock at Martinsville and earning his career-best fourth victory of the 2020 campaign, Elliott, who was in his fourth appearance in the Round of 8 in the Playoffs, earned a one-way ticket to the Championship 4 round at Phoenix Raceway, the site of the finale, for the first time in his career. Elliott’s victory was also the record-leading 25th at Martinsville Speedway for Hendrick Motorsports as this also marks the first time since 2016 where a HMS and Chevrolet competitor will be a part of the Championship 4 round for the season finale.
“Oh, my gosh,” Elliott said on the frontstretch. “This is the biggest win ever for us. I’m just so proud to be able to be backed into a corner like that and have to win tonight. I feel like that’s what we’ve been missing these past four or five years and perform when we don’t have a choice. And, to do that tonight; we couldn’t ask for a better night. This is unreal. Thanks to the fans for coming out. They’re here and I love to see it! I’ve just got to catch my breath. This is just unbelievable. We’re going to Phoenix with a shot to win a championship and have a beautiful blue NAPA Camaro headed out there with a shot to win a title. What more could you ask for?”
Moments after Elliott won, all eyes were focused on Harvick, who closed in on Kyle Busch’s No. 18 Toyota for ninth place. Needing Busch’s spot to have any hopes of making the finale, Harvick made contact with Kyle Busch entering Turn 4. Harvick’s plan to gain the spot, however, did not work as he also spun and came to rest on the inside wall and short of the finish line. His wreck allowed Keselowski and Hamlin to claim the final spots to the Championship 4 round while Harvick, who won a season-high nine races and was a potential title favorite, was left out of the title picture by eight points.
Blaney finished in second place followed by Logano, Keselowski and Kurt Busch. Bowman, Almirola and Bowyer finished sixth, seventh and eighth while Kyle Busch limped across the line in ninth. Hamlin finished 11th while Harvick salvaged a 17th-place result, the final car on the lead lap. Truex came home in 22nd.
Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski will compete for the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series championship next weekend at Phoenix Raceway.
“Just lost the handling there as soon as it went night,” Hamlin, who made it into the finale by nine points, said. “We were not very good. A lot of that too, I got up into sixth or seventh and some guys teammates were kind of rubbing up against you and it’s like, ‘yeah, I don’t want to cut a tire,’ so I backed out of that. Then we just fell to a spot that was a little more open. Proud of this whole FedEx Shipathon Toyota team. I feel bad for Kevin [Harvick], they probably deserve better than that. It’s just the format, I guess. Everything you do for eight innings doesn’t matter if you don’t have a great ninth inning. It’s just tough to see. I really wish we were going to race those guys next week. It will be a tough battle with those other three that we’re going to have to race. We’re definitely going to have to step up our short track program…If you have a bad race or two in a three-race series, you’re out. We’re very fortunate with our FedEx team to be able to lean on all the work that we did in the regular season, to get Playoffs points, win the most stages throughout the season than anyone else. We’re optimistic. We’ll see.”
“There was nothing I could do other than just pass as many cars as I could, look forward,” Keselowski, who transferred by eight points, said. “The last two runs, I don’t know if we were the best car, but we were close to it. Credits to [crew chief] Jeremy Bullins and the team. They just kept adjusting on it at the end. It was just frustrating because that pit road speeding penalty, I just did not see that coming. The place where I got the penalty was right outside my box. I didn’t even think it was possible to speed right there, but I was wrong. I know we’ve got great cars on these short tracks and one-mile track. We bring this kind of effort at the end of the race at Phoenix, we got a great shot at [the title].”
Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images.
Kevin Harvick, Alex Bowman, Martin Truex Jr. and Kurt Busch have been eliminated from the Playoffs and will set their title hopes for next season.
“Everybody kept battling there,” Harvick said. “I tried to run into the door of [Kyle Busch] as a last-ditch effort there and spun him out. Sorry to put him in a middle of trying to gain a point. Not a great three weeks. Didn’t go our way. We fought for everything we had and just came up short. These championships aren’t like winning like Petty and Earnhardt use to win them. You have to put them together three weeks at a time. It comes down to one race and it came down to one race for us tonight, and came up short.”
Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images.
“We had a great car all day long and just kept making adjustments waiting for it to cool off and get dark,” Truex, who fell 52 points shy, said. “That last run there before the final pit stop, the thing was on rails and it was perfect and we were driving away. I felt really good about it. Then we pitted and had a pretty good pit stop. Came out with the lead and right away I knew something was wrong. I was really, really tight and had a vibration.[Elliott] passed us and we started dropping and had to pit for a loose wheel. Unfortunate. I think we should be the one in Victory Lane right now, but you have to do it all. Just a little mistake there.”
“I drive this place so wrong,” Bowman, who fell 28 points shy, said. “I try to roll the centers really fast. We get it turned in and I’m like, ‘Oh, now, I don’t have any drive off.’ I look at the data and know what I need to do differently. Still can’t seem to figure out how to do it. All in all, a good day for our Planters Camaro. Really proud of Chase to make the Final Four…Bummed we’re not a part of that, but I think we have a solid shot at getting fifth in points. The progress this team’s made over the last two months has been incredible and I think that’s something they really deserve. We’ll go do all we can to make that happen at Phoenix. Driving this No. 88 car’s been special. Being a part of the Round of 8 was great. I think we had one of the best, if not the best average finish over the past three races. Just didn’t have the Playoff points coming in. We gotta perform every week like we have the last 12 or 13 weeks. We gotta do that all season long to be in contention to go to Phoenix. We gotta do a better job of that next year, but looking forward to the challenge.”
“We gave it all we had,” Kurt Busch, who fell 86 points shy, said. “Real proud of my guys. Chip Ganassi Racing put up a really good fight this year to get this far. To win and post top fives throughout the Playoffs, we crossed over a threshold. Last week, we finished seventh at Texas, fifth tonight and we’re walking around kicking the ground. When I started here two years ago, we finished in the top five and we’re celebrating. We’ve come that far in this short amount of time and I’m really proud of everybody back at the shop. To come here with a shot at it, we knew we had to win. It takes a team all the way through…Our weakest area was pit road and we know we need to work on that, but all in all, I can’t thank everybody enough. It’s cool to see the evolution of where we’ve come in two years.”
For other notables on the field, Bowyer and Jimmie Johnson finished eighth and 30th in their penultimate runs at Martinsville while Kenseth finished 14th in his penultimate run of this season with his racing status for the future uncertain. Christopher Bell finished 15th in the penultimate Cup run for Leavine Family Racing while Ty Dillon finished 16th in the penultimate Cup run for Germain Racing.
With one race remaining to the 2020 Cup Series season, Ford wrapped up the manufacturers’ title for the 17th time, first since 2018 and the first with the Ford Mustang stock car in the Cup circuit.
There were 20 lead changes for 10 different leaders. The race featured 12 cautions for 83 laps.
Results.
1. Chase Elliott, 236 laps led, Stage 2 winner
2. Ryan Blaney, 36 laps led
3. Joey Logano, 19 laps led
4. Brad Keselowski, three laps led
5. Kurt Busch, 23 laps led
6. Alex Bowman, one lap led
7. Aric Almirola
8. Clint Bowyer
9. Kyle Busch, five laps led
10. Matt DiBenedetto
11. Denny Hamlin, 42 laps led, Stage 1
12. Erik Jones
13. Cole Custer
14. Matt Kenseth
15. Christopher Bell
16. Ty Dillon
17. Kevin Harvick
18. Ryan Newman, one lap down
19. Ryan Preece, one lap down
20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. one lap down
21. Bubba Wallace, one lap down
22. Martin Truex Jr., one lap down, 129 laps led
23. Austin Dillon, two laps down
24. Tyler Reddick, two laps down
25. Corey LaJoie, two laps down, six laps led
26. John Hunter Nemechek, two laps down
27. Daniel Suarez, three laps down
28. Michael McDowell, three laps down
29. Timmy Hill, five laps down
30. Jimmie Johnson, five laps down
31. J.J. Yeley, six laps down
32. Josh Bilicki, 10 laps down
33. Quin Houff, 11 laps down
34. Joey Gase – OUT, Electrical
35. William Byron – OUT, Accident
36. James Davison – OUT, Electrical
37. Brennan Poole – OUT, Accident
38. Chris Buescher – OUT, Accident
39. Garrett Smithley – OUT, Electrical
Bold indicates Playoff contenders.
Playoff Standings
1. Joey Logano – Advanced
2. Chase Elliott – Advanced
3. Denny Hamlin – Advanced
4. Brad Keselowski – Advanced
5. Kevin Harvick – Eliminated
6. Alex Bowman – Eliminated
7. Martin Truex Jr. – Eliminated
8. Kurt Busch – Eliminated
The NASCAR Cup Series will travel to Phoenix Raceway for the season-finale 500-mile race and where the 2020 Cup champion will be crowned. The finale will occur on Sunday, November 8, at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.
On one of NASCAR’s longest delayed events due to weather issues, the season-long winless drought for Kyle Busch ended under the lights at Texas Motor Speedway after the two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion survived a late challenge from teammate Martin Truex Jr. while on a dry tank of fuel to win the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 on Wednesday, October 28. The victory was Busch’s fourth at Texas and the 57th of his Cup career, keeping him in 10th place on the all-time wins list.
The starting lineup was based on four stats: current owner’s standings, driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Cup race and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Cup race. With that, Kevin Harvick started on pole position for the sixth time this season and was joined on the front row with Joey Logano, winner of last weekend’s Playoff race at Kansas Speedway and a 2020 NASCAR Cup Series championship contender.
Prior to the race, Martin Truex Jr. and his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops/Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team were issued severe penalties after NASCAR confiscated the spoiler from Truex’s car and noted that his car failed pre-race inspection twice. As a result, NASCAR issued a 20-point driver/owner dock towards Truex and his team with the driver being sent to the rear of the field for the Texas event. The penalty places Truex in a 51-point deficit below the top-four cutline in the Playoff standings. In addition, crew chief James Small was suspended for today’s race at Texas and fined $35,000. Car chief Blake Harris was named Truex’s interim crew chief for today’s race at Texas.
Along with Truex, Daniel Suarez and Chad Finchum started at the rear of the field due to their respective cars failing pre-race inspection twice. Timmy Hill and Garrett Smithley also dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their respective cars.
When the green flag waved and the race started on a misty, cloudy afternoon, Kevin Harvick jumped ahead with an early strong lead. Brad Keselowski moved his No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang into second place on the inside lane as the field behind battled through two lanes.
By the third lap, Harvick was ahead by six-tenths of a second over Playoff contender Brad Keselowski with Alex Bowman, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney pursuing behind.
It did not take long until the first caution flew on the fifth lap when Chris Buescher got loose and made contact with the outside wall through Turns 1 and 2, though he was able to continue while multiple laps after sustaining damage to his No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang.
When the race restarted on the eighth lap, Harvick jumped ahead and retained the lead while Keselowski and Bowman battled for second.
Through the first 10 laps, Harvick continued to lead by nearly a second over Keselowski and Bowman while Logano, Elliott, Matt DiBenedetto and Ryan Blaney battled for position behind.
By Lap 20, Harvick extended his advantage to nearly two seconds over Keselowski with Bowman trailing by more than two. Logano was in fourth followed by DiBenedetto and Blaney while Elliott slipped back to seventh. Denny Hamlin was in eighth followed by Austin Dillon and Aric Almirola. By then, Jimmie Johnson was in 13th in between teammate William Byron and Kyle Busch while Martin Truex Jr. was in 19th in between Clint Bowyer and Christopher Bell. Kurt Busch was the lowest-running Playoff contender in 21st.
Shortly after, the caution flew when J.J. Yeley spun and backed his No. 27 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE into the outside wall entering Turn 2, thus sustaining significant damage to his car. With the wreck occurring past Lap 20, it served as the competition caution initially planned on Lap 25.
Under caution, the leaders pitted for early service and Harvick retained the lead after only taking a two-tire pit stop and with mixed strategy ensuing throughout pit road. Bowman exited in second place following a fuel-only stop followed by Hamlin, DiBenedetto, Logano and Cole Custer. Following the pit stops, Kyle Busch was assessed a penalty for speeding on pit road. In addition, Blaney made another pit stop to address loose lug nuts on the left-front tire of his No. 12 DEX Imaging Ford Mustang.
The race restarted under green on Lap 27 with Harvick and Bowman on the front row. Entering Turn 1, Hamlin, who restarted on the second row, ran into early issues when he attempted to make a run on the outside of Bowman and got loose. With his No. 11 FedEx Shipathon Toyota Camry wiggling up the track, he lost a multitude of positions as he dropped out of the top 20 on the track.
A lap later, the leader Harvick encountered issues of his own after he drifted up and smacked the outside wall hard on the right side of his No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang entering Turn 2. Bowman quickly moved into the lead as the field scattered throughout Turn 2 to avoid Harvick, who dropped all the way towards the rear of the field.
With Harvick reporting smoke inside his cockpit, he made an unscheduled pit stop a few laps later to have the tires and the damage to the right side of his car addressed. By the time he returned to the track, he lost two laps to the leaders. By then, teammate Custer got loose through Turn 1 and entering Turn 2 with his No. 41 Autodesk/HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang nearly making contact with the outside wall, though he continued.
Back at the front, Bowman continued to lead followed by Logano, DiBenedetto, Truex and Elliott while Jimmie Johnson moved up to sixth place.
By Lap 40, Bowman was still ahead by nearly a second over Logano while DiBenedetto, Truex and Elliott were in the top five. Johnson retained sixth place followed by Clint Bowyer, Erik Jones, Kurt Busch and Brad Keselowski. Hamlin was all the way back in 26th place while Harvick was in 36th place, a lap down.
Three laps later, the caution returned due to weather issues and the misty, cloudy conditions surrounding the track. Under caution, the leaders pitted and mixed strategy ensued again with Bowyer exiting in first place following a fuel-only stop. Jimmie Johnson, Erik Jones and Logano followed in second through fourth after only opting for fuel while Truex exited in fifth place on two fresh tires. Leader Bowman, who opted for a four-tire stop, exited in 18th place. Harvick, who did not opt to take the wave around to return to the lead lap, pitted for an extended service to his No. 4 Ford, though he was able to continue following his early incident.
With the misty, wet conditions continuing to fall and surround the track, the competitors were brought down to pit road and the race went under a red flag period on Lap 52. At the time of the race being put in a hiatus, Bowyer was scored as the leader followed by Jimmie Johnson, Erik Jones, Logano and Truex while Elliott, Blaney, Austin Dillon, Keselowski and Kyle Busch were in the top 10.
Following a three-day weather delay, the competitors were able to re-fire their cars and return to the track under cautious pace. While nearly all of the competitors exited pit road, Harvick, who was still scored a lap behind the leaders, remained on pit road to have the damage on the right side repaired. Under caution, some like Austin Dillon and Kurt Busch came back around to pit while the rest led by Bowyer remained on the track.
When the race restarted under green on Lap 56, Bowyer jumped ahead with the lead and Erik Jones moved up to second place while Johnson slipped entering Turn 2 and fell back to fifth place behind Martin Truex Jr. and Logano.
Three laps later, the caution returned when Matt Kenseth got loose entering Turn 4 and was bumped by Hamlin, who spun and collected Bubba Wallace as both cars wrecked across the grass with Wallace’s No. 43 DoorDash Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE clipping Aric Almirola’s No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang before making hard contact into the outside wall. The incident knocked Kenseth and Wallace out of contention.
Under caution, some like Hamlin, Almirola, Ryan Newman, Corey LaJoie, John Hunter Nemechek, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Kurt Busch, Daniel Suarez, Timmy Hill, Josh Bilicki, Chad Finchum, Buescher and Harvick pitted while the rest led by Bowyer remained on the track. By then, Harvick returned on the lead lap.
When the race restarted on Lap 68, Bowyer and Truex battled dead even for the lead for a full circuit with Bowyer still able to retain the lead. The following lap, Bowyer cleared Truex and continued to lead while Erik Jones settled behind teammate Truex. By then, Logano and Johnson were in the top five.
By Lap 75, Bowyer continued to lead followed by teammates Truex and Erik Jones while Logano and Johnson were still in the top five. Ryan Blaney was in sixth followed by teammate Keselowski, Tyler Reddick, Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch. By then, Alex Bowman was in 18th while Kurt Busch, Hamlin and Harvick were in 20th, 21st and 22nd.
A lap later, the caution returned due to debris reported on the track near Turn 4. Under caution, some like Christopher Bell, Bowman, Kurt Busch, Newman, Timmy Hill and Chad Finchum pitted while the rest led by Bowyer pitted.
When the race restarted under green on Lap 81, Bowyer and Truex battled dead even for the lead for a full circuit again with Bowyer leading by a nose when the field returned to the start/finish line. The following lap, Truex led a lap for himself before Bowyer reassumed the lead the following lap and cleared Truex’s No. 19 Toyota the next lap.
With Bowyer leading Truex and Jones, Blaney moved into fourth followed by teammate Logano and DiBenedetto. Johnson was in seventh followed by teammates William Byron and Elliott while Keselowski and Austin Dillon battled for 10th. By then, Harvick and Hamlin moved into the top 20 in front of Bowman while Kurt Busch was in 24th.
By Lap 90, Bowyer was still leading by nearly half a second over teammates Truex and Jones while Blaney was in fourth. Behind, Logano was in fifth ahead of Johnson and Byron while DiBenedetto, Elliott and Austin Dillon were in the top 10. By then, Keselowski was back in 13th, Harvick was in 15th in between teammate Custer and Kyle Busch, Hamlin was in 18th, Bowman was in 19th and Kurt Busch was in 21st.
Ten laps later and at the Lap 100 mark, Bowyer continued to lead by nearly two-tenths of a second over Truex, who remained within striking distance of Bowyer’s rear bumper, while Jones and Blaney trailed behind in third and fourth. Johnson moved up to fifth place over Logano while Byron, Elliott, Austin Dillon and DiBenedetto were in the top 10.
Coming to two laps remaining to the conclusion of the first stage, Truex gained a run through Turns 1 and 2 and had a run on Bowyer for the lead, but Bowyer was able to block and prevent Truex from making a run beneath him as Bowyer retained the lead. Despite encountering a few lapped cars in the process, Bowyer was able to hold off Truex and win the first stage on Lap 105 as he collected his fourth stage victory of the season. Truex settled in second followed by Jones, Blaney and Johnson while Byron, Elliott, Logano, Austin Dillon and DiBenedetto settled in the top 10. By then, Harvick, Keselowski and Bowman were in 15th, 16th and 17th while Kurt Busch and Hamlin were in 19th and 20th.
Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Bowman emerged with the lead after only opting for fuel. Bell exited in second place following a two-tire stop while Bowyer, Truex, Jones, Blaney and Johnson, all of whom opted for a four-tire pit stop, followed behind. Following the pit stops, Bell surrendered his track position to make an extra pit stop.
The second stage started on Lap 111 with Bowman and Bowyer on the front row. At the start, Truex pushed Bowman into the lead as he battled Bowyer for second place. Both Truex and Bowyer continued to battle for the runner-up spot as most of the field behind also battled through two lanes.
On Lap 112, Blaney made a three-wide move on Truex and Bowyer in Turn 2 before Truex backed out while Bowyer continued to retain second place on the outside lane while also locked into a battle with Bowyer. Behind, Johnson started to pressure Truex for fourth place while Bowman continued to lead.
By Lap 116, Blaney cleared Bowyer for second and Johnson pulled away from Truex for fourth as he went to work on Bowyer for more. By then, Bowman continued to lead by less than half a second. Behind, Elliott was in sixth, Harvick was in ninth ahead of Kurt Busch and Logano, Keselowski was in 15th and Hamlin was back in 19th.
By Lap 120, Johnson, who was able to overtake Truex for third, started to put pressure on Blaney for second place while Bowman continued to lead by half a second. Bowyer settled in fifth ahead of Elliott and Austin Dillon while Harvick, Kurt Busch and Logano were in the top 10.
Ten laps later, Bowman continued to lead by nearly a tenth of a second over Blaney, who continued to close in for the lead, while Johnson, Truex and Bowyer continued to run in the top five. Elliott, Austin Dillon, Harvick, Kurt Busch and Jones were in the top 10 while Logano was in 12th. Hamlin and Keselowski were back in 18th and 19th.
Four laps later, the caution returned when Joey Gase spun and tapped the outside wall through Turns 1 and 2. Under caution, the leaders pitted and Blaney emerged with the lead after only opting for fuel on his stop. Truex exited in second place following a two-tire pit stop followed by Austin Dillon, Elliott and Bowyer with a number of mixed strategy ensuing.
When the race restarted under green on Lap 138, Blaney and Truex battled dead even for a full circuit before Truex was able to lead the following lap. Soon after, Blaney gained a huge run on the bottom lane in Turn 1 to reassume the lead as Bowyer and Austin Dillon started to join the party.
By Lap 145, Blaney continued to lead by half a second over Truex while Bowyer, Austin Dillon and Harvick were in the top five. Kyle Busch was in sixth followed by Elliott, Logano, Bowman and Nemechek. Hamlin was in 11th in front of Johnson, Keselowski was in 17th and Kurt Busch was back in 22nd behind Ryan Preece.
Five laps later, Blaney retained the lead by a tenth of a second over Truex, who started to close in and mount a challenge for the lead, with Bowyer settling in third. Kyle Busch moved into fourth place ahead of Austin Dillon and Elliott while Harvick fell back to seventh.
On Lap 155, Truex gained a run beneath Blaney entering Turn 2 and took the lead after spending the last several laps trying to gain a run and pass Blaney for the lead. Behind, Kyle Busch started to close in on Blaney for second place while Bowyer and Austin Dillon continued to run in the top five.
By Lap 160, Truex was ahead by four-tenths of a second over Blaney with Kyle Busch trailing by seven-tenths of a second. Bowyer and Austin Dillon were in the top five followed by Elliott, Harvick, Logano, Bowman and Nemechek. Hamlin was in 13th, Keselowski was in 15th and Kurt Busch was back in 23rd.
At Lap 167, the halfway mark, Truex continued to lead by less than four-tenths of a second over Blaney with Kyle Busch trailing by a second. Bowyer and Austin Dillon continued to run in the top five followed by a battle between Harvick and Bowman, both battling in front of Elliott.
By Lap 175, Truex was out in front by three-tenths of a second over Blaney while Kyle Busch trailed by more than a second in third place. Bowyer and Austin Dillon continued to run in the top five.
Shortly after, Harvick, who was running in seventh behind Bowman, made a green flag pit stop after reporting a vibration to his car. By the time he returned to the track, he was back in 29th place and scored a lap behind the leaders.
On Lap 185, Kyle Busch moved into second place over Blaney while teammate Truex continued to lead by more than a second. Bowyer continued to run in fourth place while Bowman moved into fifth place over Austin Dillon. By then, Elliott, Johnson, Logano and Bell were in the top 10.
Ten laps later and with the laps in the second stage dwindling, pit stops under green commenced as Blaney pitted. Shortly after, Austin Dillon pitted for only fuel. On Lap 198, Truex pitted under green as teammate Kyle Busch took the lead, with Truex falling off the pace. By then, Bowman made a two-tire pit stop under green along with teammate Johnson. Byron, Kurt Busch, Logano, Elliott also made a pit stop along with Kyle Busch. Keselowski also pitted for only fuel on his No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang. Following the pit stops, Elliott made another pit stop to address a vibration to his No. 9 Hooters Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. The late issue cost Elliott a lap to the leaders.
By Lap 203 and with most of the pit stops under green completed, DiBenedetto emerged with the lead. A lap later, he pitted and Almirola emerged with the lead followed by Joe Gibbs Racing’s Jones, Kyle Busch and Truex. Another lap later, Almirola pitted and Jones took the lead.
With three laps remaining in the second stage, Jones pitted and Kyle Busch took the lead. With clean air, Busch was able to pull away and maintain his advantage as he claimed the second stage win on Lap 210 and his third stage victory of the season. Truex settled in second followed by Bowman, Keselowski and Blaney while Bell, Austin Dillon, Bowyer, Stenhouse and Harvick settled in the top 10. By then, Logano and Kurt Busch were in 15th and 17th while Hamlin was in 19th.
Under the stage break, nearly all of the leaders pitted, except for leader Kyle Busch, Bowyer, Logano, DiBenedetto and Hamlin. Following the pit stops, Truex exited in first after only taking fuel to his car.
With 118 laps remaining, the final stage commenced with Kyle Busch and Bowyer on the front row followed by Logano, DiBenedetto, Hamlin, Truex, Blaney, Bowman, Byron and Kurt Busch while Johnson and Harvick were on the sixth row.
At the start, Kyle Busch and Bowyer battled dead even for the lead for one full circuit with Bowyer leading the following lap. The next lap, Busch reassumed the lead while DiBenedetto battled Bowyer for second place. Behind, Logano and Hamlin battled for fourth place as Bowman and Truex joined the party. Not long after, Truex overtook Bowman and teammate Hamlin as he went to work on Logano for more. At the front, Bowyer returned to second place over DiBenedetto and went to work on Kyle Busch for the lead.
With 110 laps remaining and the race settling into dark conditions, Kyle Busch continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over Bowyer and with DiBenedetto trailing by less than a second. Truex made his way into fourth followed by Logano, Hamlin, Bowman, Kurt Busch, Johnson and Keselowski. By then, Harvick was in 14th behind Blaney and Austin Dillon. Elliott was mired back in 25th, a lap down.
Soon after, Truex overtook DiBenedetto for third place while Logano was still mired in fifth place in front of Hamlin, Bowman, Kurt Busch and Keselowski. At the front, Kyle Busch continued to lead by a narrow margin over Bowyer.
With 100 laps remaining, Kyle Busch continued to lead by nearly two-tenths of a second over Bowyer while Truex, DiBenedetto and Logano were in the top five. Hamlin, Keselowski, Bowman, Kurt Busch and Blaney were in the top 10 ahead of Johnson, Bell, Byron, Custer and Austin Dillon. Harvick was in 17th behind Tyler Reddick while Elliott was in 24th, the first car a lap down to the leaders.
Shortly after, Keselowski overtook Hamlin and teammate Logano to move into the top five while Bowman and Kurt Busch closed in on Hamlin for seventh place.
With 90 laps remaining, Kyle Busch stabilized his advantage by nearly six-tenths of a second over Bowyer while Truex, DiBenedetto and Keselowski continued to run in the top five. Blaney, Logano, Bowman, Bell and Hamlin were scored in the top 10 followed by Kurt Busch. Harvick continued to run in 17th while Elliott, who was still a lap behind, moved up to 23rd place.
Ten laps later, the gap between leader Kyle Busch and runner-up Clint Bowyer expanded by more than a second. While Truex continued to run in third place, Keselowski moved into fourth place in front of DiBenedetto, Blaney and Logano while Bowman, Bell and Hamlin continued to run in the top 10.
Two laps later, Bowyer surrendered second place to pit under green as he was out of fuel. Kyle Busch continued to lead followed by teammate Truex, Keselowski, Blaney, DiBenedetto and Logano. Meanwhile, Harvick, who was back in 18th, issued concerns about his tires chattering.
With 70 laps remaining, Kyle Busch continued to lead by more than six seconds over teammate Truex while Keselowski, Blaney and Bell were scored in the top five. DiBenedetto, Bowman, Logano, Kurt Busch and Hamlin were in the top 10. Harvick was in 19th while Elliott was mired back in 22nd. Bowyer was back in 24th and trapped a lap behind the leaders.
Three laps later, leader Kyle Busch made a pit stop under green. Not long after, Logano pitted under green as Truex continued to lead followed by Bell, who overtook Blaney, DiBenedetto and Keselowski for position.
Soon after, Harvick and Hamlin pitted under green along with DiBenedetto, Keselowski, Byron, Kurt Busch, Austin Dillon, Truex, Johnson, Bowman, Newman, Blaney, Custer and Elliott.
With 55 laps remaining, Bell was scored as the leader followed by Kyle Busch, Bowyer, Truex and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. A lap later, Bell pitted and Busch reassumed the lead, though Busch was told that he was short on fuel to finish the race.
Shortly after, Johnson pitted and the hood of his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE went up as a billow of smoke started blowing out of the exhaust pipe of Johnson’s machine with engine issues occurring. The engine issue was catastrophic and enough to end Johnson’s strong run into the garage and in 36th place in his 35th and final run at Texas Motor Speedway.
With less than 50 laps remaining, Bowyer emerged with the lead followed by Kyle Busch, Truex, Bell and Blaney. By then, Keselowski and Bowman were in sixth and seventh, Kurt Busch was in ninth ahead of Hamlin and Logano and Harvick was in 19th. Elliott was mired back in 22nd.
With 40 laps remaining and the laps continuing to dwindle, Bowyer continued to lead followed by Kyle Busch, though both were in question of having enough fuel to complete the race to its distance. Behind by more than five seconds were Truex and Bell while Blaney was in fifth. Keselowski, Bowman, Kurt Busch, DiBenedetto and Hamlin were in the top 10 ahead of Logano while Harvick and Elliott were still mired back in 19th and 22nd.
With 30 laps remaining, Bowyer retained the lead by less than four seconds over Kyle Busch with Truex and Bell trailing by five seconds. Blaney continued to trail by less than 12 seconds in fifth place while Bowman, Keselowski, Kurt Busch, DiBenedetto and Hamlin were in the top 10.
Seven laps later, Bowyer’s hopes of winning in his final rodeo at Texas Motor Speedway came to an end as he pitted under green for fuel. With Bowyer out of contention, Kyle Busch assumed the lead while teammate Truex moved into second place followed by Bell.
Down to the final 20 laps of the race, Kyle Busch was ahead by a second over teammate Truex with Bell trailing by more than a second. Blaney and Bowman moved up into the top five while Keselowski, Kurt Busch, DiBenedetto, Hamlin and Logano moved into the top 10. Harvick was back in 17th, the final car on the lead lap, while Elliott was in 21st.
Five laps later, Kyle Busch continued to lead by a second over teammate Truex with Bell lurking behind by more than a second and a half and with the leaders starting to catch lapped traffic.
With 10 laps remaining, Kyle Busch stabilized his advantage by more than a second over teammate Truex, who continued to track his teammate for the lead and a potential spot to the Championship Round, while Bell continued to remain in pursuit for the lead. By then, Harvick was lapped by Busch as Truex started to close in by less than a second.
Down to the final five laps, Kyle Busch continued to lead by a second over teammate Truex as the leaders started to approach more lapped traffic. By then, Bell started to lose ground as he trailed by more than three seconds in third place and with Blaney and Bowman in the top five.
With two laps remaining, Kyle Busch was still running strong with the lead and by more than a second over teammate Truex. He continued to lead as he started the final lap of the race.
For one final circuit, Truex got the deficit down under a second but it was not enough as Kyle Busch was able to streak across the finish line in first place and win by four-tenths of a second over Truex.
With his victory, Kyle Busch extended his winning streak to 16 consecutive seasons as he snapped his 33-race winless drought dating back to November 2019 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where he won his second Cup title. Despite Busch’s hopes of defending his title evaporating, the two-time champion expressed a huge sigh of relief upon bowing to the crowd with the checkered flag in celebration.
“[I] Just kept getting great leadership and mentoring from [crew chief] Adam [Stevens] and [spotter] from Tony [Hirschman], and those guys just keep talking to me, keep reminding me about saving [fuel] and being able to do what I could, trying to stay in the draft as much as I could on the straightaways,” Busch said on NBCSN. “It ran out coming right in here to do a burnout, so I had enough to get a little bit of a burnout. I don’t know if I’ll make it back [to Victory Lane.]”
“I can’t say enough about Adam Stevens and everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing,” Busch added. “This Skittles Zombie machine looks bad to the bone. It’s really, really awesome! We got [the win]. I was nervous a little bit like the whole last run, but I’ve been in this position so many times. It’s like the last three laps though, that’s like winning the championship. That’s how nervous it was. I can’t believe it. We’re ready to fight next year. We’ll be back…We don’t ever give up.”
Truex settled in second place as he came up one position shy of winning and racing his way into the Championship 4 round. Including the 20-point penalty for having his spoiler confiscated during pre-race inspection on Sunday, the 2017 Cup champion trails the top-four cutline by 36 points entering next weekend’s final Playoff elimination race at Martinsville Speedway.
“We knew [Kyle Busch] was close,” Truex said on NBCSN. “Hell of an effort by the Bass Pro guys and everybody that helps us. It just seems like one of them years, we’re second, third, fourth. We’re right there a lot. We just needed a little bit more to be better. Coming here, we had a lot of confidence and obviously, we had a strong run. This time of the year, Playoffs, second’s great, but it’s not good enough. Excited about Martinsville. I know we can win there. We showed that in the past, but it’s a new race and a new week. We’ll have to figure out how to be better when we’ve been there. I feel like everybody will get better. Looking forward to it, excited about the opportunity to get to do this and hopefully, put ourselves in another championship race.”
Bell notched a career-best Cup result of third place while Blaney and Bowman rounded out the top five. Keselowski, Kurt Busch, DiBenedetto, Hamlin and Logano finished in the top 10. Harvick ended his night in 16th place while Elliott came home in 20th place. Bowyer finished 17th in his 30th and final run at Texas.
There were 23 lead changes for 11 different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 47 laps.
Results.
1. Kyle Busch, 90 laps led, Stage 2 winner
2. Martin Truex Jr., 53 laps led
3. Christopher Bell, five laps led
4. Ryan Blaney, 20 laps led
5. Alex Bowman, 43 laps led
6. Brad Keselowski
7. Kurt Busch
8. Matt DiBenedetto, two laps led
9. Denny Hamlin
10. Joey Logano
11. Austin Dillon
12. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
13. William Byron
14. Cole Custer
15. Tyler Reddick
16. Kevin Harvick, one lap down, 28 laps led
17. Clint Bowyer, one lap down, 89 laps led, Stage 1 winner
18. Ryan Preece, one lap down
19. Ryan Newman, one lap down
20. Chase Elliott, one lap down
21. Erik Jones, one lap down, two laps led
22. John Hunter Nemechek, two laps down
23. Aric Almirola, two laps down, one lap led
24. Ty Dillon, two laps down
25. Corey LaJoie, three laps down
26. Michael McDowell, three laps down
27. Daniel Suarez, six laps down
28. Brennan Poole, six laps down, one lap led
29. Josh Bilicki, eight laps down
30. Timmy Hill, nine laps down
31. Garrett Smithley, nine laps down
32. Reed Sorenson, 13 laps down
33. Quin Houff, 18 laps down
34. Chris Buescher, 24 laps down
35. Chad Finchum, 24 laps down
36. Jimmie Johnson – OUT, Engine
37. Joey Gase – OUT, Suspension
38. Bubba Wallace – OUT, Accident
39. Matt Kenseth – OUT, Accident
40. J.J. Yeley – OUT, Accident
Bold indicates Playoff contenders.
Playoff standings.
1. Joey Logano – Advanced
2. Kevin Harvick +42
3. Denny Hamlin +27
4. Brad Keselowski +25
5. Alex Bowman -25
6. Chase Elliott -25
7. Martin Truex Jr. -36
8. Kurt Busch -81
Next on the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is Martinsville Speedway for the Xfinity 500, which marks the third and final race of the Round of 8 in the Playoffs and where this year’s Cup Championship 4 field will be determined. The race is scheduled to occur on Sunday, November 1, at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.
With a championship spot on the line, Joey Logano punched his ticket into the Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway after emerging with the lead following a pit stop under 50 laps remaining and holding off Kevin Harvick and Alex Bowman on the ensuing restart and through the final 42 laps to win the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway. In addition to securing a championship spot for the finale, Logano secured his third victory of the season, his first win since Phoenix in March and his 26th NASCAR Cup Series career victory, which moved him into a tie for 31st place on the all-time Cup wins list with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Fred Lorenzen.
The starting lineup was based on four stats: current owner’s standings, driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Cup race and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Cup race. With that, Chase Elliott, coming off his dominating win last weekend at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course, started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Joey Logano.
Prior to the race, Martin Truex Jr. and James Davison dropped to the rear of the field due to their respective cars failing pre-race inspection twice.
During the opening pace laps, Clint Bowyer got to temporarily lead the field behind the pace car and was saluted by a group of fans attending and watching the race from the grass around the track by carving out Bowyer’s No. 14 with Bowyer making his final start at his home track before retiring from full-time racing at season’s end and moving to the FOX Sports broadcast booth in 2021. Prior to the race’s start, Bowyer dropped back to his starting spot in 12th place.
When the green flag waved and the Round of 8 in the 2020 Cup Playoffs commenced on a cold afternoon, Elliott rocketed with the lead through the first two turns. Behind, however, Logano, Harvick and Kurt Busch started to battle intensely and early for the runner-up spot. Through Turns 3 and 4, Logano, Harvick and Kurt Busch went three-wide for second place while Elliott was able to pull away and lead the first lap.
Following the first five laps of the race, Elliott continued to lead by a narrow margin over Kurt Busch and a hard-charing Logano as the field behind continued to battle competitively for early positioning.
Through the first 10 laps of the race, Elliott’s No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE continued to lead followed by Logano and Harvick while Ryan Blaney and Hamlin were in the top five. Kurt Busch settled in sixth followed by Alex Bowman, Tyler Reddick, William Byron and Brad Keselowski. By then, Truex, who started at the rear of the field, moved up to 17th place in front of teammate Kyle Busch.
Five laps later, Elliott continued to lead by half a second over Harvick, who was being pursued by Logano. Meanwhile, Hamlin and Blaney battled for fourth place. By then, Truex, racing in his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry, was making his way towards the top 15 on the track.
By Lap 20, Elliott extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Harvick while Logano trailed by three seconds. Hamlin and Blaney were in the top five followed by Kurt Busch, Bowman, Keselowski, Reddick and Byron. By then, Clint Bowyer was in 12th in front of Jimmie Johnson and Truex. In addition, Austin Dillon was in 15th ahead of Aric Almirola, Matt DiBenedetto and Kyle Busch while rookies John Hunter Nemechek, Christopher Bell and Cole Custer were in 19th through 21st. Bubba Wallace, meanwhile, was in 23rd behind Chris Buescher while Matt Kenseth and Ryan Newman were in 25th and 28th.
When the competition caution flew on Lap 25, Elliott maintained his early advantage by less than two seconds over Harvick. By then, seven of the remaining eight Playoff contenders were running inside the top 10 while Truex moved up to 12th place behind Erik Jones. Blaney, Reddick and Byron were the only non-title contenders who were scored in the top 10 on the track.
Under the competition caution, the leaders pitted and Byron emerged with the lead following a two-tire pit stop, Elliott exited in second following a four-tire pit stop, who was followed by Logano, Harvick and Hamlin. Following the pit stops, Kurt Busch was assessed a pit road speeding penalty as he dropped his No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE to the rear of the field.
When the race restarted on Lap 30, Harvick gave Elliott a shove on the outside lane, which allowed Elliott to move ahead of teammate Byron’s No. 24 Chevrolet in Turn 2 before Harvick made a challenge himself for the lead in Turn 3 on the outside lane.
The following lap, Harvick emerged as the new leader, though Elliott continued to pounce on him for the lead. Soon after, Hamlin moved up along with Penske teammates Logano, Blaney and Keselowski while Byron fell back to seventh place. While Byron continued to lose positions following his two-tire pit stop, Reddick, Bowman and Bowyer moved up.
By Lap 35, Truex moved into 15th place. By then, Jimmie Johnson was in 19th place while running in between DiBenedetto and Chris Buescher. At the front, Harvick stabilized his advantage by half a second over Elliott while Hamlin, Logano and Blaney were in the top five.
Through the first 40 laps of the race, Harvick extended his advantage by nearly a second over Elliott. Hamlin settled in third while teammates Blaney, Logano and Keselowski battled for fourth place. Reddick moved up to seventh followed by Bowman, Bowyer and Erik Jones. By then, Byron was back in 14th in front of Kyle Busch while Truex was in 13th.
When the race reached its 50-lap mark, Harvick, racing in his No. 4 Jimmy John’s Ford Mustang, was still leading by more than a second over Elliott while Blaney moved up to third place. Keselowski and Hamlin battled for fourth place while Bowman was in sixth ahead of Logano. Reddick and Erik Jones were in eighth and ninth followed by Truex, who cracked the top 10. Bowyer fell back to 11th place in front of Christopher Bell, Kyle Busch, Almirola and Custer while Austin Dillon, Byron, Jimmie Johnson, DiBenedetto and Wallace were in the top 20. By then, Kurt Busch, who was penalized early for a speeding penalty, was back in 23rd behind teammate Kenseth, Newman was in 29th behind Ty Dillon and Daniel Suarez was in 31st behind Corey LaJoie.
While Elliott continued to track down Harvick for the lead, teammates Keselowski and Blaney battled for third place, with the former succeeding. Meanwhile, Logano, who was battling towards the front with his teammates early, dropped back to ninth place behind Truex while dealing with handling issues to his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang.
Through the first 60 laps, seven of the eight Playoff contenders led by Harvick were running in the top 10 while Blaney, Erik Jones and Reddick were the only non-title contenders running in the top 10. By then, Kurt Busch was the lowest-running Playoff contender in 22nd place behind DiBenedetto and Buescher. While Bowyer and Kyle Busch battled for 12th place, Byron dropped all the way back to 19th place after being overtaken by teammate Jimmie Johnson and Bubba Wallace.
On Lap 64, Elliott reassumed the lead after tracking down and overtaking Harvick through the long green flag run. Not long after, Keselowski started to close in on Harvick’s No. 4 Jimmy John’s Ford Mustang for the runner-up spot.
While the laps in the first stage continued to dwindle, Keselowski and Harvick continued to battle intensely for the runner-up spot while Elliott, who was battling with radio communication issues with his crew and spotter, continued to lead. During this time, Blaney trailed the top-three competitors by more than a second while Hamlin settled in fifth place, two seconds behind.
With three laps remaining in the first stage and the leaders approaching lapped traffic, Keselowski overtook Harvick for second place and his No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang started to close in on Elliott’s Camaro for the lead. By then, Blaney and Hamlin moved into third and fourth followed by Erik Jones while Harvick fell back to sixth place.
With the top-six competitors duking it out at the front despite the heavy lapped traffic, Elliott was able to hold off Keselowski to win the first stage on Lap 80 and claim his ninth stage victory of the season. Keselowski settled in second place while Hamlin’s No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry edged Blaney’s No. 12 Menards/Moen Ford Mustang by a mere nose to settle in third place. Jones, Bowman, Harvick, Truex, Logano and Kyle Busch settled in the top 10. By then, Kurt Busch was in 19th place behind Custer, Bowyer was in 12th behind Reddick and Jimmie Johnson was in 16th behind Austin Dillon.
Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Hamlin was able to beat Elliott off of pit road in first place following a four-tire pit stop. Blaney exited in third place followed by Jones, Keselowski and Harvick. By then, Elliott’s radio issues were resolved. In addition, Reddick made another pit stop to address a loose left-front wheel.
The second stage started on Lap 86 with Hamlin and Elliott on the front row ahead of Blaney and Jones. At the start, Blaney gave Hamlin a shove for the lead, but Elliott fought back on the inside lane. Behind, Kyle Busch, racing in his No. 18 M&M’s Halloween Toyota Camry and eliminated from title contention, made a three-wide move on Logano and Bowyer in an attempt for more positions while the field continued to battle in double lanes.
By the time the field returned to the start/finish line, Elliott emerged ahead, but the following lap, Hamlin was able to emerge ahead and take the top spot back. Behind the leader Hamlin, Blaney and Elliott battled for second while Logano got loose in Turn 1 beneath Harvick’s No. 4 Ford while battling for more.
At the front, Hamlin continued to lead by a narrow margin over Blaney and Elliott while Harvick and Keselowski battled for fourth. Kurt Busch, meanwhile, muscled his way into sixth place ahead of Logano while Jones and Bowman were in the top 10. Truex was back in 12th behind Bowyer and Bell. Byron was in 14th in between Custer and Austin Dillon while Kyle Busch was back in 17th behind Wallace. Newman, Johnson and Kenseth were in 21st, 22nd and 23rd.
By Lap 95, Hamlin was still ahead by a car length over Blaney. Elliott stabilized himself in third place while Kurt Busch, Harvick, Keselowski and Logano battled for fourth place. Not long after, Bowman, who was in eighth, started to join the party while Bell and Bowyer were in the top 10.
When the race reached its Lap 100 mark and the leaders started to approach lapped traffic, Hamlin and Blaney continued to battle for the lead. Behind, Elliott and Harvick battled intensely for third place, with the latter prevailing a lap later. Keselowski was in fifth place in front of Kurt Busch while Bell, Logano, Bowman and Bowyer were in the top 10. Truex was in 12th behind Custer.
Through Lap 110, Hamlin continued to lead by more than a half a second over Blaney, who earlier had a pass on Hamlin for the lead spoiled after encountering the lapped car of Quin Houff. Elliott was in third place ahead of Keselowski, Harvick and Kurt Busch.
By Lap 120, Hamlin continued to hold steady for the lead, though he had Blaney settling behind him by two-tenths of a second. By then, the remaining eight Playoff contenders were running no lower than 11th place.
Soon after, green flag pit stops started to occur as Erik Jones, who lost the balance of his No. 20 Reser’s Toyota Camry and had fallen near the top 20 on the track, pitted. In addition, Bowman pitted along with Harvick, teammate Aric Almirola, Logano, Byron, Kyle Busch, Hamlin, Blaney, Elliott, Reddick and Johnson.
By Lap 130 and with most of the leaders having made a pit stop under green, Keselowski, one of a handful of competitors who had yet to pit under green, was leading. Kurt Busch was in second followed by Truex, Bowyer, Ryan Preece, DiBenedetto, Michael McDowell, Ryan Newman, Corey LaJoie and Ty Dillon.
A lap later, Keselowski pitted along with Bowyer and Preece while Kurt Busch took over the lead for the next two laps before he and Truex pitted. Back on the track, DiBenedetto emerged as the lead followed by McDowell, Newman, LaJoie and Ty Dillon while Hamlin and Blaney were in sixth and seventh. By then, the race reached its overall halfway point.
During the racing on the track, Harvick narrowly avoided wrecking into Ty Dillon, who was slowing on the track to make the turn to pit road under green and caused Harvick to move up the track and pass Dillon’s No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE without contact.
With 20 laps remaining in the second stage, DiBenedetto continued to remain on the track and with the lead followed by McDowell, Newman and LaJoie while Hamlin was in fifth. Blaney, Elliott, Harvick, Keselowski and Bowman were in the top 10.
Three laps later, the caution flew when Matt Kenseth wrecked entering Turn 4 when he moved up the track and across the front nose of Erik Jones as both wrecked across the outside wall and Kenseth emerged with significant body damage to his No. 42 AdventHealth Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. At the time of caution, the top-three competitors led by DiBenedetto, Newman and LaJoie were still on the track. The good news for all three of them was that they were able to pit along with most of the leaders, cycle back and gain a number of track positions with the front-runners.
Under caution, most of the leaders led by DiBenedetto, Newman, LaJoie, Elliott, Harvick and Logano pitted while the rest led by Hamlin, Blaney, Keselowski, Bowman, Kurt Busch and Truex remained on the track.
With 11 laps remaining in the second stage, the race restarted under green and Hamlin received a push from Keselowski to retain the lead on the outside lane over Blaney. Through the backstretch and back to the start/finish line, Hamlin was ahead of Blaney while Hendrick Motorsports’ teammates Bowman and Elliott battled for third place. Behind, Harvick was in fifth followed by Kurt Busch, Keselowski, Bowyer, DiBenedetto and Truex.
With the laps in the second stage dwindling, Hamlin was still ahead by a narrow margin over Blaney while Bowman was in third. Not long after, Harvick moved into second place over Blaney and Bowman while Elliott slipped back to sixth behind Keselowski. Truex and Kurt Busch were in eighth and ninth while Logano was back in 14th behind Bell and Kyle Busch.
Down to the final two laps of the second stage, Harvick was a car length behind Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota while Blaney, Bowman, Keselowski and Elliott battled for third place.
Despite having a challenge from Harvick on the final lap and for a full circuit, Hamlin was able to persevere and hold on to claim the second stage on Lap 160 while also achieving his 10th stage victory of the season. Harvick settled in second followed by Blaney, Bowman and Elliott. Keselowski, DiBenedetto, Truex, Kurt Busch and Bowyer settled in the top 10. By then, Logano was still mired back in 14th in between Bell and Almirola.
Under the stage break, nearly all of the leaders pitted and Logano exited in first place following a two-tire pit stop. Almirola exited in second place while also on two fresh tires followed by Hamlin, the first on four fresh tires. Bowman, Harvick and Elliott followed suit.
Back on the track, Kyle Busch emerged with the lead after he elected to remain on the track under the stage break.
With 100 laps remaining, the final stage started under green and with Kyle Busch and Logano on the front row followed by Almirola, Bowman, Hamlin and Harvick. At the start, Logano emerged with the lead entering Turn 2 while a multitude of competitors battled and expanded into three and four lanes for positions.
Two laps later, Harvick emerged with the lead after overtaking Logano while Bowman moved up to third place over Kyle Busch. With the battles around the track continuing to ensue, Kyle Busch moved back into third place in front of Keselowski and brother Kurt Busch, all of whom were behind Logano.
Meanwhile, Bowman was in sixth ahead of Hamlin, Blaney, Truex and DiBenedetto while Elliott was mired back in 11th. Bowyer was in 14th behind Bell and Byron.
With 90 laps remaining, Harvick was clear out front by less than two seconds over Logano, who had teammate Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Blaney, Kurt Busch and Hamlin challenging behind.
Shortly after, troubles ensued for Hamlin, who bounced off with the outside wall in Turn 4 while moving in front of teammate Kyle Busch in a battle for a top-five spot. Following the contact, Hamlin began to fall off the pace and he made an unscheduled pit stop under green the following lap to have the damage and any concerns of a tire rub addressed. By the time he returned to the track, he lost a lap to the leaders.
With 80 laps remaining, Harvick stabilized his advantage to more than three seconds over Keselowski while Penske teammates Logano and Blaney were in third and fourth. Kyle Busch, who was still holding strong on four old tires, was in fifth followed by Bowman, Kurt Busch, Truex, Bell and Bowyer. Elliott was in 11th ahead of Custer while Hamlin was in 28th place and a lap behind.
Ten laps later, with 70 laps remaining, Harvick extended his advantage to more than four seconds over Keselowski while Blaney, Kyle Busch and Bowman were in the top five. Logano, Truex, Bowyer, Elliott and Bell were in the top 10. While Hamlin was behind in 28th place and still trying to fight his way back on the lead lap, Kurt Busch was in 19th place after reporting an electrical issue to his No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE.
Shortly after, a good day turned bad became sour for Kurt Busch, who lost his engine through Turns 1 and 2 as his No. 1 Chevrolet went up in a billow of smoke. The issue was terminal and enough to end Busch’s day in the garage as his hopes for a second Cup title took an early hit in the Round of 8.
“Having an engine failure in the Playoffs, it’s just like a huge parachute that slows you up,” Kurt Busch said on NBC. “We’ll pack that parachute up, throw it away and we’ll go to Texas to win. We knew we were gonna have to win either here or Texas. Martinsville, we got a shot at it too. The odds were stacked against us, but hey, we’re in the top eight for a reason. I got a great crew chief, Matt McCall. We’ll bounce back… It’s just one of those things. We have an engine failure and there’s nothing we can do about it.”
At the time of caution, Erik Jones received the free pass to return on the lead lap while Hamlin remained a lap behind the leaders. Under caution, the leaders pitted for fresh tires and enough fuel to complete the race to its entire distance. Following the pit stops, Harvick retained the lead followed by Kyle Busch, Blaney, Logano and Keselowski. Prior to the restart, Hamlin took the wave around to return on the lead lap, though he is out of sequence with the leaders and needs another pit stop to complete the race to its distance.
The race restarted under green with 62 laps remaining. At the start, Harvick retained the lead on the outside lane while teammates Blaney, Logano and Keselowski moved up. Bowman also moved up into the top five as Kyle Busch slipped back to sixth.
Four laps later, Harvick continued to lead by less than half a second over the Penske trio while Hendrick teammates Bowman and Byron were in fifth and sixth. Truex and DiBenedetto battled for seventh while Elliott and Austin Dillon were in the top 10. Kyle Busch, meanwhile, was back in 12th behind Bell. By then, Erik Jones, who had returned on the lead lap, pitted under green due to a tire rub.
With 50 laps remaining, Harvick extended his advantage to a second over Logano, who had teammates Keselowski and Blaney behind him. Bowman was in fifth while Elliott was able to work his way back up to sixth place. Truex, Byron, Bell and DiBenedetto were in the top 10 while Kyle Busch was in 11th. Hamlin, meanwhile, was in 24th place behind Roush Fenway Racing’s Buescher and Newman.
Three laps later, the caution returned due to Reddick making contact into the outside wall in Turns 3 and 4, though he was able to pit without further incident. The caution allowed Hamlin, who was on the lead lap, to cycle back with the leaders and pit under caution at the same time with enough fuel to complete the race to its scheduled distance. Under caution, the leaders pitted and Logano was able to exit pit road in first place ahead of Harvick. Bowman, Blaney and Kyle Busch exited in the top five.
With 42 laps remaining, the race restarted under green as Logano and Harvick battled for the lead. Through Turn 2, however, Logano was able to retain the lead as Blaney battled Harvick for second place. Behind, Jimmie Johnson made contact with the wall following contact with Ryan Preece and he made an unscheduled pit stop, though the race remained under green.
At the front, Logano continued to lead followed by Harvick and Blaney while Bowman and Keselowski were in the top five. Behind, Elliott battled teammate Byron for sixth while Kyle Busch, Bell and Truex were in the top 10.
With less than 35 laps remaining, Logano continued to lead, but he had Harvick trailing by approximately a tenth of a second. Five laps later, with 30 laps remaining, Logano was still out in front by half a second over Harvick and Keselowski, both of whom started to battle for the runner-up spot. Meanwhile, Bowman and Blaney battled for fourth place while Elliott overtook Kyle Busch for sixth place. By then, Truex was in ninth while Hamlin was in 17th.
Down to the final 25 laps of the race and the leaders approaching lapped traffic, Logano remained out in front of the field by two-tenths of a second, though he had Harvick remaining well behind him and continuing to pounce for the lead. Keselowski stabilized himself in third place followed by teammates Bowman and Elliott. Kyle Busch was in sixth followed by Blaney, Byron, Truex and DiBenedetto. By then, Hamlin was in 16th place behind Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Five laps later, with 20 laps remaining, the top-five competitors led by Logano were separated by a second. By then, Logano continued to drive defensively with the lead over Harvick while Keselowski, Bowman and Elliott started to close in.
With 15 laps remaining, Logano and Harvick were able to pull away by third-place Keselowski by more than a second. A lap later, Bowman overtook Keselowski for third place while Elliott continued to run in the top five. By then, Truex was in ninth behind Byron while Hamlin only moved up to 15th place behind Custer.
Down to the final 10 laps of the race, Logano started to pull away as he extended his advantage to less than half a second over Harvick and with Bowman trailing by less than two seconds. Keselowski continued to run in fourth place, trailing by more than two seconds, while Elliott settled in fifth place, trailing by more than three seconds.
A lap later, Harvick started to close in on Logano in an effort to pounce for the lead yet again. With the top-two competitors duking it out and the laps dwindling, Bowman and his No. 88 ChevyGoods.com/Truck Hero Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE started to close in by six car lengths.
With five laps remaining, the top-three competitors were separated by less than a second, with Logano leading by a narrow margin and Bowman starting to close in on Harvick for the runner-up spot. By then, Kyle Busch and Blaney were battling for sixth place behind Keselowski and Elliott.
With three laps remaining, the top-three competitors were separated by half a second, with Harvick continuing to pounce on Logano for the lead and Bowman joining the party amid lapped traffic.
On the final lap, Logano was still leading by a narrow margin over Harvick and Bowman. Through Turns 1 and 2, Logano continued to lead while Harvick struggled to close in on Logano’s rear bumper. In Turn 3 and despite encountering two lapped cars, Logano was able to defend his spot over Harvick to cross the finish line in first place and grab his spot in the championship round with a victory at Kansas.
With his third victory at Kansas, this marks the fourth time since 2014 where Logano was able to race his way into the Championship 4 round for the Cup Series finale as he will pursue his second Cup title, first since 2018.
“You’ve got to want it, man,” Logano said in front of a limited number of fans attending the race on NBC. “What an amazing team this Shell/Pennzoil team is. Oh my goodness. I’m wore out. I spent more time in the mirror than the windshield there. Pit stops put us in position, got us the lead. [Harvick]’s fast. He was real fast, especially down the straightaways. I thought if I could hold him off the first 15 laps, I have a chance and actually, dirty air was the best for us. As we caught lapped traffic, I was able to gap ourselves as he got more dirty air…Man, I’m exhausted after that. We’re going to Phoenix! We’re racing for a championship again! Heck yeah.”
“You come into this race knowing if you can win this thing, you got an amazing advantage,” Logano added, “The same thing happened to us in 2018 when we raced for the win at Martinsville, knowing that we have two races just to battle for nothing but the championship. I can’t believe it, especially with the way the beginning of the race was going. We were back there, not scoring stage points, running around 10th. Good strategy by [crew chief] Paul [Wolfe], great pit stops and this Shell/Pennzoil Mustang’s racing for a championship at Phoenix.”
Harvick settled in second place for his third runner-up finish of the season and after leading a race-high 85 laps compared to Logano’s 47 while Bowman recorded a strong third-place result for his fifth top-five result of the season.
“We just needed to get off of pit road first,” Harvick said on NBC. “It came down to controlling that restart. We lost the lead on the restart and wound up trying to battle. Didn’t get to lead on the restart, but just a really, really fast Jimmy John’s Ford Mustang. All our guys did a great job. We had a fast car and just moved all over the race track. We weren’t the best behind somebody, but I had a lot of options as they made the car better towards the end of the race. Good run for us. Wished we could’ve won, but one [spot] short…Joey’s a good blocker.”
“It seemed like we needed a really long run there at the end,” Bowman said on NBC. “We were pretty free all day and we snugged up, got our TruckHero Camaro driving a little better. Just really didn’t have much right-rear grip. There at the end, just running around, wide open, they finally came back to us enough, but then, I just couldn’t do anything once I got there. I burnt the tires off of it to try to get there in the first place. It’s a bummer. I messed up coming to two [laps] to go and cost us any chance that we had. It’s still a really good day for us. Thanks to everybody at Hendrick Motorsports, back at the shop, all the road guys, everybody’s working so hard…We’re building great Camaros. Just a little bit short today.”
Keselowski, who ran at the front throughout the race, finished in fourth place while trailing the top-three competitors by three seconds as Kyle Busch made his way to finish in fifth place.
“[Today] was really solid,” Keselowski said on NBC. “Here and Texas were two tracks we were a little nervous about. [I was] Really fast all day. Just didn’t have quite enough there at the end. I felt like if we would’ve had the lead, we could’ve won, but just wasn’t in the cards.”
Chase Elliott rallied from his radio issues to lead 48 laps and finish in sixth place while Blaney, Byron, Truex and Bell rounded out the top 10.
“[The radio issues] wasn’t a massive deal,” Elliott said on NBC. “The good news was [the crew] could hear me. I just couldn’t hear them once we went green. Once I understood the situation that they could hear me and I just couldn’t hear them, that helped, obviously. From there, [I] just kind of knew what to expect, just trying to pay attention to the lap count and when everybody else was gonna start pitting or not. I don’t think, ultimately, it hindered our performance at all. We had a pretty fast NAPA Camaro. I felt like we fired off well and lost a little track position in that middle stage. It’s tough to get a big chunk of it back in a hurry… I got two more weeks and we’ll try to go get’em at Texas.”
“That’s about all we had,” Truex said on NBC. “We were eighth in both stages and ninth at the end. We didn’t really have much more than that. If we could’ve gotten some track position at times, on the really long runs, we were really strong. On restarts, it was really tough to fend people off and we just didn’t quite have the short-run speed. Just didn’t have what we hoped to have, but proud of everybody on this No. 19 team. We’ll do what we do. We’ll keep fighting. Today’s over. It wasn’t a terrible day by any means, but not what we needed to get to the final four. We’ll try to pick it up for Texas next week. Martinsville should be good too…I know we can do it. It’s just a matter of hitting it right. Ninth is unacceptable for us.”
Hamlin, who was unable to mount a late rally back to the front following his late contact with the outside wall despite leading 58 laps, finished in 15th place behind Custer, though he remains above the top-four cutline.
“[The contact] damaged the car,” Hamlin said on NBC. “On these tracks, you can’t have any damage on the car, but I was actually kind of fortunate to get a couple of cautions there to get back on the lead lap. That’s as far as I could go with the damage that I had. It hurt the car so bad, so top 15 with that damage, that’s the best we could probably hope for, but still, I definitely had a race-winning car today. Just drove it into the fence…We can win every week. Every week, we’re up front. I think we can win next week, we can win the week after that and we can win the week after that. [I’m] Not too worried about having to go out there and win because I know we can do it.”
Clint Bowyer, who made late contact with the wall, finished 26th in his 25th and final Cup run at Kansas Speedway, his home track. Jimmie Johnson finished 31st in his 29th and final run at Kansas.
There were 17 lead changes for 11 different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 31 laps.
Results.
1. Joey Logano, 47 laps led
2. Kevin Harvick, 85 laps led
3. Alex Bowman
4. Brad Keselowski, six laps led
5. Kyle Busch, four laps led
6. Chase Elliott, 48 laps led, Stage 1 winner
7. Ryan Blaney
8. William Byron, three laps led
9. Martin Truex Jr.
10. Christopher Bell
11. Austin Dillon
12. Matt DiBenedetto, 12 laps led
13. Aric Almirola
14. Cole Custer
15. Denny Hamlin, 58 laps led, Stage 2 winner
16. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
17. John Hunter Nemechek
18. Bubba Wallace
19. Michael McDowell
20. Erik Jones
21. Chris Buescher
22. Ryan Newman, one lap led
23. Corey LaJoie, one lap led
24. Ty Dillon, one lap down
25. Tyler Reddick, one lap down
26. Clint Bowyer, one lap down
27. Daniel Suarez, two laps down
28. Brennan Poole, four laps down
29. Ryan Preece, five laps down
30. J.J. Yeley, six laps down
31. Jimmie Johnson, six laps down
32. James Davison, nine laps down
33. Quin Houff, nine laps down
34. Timmy Hill, 11 laps down
35. Josh Bilicki, 13 laps down
36. Reed Sorenson, 17 laps down
37. Joey Gase, 39 laps down
38. Kurt Busch – OUT, Engine, two laps led
39. Chad Finchum – OUT, Transmission
40. Matt Kenseth – OUT, Accident
Bold indicates Playoff contenders.
Playoff standings.
1. Joey Logano – Advanced
2. Kevin Harvick +41
3. Denny Hamlin +20
4. Brad Keselowski +8
5. Chase Elliott -8
6. Alex Bowman -27
7. Martin Truex Jr. -31
8. Alex Bowman -73
The Round of 8 in the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs will continue next Sunday, October 25, at Texas Motor Speedway for the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500. The race will occur at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.
1. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished 11th at Charlotte.
“Clint Bowyer is retiring at season’s end,” Harvick said, “and moving to the broadcast booth. Now, Clint’s gonna get paid to never stop talking.”
2. Chase Elliott: Elliott won at Charlotte’s Roval course, taking his fourth straight road course win. Elliott secured his spot in the playoff Round of 8.
“I love road courses,” Elliott said. “And there are six road course races on next year’s Cup schedule. That plays right into my hands. So next year, I’ll be taking the ‘circuitous’ route to the championship.”
3. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin struggled at Charlotte, spinning twice and suffering body damage on his way to a 15th-place finish.
“I let the back end get away from me,” Hamlin said, “which is probably something Tony Stewart said after a post-diet bender.”
4. Kurt Busch: Busch finished fourth at Charlotte as the playoff field was trimmed to eight drivers.
“My brother Kyle was eliminated from the playoffs,” Busch said. “So it’s up to me to uphold the family name. But just a cursory glance through the Busch brothers history of legal problems would tell you neither of us is capable of upholding much of anything ethical.”
5. Joey Logano: Logano finished second at Charlotte.
“It’s the Round Of 8,” Logano said. “This is where you separate the boys from the men. Some drivers, like Matt Kenseth, might question whether I belong in either category. Just check the history books; you’ll see I’m ‘classified’ as a ‘Cup champion.’”
6. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski finished 18th at Charlotte.
“Many NASCAR purists are against racing in the rain,” Keselowski said. “That’s probably why you see all these ‘Don’t Tread On Me’ flags in the parking lot.”
7. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex finished seventh at Charlotte and joins Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin in the Round Of 8.
“Kyle Busch went from Cup champion,” Truex said, “to not even making it to the third round of the playoffs. They call that ‘falling off a cliff,’ and right into the ‘glory hole.’”
8. Alex Bowman: Bowman finished eighth in the Bank Of America Roval 400 and advanced to the next round of the playoffs.
“I’ll be driving the No. 48 car next year,” Bowman said. “It’s gonna be weird sitting in that seat that Jimmie drove to 7 Cup championships. It would be even weirder if Jimmie was still in it.”
9. Aric Almirola: Almirola finished 16th at Charlotte’s Roval and was eliminated from the playoffs.
“How about the Xfinity Series race in the rain on Saturday?” Almirola said. “Now that was exciting. There was so much water on the course, there was no way that race was going to be ‘hydro-plain.’”
10. Kyle Busch: A flat tire derailed Busch’s chances of advancing to the next round of the playoffs. He finished 30th.
“Finally,” Busch said, “I’ve been put out of my misery. As last year’s Cup champion, I lost my ‘mojo,’ as well as every Cup race I entered this season.”
It was deja vu for Chase Elliott, who rallied from an unscheduled pit stop nearing the midway point to address a loose wheel to muscle back to the lead with 18 laps remaining and power away on a restart with 10 laps remaining to win the third annual running of the Bank of America ROVAL 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course on a cloudy, slick afternoon on Sunday, October 11. With his third victory of the season and his ninth NASCAR Cup Series career win, Elliott became the first repeat winner of the Roval in the Cup Series and he raced his way into the Round of 8 in the 2020 Cup Series Playoffs.
The starting lineup was based on four statistical categories: current owner’s 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, Denny Hamlin, coming off his thrilling victory last weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Chase Elliott.
Prior to the race, Josh Bilicki started at the rear of the field due to a driver change. In addition, Erik Jones also started at the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments and after his crew worked on his car on pit road.
The race started with rain tires, which marked the first time a Cup Series race utilized rain tires for a race. The move came a day after the NASCAR Xfinity Series endured a dark, wet and wild event on the Roval a day earlier, where a number of competitors slid across every wet turn and where A.J. Allmendinger came out on top to win amid the Xfinity Playoffs.
When the green flag waved and the race started on a wet, cloudy afternoon, Hamlin jumped ahead with the lead while Elliott and Brad Keselowski pursued closely behind him. Following an intense battle through the infield turns, the outer track turns and the backstretch chicane, Keselowski was able to pull ahead of Hamlin and Elliott. Coming back to the start/finish line, Keselowski was able to lead the first lap as everyone else behind was able to cycle their way through one full lap around the wet, racing surface on the Roval.
Keselowski continued to lead following the second lap while Hamlin and Elliott pursued. Kevin Harvick was in fourth place followed by Joey Logano and Martin Truex Jr. Meanwhile, Ty Dillon, who started 17th, moved up to seventh place followed by Kyle Busch, Alex Bowman and Austin Dillon.
By the third lap, Elliott moved up to second place over Hamlin and Harvick while Ty Dillon moved up to fifth place. By then, Keselowski extended his advantage to more than a second.
The following lap, Ty Dillon continued to flex his muscles on the wet, slick surface of the Roval by moving up to third place. Truex also moved up to fourth place while Hamlin fell back to fifth place. In addition, Harvick fell back to eighth place while Logano and Kyle Busch each moved up a spot.
By the fifth lap, Keselowski was leading by nearly a second over Elliott, with both ahead of third-place Truex by more than three seconds. Ty Dillon retained fourth place followed by Logano while teammates Hamlin and Kyle Busch battled for sixth place. Shortly after, Clint Bowyer, who announced his retirement from full-time racing three days ago, moved up to sixth place.
Entering the backstretch chicane, Elliott was able to narrow the gap between himself and Keselowski to one car length, though Keselowski retained the lead. A lap later, Elliott was able to take the lead from Keselowski through Turns 2 and 3. While Elliott started to extend his advantage to a second, Truex and Bowyer started to reel in on Keselowski for the runner-up spot.
A lap later, Truex moved up to second place and Bowyer also moved up to third place while Keselowski fell back to fourth place. Though Truex and Bowyer started to pounce on Elliott for the lead, Elliott was able to retain the lead through the 10th lap and when the competition caution flew.
At the time of competition caution, nine of 12 Playoff contenders were running in the top 10 while Ty Dillon was the only non-title contender in the top 10, running in fifth place. Logano was in sixth place followed by Kyle Busch, Hamlin, Kurt Busch and Harvick. Alex Bowman and Austin Dillon were in 13th and 14th while Aric Almirola was mired back in 22nd place.
Under the competition caution, some like Harvick, Ty Dillon, William Byron, Austin Dillon, Ryan Blaney, Almirola and Matt DiBenedetto pitted while others led by Elliott remained on track. During the stops, Ryan Newman and Ty Dillon opted for slick tires.
When the race restarted on Lap 12, Truex jumped ahead with the lead past the start/finish line and through Turn 1 while Bowyer moved up to second place over Elliott. Entering the frontstretch chicane, however, Bowyer made a move beneath Truex and took over the top spot.
By Lap 15, Bowyer continued to lead the race over Playoff contenders Truex, Elliott, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Keselowski, Hamlin and Logano. William Byron was in ninth place followed by Christopher Bell, Erik Jones, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Preece, Harvick and Austin Dillon. Bowman was in 17th ahead of Blaney while Almirola was in 21st in between Michael McDowell and Bubba Wallace. Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth were in 26th and 27th behind Cole Custer and Matt DiBenedetto. Chris Buescher, who was penalized for a crew member jumping over the pit wall early prior to Buescher’s pit stop, was back in 28th place. Teammate Newman, who spun in Turn 4, dropped all the way back to 38th, last place.
Three laps later, Bowyer stabilized his advantage to more than two seconds over Truex while Kurt Busch moved up to third place over Elliott. By then and with the sun starting to peak amid the clouds, Bell and Jimmie Johnson pitted for slick tires. Shortly after, more pit stops under green continued as Reddick, Blaney, Wallace, Custer, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and John Hunter Nemechek pitted for slick tires. Logano, Byron, Jones, Preece, Harvick, Bowman, Kenseth and Buescher also pitted for slick tires.
By Lap 20, Bowyer continued to lead by less than two seconds over Ty Dillon, who continued to pounce, while Truex was in third place ahead of the Busch brothers. Elliott was back in seventh place behind DiBenedetto.
A lap later, Ty Dillon and the No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE moved into the lead over Bowyer entering the backstretch chicane. By then, Keselowski and Hamlin pitted for slick tires. Following his stop, however, Hamlin spun in Turn 4 and sustained damage to the front nose of his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry. He was able to re-fire, drive his car out of the grass and continue with the race remaining under green.
With three laps remaining in the first stage, the caution flew due to Nemechek driving off the track in Turn 6 and getting stuck in the grass. By then, Elliott, Corey LaJoie and Almirola pitted for slick tires while Ty Dillon was leading over Bowyer, Truex, DiBenedetto and the Busch brothers. Despite his incident, Nemechek was able to re-fire his No. 38 Citigard Ford Mustang and drive away, though he took part of an EchoPark billboard with him.
Under caution, Bowyer, Truex and Kyle Busch pitted for slick tires while Ty Dillon continued to lead followed by DiBenedetto and Timmy Hill.
With the race restarting on a one-lap dash to conclude the first stage, Ty Dillon was able to retain the lead over DiBenedetto while Christopher Bell moved up to second place. For one full lap, Ty Dillon was able to retain the lead and hold off Bell to win the first stage on Lap 25 and claim his first stage victory of the season. Bell settled in second place followed by DiBenedetto while Byron overtook Timmy Hill entering the frontstretch chicane to finish in fourth. Newman, Blaney, Logano, Wallace and Jones settled in the top 10. By then, Keselowski and Kurt Busch were in 12th and 13th, Bowman was in 17th and Harvick, Elliott and Almirola were in 19th, 20th and 21st. Hamlin was in 24th, teammates Kyle Busch and Truex were in 26th and 27th and Bowyer was in 29th. Austin Dillon was in 37th.
Under the stage break, some like Harvick, Hamlin, Ty Dillon, Hill, Wallace, Kurt Busch, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Quin Houff, LaJoie, Brennan Poole, James Davison and Josh Bilicki pitted while the rest led by Bell and DiBenedetto remained on the track. By then, with his result in the first stage, Harvick clinched his spot for the Round of 8 in the Playoffs.
The second stage started on Lap 28 and Bell was able to retain the lead while Byron challenged and overtook DiBenedetto for the runner-up spot through the first three turns. Behind, Newman, who rallied from spinning in the first stage and falling to the rear of the field, moved up to fourth while teammates Logano and Blaney along with Jimmie Johnson battled for fifth place.
By Lap 30 and with a multitude of on-track battles ensuing, Byron moved into the lead over Bell and DiBenedetto while Penske teammates Logano and Blaney overtook Newman for spots in the top five. Behind, Johnson and Erik Jones battled for seventh place while Keselowski joined the party when Johnson, Newman and Jones battled entering Turn 1.
Three laps later, Byron and his No. 24 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE stretched out by less than two seconds over Bell and his No. 95 Rheem Toyota Camry while Logano and Blaney overtook DiBenedetto for third and fourth on the track. Jones and Keselowski were in sixth and seventh while Johnson was in eighth ahead of teammate Alex Bowman and Elliott. Kyle Busch was in 12th while Bowyer and Truex were in 14th and 15th. Kurt Busch was in 17th ahead of Almirola while Harvick was in 25th. Hamlin and Austin Dillon were mired back in 30th and 31st.
A lap later, Keselowski spun in Turn 4 as Jones and DiBenedetto came to a full stop to avoid hitting Keselowski’s No. 2 Western Star/Alliance Parts Ford Mustang. Though he continued, Keselowski reported a little vibration to his car. Another lap later, Bell spun in Turn 4 while running in second place. Though he continued, he dropped back to ninth place. Despite all of these incidents, the race remained under green and with Byron leading Blaney, Logano, Elliott and Bowman.
A few laps later, Almirola and Newman each spun. Amidst the spins and with the race remaining under green, Byron continued to lead while Blaney started to reel in for the lead. Logano, Elliott and Bowman continued to run in the top five followed by Kyle Busch, Custer, Bowyer, Truex and Bell.
On lap 39, Blaney emerged as the new leader over Byron after passing Byron’s No. 24 Chevrolet in Turn 1. Logano, Elliott and Bowman continued to run in the top five while Kyle Busch settled in sixth place ahead of Custer.
Three laps later, Blaney extended his advantage to more than three seconds over Byron while Logano trailed by four seconds. Trailing behind by more than 13 seconds was Elliott while teammate Bowman settled in fifth place. Kyle Busch, Custer, Bowyer, Truex and Bell settled in the top 10 ahead of Kurt Busch, Johnson, Jones, Keselowski and McDowell.
With five laps remaining in the second stage, Blaney continued to lead by less than four seconds over Byron, who started to have Logano close in and ignite a challenge for second place. Hendrick Motorsports’ teammates Elliott and Bowman were in the top five while Kyle Busch retained fifth place over Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Bowyer and Custer. Truex was in ninth place followed by Kurt Busch, Jones and Keselowski.
Shortly after, the caution flew due to J.J. Yeley getting stalled in Turn 5. By then, Hamlin pitted. Harvick, Almirola, Bell and DiBenedetto also pitted. Some like Byron and Kyle Busch pitted while others led by Blaney and Logano remained on track.
With the race restarting on a two-lap dash to conclude the second stage, Blaney jumped ahead with the lead while Elliott and Logano battled for second. The following lap, Elliott overtook Logano for second place while Bell and Truex closed in for more. Behind, Kyle Busch fell off the pace due to sustaining a flat left-front tire and minor left-front damage to his No. 18 M&M’s Toyota following contact with Bowyer in Turn 4. In addition, teammate Hamlin spun out of Turn 8, but he continued as the race continued under green.
Towards the front, Bell and Truex overtook Logano for third and fourth while Blaney continued to lead. With no one having anything for the leaders at the front, Blaney was able to hold off Elliott to claim the second stage victory on Lap 50 and for his fourth stage victory of the season. Elliott settled in second followed by Bell, Truex and Logano while Bowman, Byron, Reddick, McDowell and Keselowski settled in the top 10.
Under the stage break, some like Blaney, Elliott, Truex, Logano, Bowman, McDowell, Keselowski, Newman, Brennan Poole, Houff, Bilicki and Hamlin pitted while others led by Bell remained on the track. Kyle Busch also pitted to have the left-front tire changed along with the damage repaired as he restarted at the rear of the field. Following the pit stops, Truex was assessed a speeding penalty for speeding on pit road as he also dropped to the rear of the field.
With 56 laps remaining and with the sun continuing to shine amid the clouds, the final stage commenced with Bell and Byron on the front row ahead of Reddick, Keselowski, Harvick, Bowyer, Kurt Busch, Buescher, Custer and Johnson. Prior to the restart, however, Elliott surrendered his track position and made another pit stop to address a loose left-front wheel on his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. At the start, Byron overtook Bell for the lead. Behind, Custer spun in Turn 6 along with Hamlin, who spun following contact with James Davison. Hamlin was able to reverse his damaged No. 11 FedEx Toyota out of the grass in Turns 6 and 7 and return to pit road.
With the race reaching its halfway mark in between Laps 54 and 55, Byron continued to lead by more than a second over Bell while Keselowski, Bowyer and Kurt Busch were in the top five. Johnson was in sixth followed by Reddick, Harvick, Jones and Buescher.
With 50 laps remaining, Byron stabilized his advantage to less than a second over Bell while Keselowski, Bowyer and Kurt Busch were in the top five. Harvick was in seventh behind Johnson while Austin Dillon was in 12th. Behind, Kyle Busch, facing a “must-win” situation, was in 22nd behind Logano and Bowman while Truex was in 17th. Elliott was in 24th ahead of Almirola, who was also in a “must-win” situation. Hamlin, meanwhile, was in 32nd.
Nearly five laps later, the caution flew due to debris in Turn 6 and at the time where Ty Dillon also spun in the turn. He continued with damage on the left-front nose of his No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet. Earlier, Keselowski got off line and was overtaken by Bowyer for third place while Byron continued to lead over Bell.
Under caution, a majority of the field pitted while some like Byron, Bell, Bowyer, Johnson, Harvick, Blaney, Buescher, McDowell and DiBenedetto remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Newman was assessed a speeding penalty for speeding on pit road.
With 42 laps remaining and with dark clouds returning to the track with reported rain approaching the speedway, the race restarted under green with Byron and Bell on the front row ahead of Bowyer and Johnson. At the start, Byron retained the lead while Bowyer moved up to second place. Bell fell back to third place ahead of Johnson while Harvick was in fifth ahead of Kurt Busch and McDowell.
Two laps later, with 40 laps remaining, the caution returned when Austin Dillon spun and made contact towards the inside wall near the frontstretch chicane following contact with Kyle Busch. By then, Byron was still ahead with the lead over Bowyer and Bell while Blaney moved up to fourth place. Johnson was in fifth place ahead of Kurt Busch while Logano, Elliott, Stenhouse and Harvick were in the top 10.
Under caution, most of the leaders led by Byron pitted while some like Blaney, Stenhouse, Jones, Preece, Bowman, Kyle Busch, Gray Gaulding, Wallace and Houff remained on track. During the stops, Bowyer lost a multitude of stops following a slow pit stop. Following the stops, Byron was assessed a penalty for speeding on pit road.
The race restarted with 37 laps remaining and Blaney retained the lead through the first turn. Behind, Wallace made contact with Stenhouse, who spun as Bowyer sustained front-nose damage. Shortly after, Bowyer reported no power steering to his No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Cummins Ford Mustang as his hopes of winning and transferring to the Round of 8 were diminishing. Back at the line, Blaney continued to lead followed by Preece, Bowman, Logano and Jones. Wallace continued to run in sixth place followed by Gaulding, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch and Elliott.
Two laps later, Preece emerged with the lead after Blaney spun in Turn 3 and plowed his No. 12 Menards/Cardell Cabinetry Ford Mustang into the infield grass, where he was also dodged from the oncoming traffic. With Blaney’s misfortune, Bowman moved up to second place followed by Logano, Jones and Wallace. The situation went from bad to worse for Blaney, who sped on pit road and was assessed a drive-through penalty on pit road after pitting following his on-track spin.
At the front, Preece, racing in his No. 37 Maxwell Houses for Heroes Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, continued to lead followed by Bowman and Logano while Jones, Elliott and Kyle Busch were running in fourth through sixth.
With 30 laps remaining, Preece retained the lead followed by a hard-charging Bowman while Logano, Elliott, Jones and Kyle Busch started to join the party.
Two laps later, Bowman emerged with the lead and teammate Elliott along with Logano and Kyle Busch moved up while Preece fell back to fifth place. At the front, the two Hendrick Motorsports’ teammates battled for the next two laps before Elliott, who rallied from his late loose wheel pit stop, reassumed the lead through Turns 5 and 6.
With 24 laps remaining, Elliott continued to lead by more than a second over teammate Bowman, who was retaining one of the final transfer spots to the Round of 8 in the Playoffs. Kyle Busch was in third place and in a “must-win” situation ahead of Logano, who was also battling for one of the final transfer spots to the Round of 8. Shortly after, the caution returned due to debris spotted in Turn 4. In addition, Matt Kenseth wrecked into the tire barriers in Turn 3.
Under caution, a majority of the leaders pitted while some led by Kyle Busch, Bell, Hamlin, Jones and Blaney remained on the track.
With 20 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Kyle Busch and his No. 18 M&M’s Toyota jumped ahead with the lead followed by teammates Jones and Hamlin. With Elliott moving up to fourth place and reeling in on Hamlin for more on fresh tires, Jones moved into the lead with 19 laps remaining through Turns 5 and 6. Elliott quickly made his way into second place over Kyle Busch.
A lap later, Elliott reassumed the lead following a crossover move on Jones through Turns 7 and 8 and started to pull away. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch was still in third place, but he had brother Kurt along with teammate Hamlin and Logano reeling in behind him. Shortly after, John Hunter Nemechek spun on the frontstretch, but he continued and the race remained under green.
With the laps winding down, Elliott continued to stabilize and extend his advantage over Jones, who had Kurt Busch closing in for the spot. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch was in fourth place ahead of Logano, Hamlin and Blaney.
Under 12 laps remaining, the caution flag returned due to the stalled car of Brennan Poole. By then, Elliott was leading by more than two seconds over Jones while Kurt Busch, Logano and Kyle Busch were in the top five. Blaney was in sixth followed by Hamlin, Bowman, Truex and Byron.
Under caution, some pitted while others remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Buescher was sent to the rear of the field for speeding on pit road.
The race restarted under green with 10 laps remaining and with Elliott and Jones on the front row. At the start, Elliott retained the lead while Logano moved up to second place over Jones. Kurt Busch and Blaney moved into the top five over teammates Truex and Kyle Busch.
With seven laps remaining, Elliott stabilized his advantage by less than two seconds over Logano while Jones, Kurt Busch and Blaney continued to run in the top five. Truex was still in sixth place ahead of Kyle Busch. Bowman was in eighth place ahead of teammate Byron and Reddick while Almirola was in 12th in between teammates Custer and Bowyer. Johnson was in 14th ahead of Keselowski, Harvick and Austin Dillon. By then, McDowell spun twice on the track’s two chicane areas, but he continued with the race remaining under green.
With five laps remaining, Elliott continued to lead by more than two seconds over Logano with Kurt Busch, Jones and Blaney trailing by four seconds or more.
Down to the final three laps of the race, Elliott stabilized his advantage by more than two seconds over Logano. Kurt Busch and Jones continued to run in third and fourth while Truex moved into fifth place. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch ran out of fuel and pitted as his hopes to advance to the Round of 8 and defend his titles hopes evaporated.
A lap later, Newman spun in Turn 1, but he was able to straighten his car and proceed with the race continuing under green. Across the backstretch chicane on the same lap, Kurt Busch and Truex spun, but both continued while Jones moved up to third place. Despite the spins, Elliott was able to come back around the frontstretch and start the final lap of the race.
With no mistakes made and no challengers closing in, Elliott was able to cycle back around and cross the finish line to win as he continued to flex his dominance and winning streak on road course events.
With his win, Elliott joined Jeff Gordon as the only competitors to achieve four consecutive wins on a road course, a streak that spans back to Watkins Glen International in August 2019 for the Dawsonville, Georgia, native. In addition, he recorded the 20th road course victory for Hendrick Motorsports. By advancing to the Round of 8 in the Playoffs for the fourth consecutive time, Elliott will attempt to secure a spot in the Championship Round at Phoenix Raceway in November and battle for his first Cup title.
“Well, [I] just had another really fast NAPA Camaro and really appreciate the effort,” Elliott said on NBC. “I feel like road courses have been fortunate to us the last few trips, but I feel like we just try to get a little better every time, tweak on the small things. [I] Felt like I tweaked on some small things and got a little better than what I was last year, which was good. Just really proud of the effort. It’s always special to win here at Charlotte with the [Hendrick Motorsports] shop being right across the street. Appreciate all the effort there. Best way to get to the next round is to win. Hopefully, we can do something with it.”
Logano finished in second place followed by Jones, Kurt Busch and Blaney. Byron finished in sixth place while Truex, Bowman, Custer and Bowyer, who had no power steering for the remainder of the race, rounded out the top 10. Jimmie Johnson finished 13th in his 40th and final run at Charlotte.
Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Martin Truex Jr., Alex Bowman and Kurt Busch advanced to the Round of 8 and all will continue to pursue this year’s championship next weekend at Kansas Speedway. Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon, Aric Almirola and Clint Bowyer have been eliminated from title contention.
Of the four competitors who failed to advance beyond the Round of 12 following their runs at Charlotte, no one was more disappointed than Kyle Busch. By finishing in 30th place, the reigning two-time Cup champion will not advance to the Round of 8 for the first time since 2014 as his hopes to defend his title came to an end. Through 32 of 36 races this season, Busch has yet to record his first Cup victory of the season
“It’s just been unfortunate circumstances, a lot of bad luck,” Kyle Busch said on NBC. “These guys on this M&M’s team, they never give up and they fight all year long. Every race and every lap and every pit stop as we can see. Man, one of them off-years. Terrible year for me but as other great sports would say, there’s many other drivers that would love to have the year that we’re having but man, it’s just frustrating to know how good we are, what we’re capable of and being champions from last year, to not come out here and to be able to succeed and be able to win. The fact of the matter, we win and we’d be a hell of a lot better better off, but I knew this round was gonna be trouble with the year that we had. Yeah, I was right…We still got a lot of work to do to try to get better. I’m not sure what it is but man, we lack a lot of drive, drive off the corners with laps.”
Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images.
“We were looking pretty good at the end of Stage 1,” Austin Dillon, who finished 19th, said on NBC. “We had took tires again and got to fifth in the stage, and that unlucky caution happened in that cycle. We knew we were dead meat at that point because we didn’t have drys [tires] on. So, we pitted at the end of Stage 1 just trying to jump some people, then we had to go to the tail [end of the field] because pit road wasn’t open. Just a lot of stuff and again, that caution fell late in Stage 2 when we’re running 12th. No help from cautions. The race just didn’t play our way. I’m actually pretty happy with that as far as my road course racing has been. I raced hard all day. We finished 19th. That shows some progress. I think if we would’ve been up there track-position wise, we would’ve maintained just fine.”
“It was tough,” Almirola, who finished 16th, said on NBC. “I struggle here in particular. I’m not the greatest road-course racer, but specifically here, it’s always been a challenge. Just struggled all day. Really struggled on the rain tires. I spun out over there in that water that was draining across the race track in Turn 4 and then, we had an issue with a pit gun or something on pit road and got a lap down. We fought hard, it was definitely a fight. Just not the day we needed to move on. We still got a few races left to go perform at the highest level we can and try to get the most points we can. Still really proud of our season and proud of the effort of this team. We’ve got some racing left to do and hopefully, get this Smithfield Ford Mustang in Victory Lane in one of these last few [races].”
Following his run, Bowyer made a trip to the infield care center, where he was evaluated and released, though his hopes of winning his first Cup title came to an end in his final full-time season of racing.
There were 17 lead changes for 11 different leaders. The race featured nine cautions for 16 laps.
Results.
1. Chase Elliott, 27 laps led
2. Joey Logano
3. Erik Jones, one lap led
4. Kurt Busch
5. Ryan Blaney, 14 laps led, Stage 2 winner
6. William Byron, 27 laps led
7. Martin Truex Jr.
8. Alex Bowman, two laps led
9. Cole Custer
10. Clint Bowyer, nine laps led
11. Kevin Harvick
12. Tyler Reddick
13. Jimmie Johnson
14. Ryan Preece, eight laps led
15. Denny Hamlin
16. Aric Almirola
17. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
18. Brad Keselowski, seven laps led
19. Austin Dillon
20. Chris Buescher
21. Bubba Wallace
22. Matt DiBenedetto
23. Ty Dillon, five laps led, Stage 1 winner
24. Christopher Bell, six laps led
25. Daniel Suarez
26. Gray Gaulding
27. Corey LaJoie
28. Quin Houff
29. James Davison
30. Kyle Busch, three laps led
31. Ryan Newman
32. Michael McDowell
33. Josh Bilicki, one lap down
34. Matt Kenseth, one lap down
35. J.J. Yeley, one lap down
36. John Hunter Nemechek, four laps down
37. Brennan Poole – Suspension
38. Timmy Hill – OUT, Engine
Bold indicates Playoff contenders
Playoff standings.
1. Kevin Harvick – Advanced
2. Denny Hamlin – Advanced
3. Brad Keselowski – Advanced
4. Chase Elliott – Advanced
5. Joey Logano- Advanced
6. Martin Truex Jr. – Advanced
7. Alex Bowman – Advanced
8. Kurt Busch – Advanced
9. Kyle Busch – Eliminated
10. Clint Bowyer – Eliminated
11. Austin Dillon – Eliminated
12. Aric Almirola – Eliminated
The Round of 8 in the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs will commence next Sunday, October 18, at Kansas Speedway for the Hollywood Casino 400. The race will occur at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
1. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin won at Talladega in a wild finish, the result not determined until the third overtime. Hamlin officially qualified for the next round of the playoffs.
“And I got boo’ed for my effort by many of the 15,000 fans in attendance,” Hamlin said. “You’d think masks would have muffled that, but it is Alabama, so apparently not.
“Michael Jordan is in NASCAR. I assume this means there will be an ‘Aero Jordan’ product line out soon.”
2. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished 20th in the YellaWood 500 at Talladega.
“I’m not sure what ‘YellaWood’ is,” Harvick said. “I hear it’s treated with something; I’m guessing it’s penicillin.”
3. Chase Elliott: Elliott finished fifth at Talladega and was the only playoff driver other than Denny Hamlin to crack the top 10.
“Chad Knaus is leaving the pit box to become Hendrick Motorsports Vice President Of Competition,” Elliott said. “‘VP Of Competition’ is probably code for ‘Finder Of Ways To Cheat Without Getting Caught.’ But if they gave Chad that job title, it would look very suspicious.”
4. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski finished 18th in the YellaWood 500 at Talladega.
“The race was pure chaos from the start,” Keselowski said. “We had a caution before one lap was completed. And from there, the attrition was constant, and that includes the race’s flag man, who suffered a torn rotator cuff.”
5. Kurt Busch: Busch was ousted at Talladega in a Lap 110 crash in which his car went airborne. He finished 32nd.
“Luckily,” Busch said, “I stuck the landing.
“Even though I was in it, I didn’t have to worry about the ‘Big One’ at Talladega, because the Monster Energy Chevy was the ‘Big 1’ last week at Las Vegas.”
6. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex finished 23rd at Talladega.
“You always have to expect the unexpected at Talladega,” Truex said. “Like, for example, it was not expected that you’d have to switch channels from NBC to NBC Sports Network to see the conclusion of the race. The notion that this helped ratings is ‘remote.’”
7. Joey Logano: Logano finished 26th at Talladega, as Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott were the only playoff drivers in the top 10.
“This race took over four hours to complete,” Logano said, “and the margin of victory was a mere .086 seconds. And that’s the long and short of it.”
8. Alex Bowman: Bowman finished 14th at Talladega and is seventh in the points standings.
“The 2021 NASCAR schedule is out,” Bowman said, “and there’s a race at Bristol on dirt. It’s the first Cup race on dirt since 1970. So fans, get your tickets now, else you’ll be left out of the dust.”
9. Aric Almirola: Almirola was knocked out of the race while leading in a wreck with three laps to go in Stage 1. He finished 37th and will need a win at Charlotte to advance.
“I guess I’m putting all my eggs in one basket,” Almirola said. “And when I get to Charlotte, I’m gonna throw all the eggs in that basket at Alex Bowman for wrecking me.”
10. Kyle Busch: Busch’s rough day at Talladega involved several wrecks, blown tires, and various damages to his No. 18 Toyota. He completed 188 laps before his day was mercifully ended.
“My day at Talladega,” Busch said, “not to mention my year in general, has me thinking ‘early retirement.”
Following a long, eventful and controversial run of the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, October 4, there were two things that Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr. and Joey Logano all concurred on. The first was making the most of their long runs at Talladega despite being involved in separate incidents of their own and emerging with battered race cars. The second was setting their sights on next Sunday’s Playoff elimination race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval with stable points cushions above the top-eight cutline as all four try to retain their titles hopes for this season.
For Harvick, he started in fifth place and led a total of two laps throughout the race, but he kept his No. 4 Jimmy John’s Ford Mustang towards the rear of the field to avoid the carnage ensuing throughout the race. It was not until the race was sent into overtime where Harvick was in position to notch a strong result within the top 10 and place himself in a comfortable cushion for next weekend’s race at Charlotte. His conservative race went away during the first overtime attempt, however, when he was collected in a multi-car wreck. Despite the damage, he continued. Settling at the rear of the pack for a third overtime attempt, Harvick limped across the line in 22nd place, but he gained two spots to 20th place after Matt DiBenedetto and Chris Buescher were both penalized and demoted from top-10 runs due to double yellow line penalties.
With his 20th-place result, Harvick is 68 points above the top-eight cutline entering the second Playoff elimination race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, thus giving him a stable cushion of transferring to the Round of 8 in the Playoffs.
“We tried to take care of our Jimmy John’s Ford Mustang most of the day and wound up starting fourth on one of the restarts toward the end and wound up part of the attrition for the day,” Harvick said on NBC. “Looking up and down pit road, it doesn’t look like there’s very many cars that don’t have damage. We need to try to run well just to put ourselves in a good position for next year since we’re gonna come back with the same rules package and things. Obviously, you want to run good. Winning the race would be great as well, so that’s always the goal.”
For Brad Keselowski, he started in seventh place and he led two laps early in the race while he contended towards the front of the pack. His race nearly took a turn for the worse when he was involved in a multi-car wreck on the frontstretch on Lap 109. With little damage reported to his No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang, Keselowski rallied and went on to lead four additional laps for the remainder of the race. He also racked up a bevy of stage points by finishing in the top five in both stages. Despite having a car in contention of winning while battling with his Penske teammates, he was involved in a late incident during the second overtime attempt after being hit by a spinning Bubba Wallace and he spun out on the final lap following contact with former teammate Tyler Reddick.
Despite being scored in 18th place on the final scoreboard and with a damaged No. 2 Ford, Keselowski is 41 points above the top-eight cutline entering next weekend’s race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval.
“I hope Tony Stewart is watching because he would be proud,” Keselowski said on NBC. “We wrecked every car in the field and I wrecked four times in somebody else’s mess. This rules package just has everybody so on top of each other. Runs are just so fast and everybody wants to block and the runs are too fast to block and causes a lot of wrecks, but we made it through somewhat okay, I guess. We finished 18th and scored a lot of stage points, got a decent points cushion going into the Roval, but that’s gonna be a madhouse because there are a lot of cars next week that are gonna need a big race. Hopefully, we just get through there with a solid day with the Discount Tire Ford and move on.”
Photo by Tim Jarrold for SpeedwayMedia.com.
For Martin Truex Jr., who started in third place, the majority of Sunday’s race at Talladega went well for him as he led a total of six laps and won the second stage. Despite having a car to contend for the win in the final laps and while racing with his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates, Truex’s race went away during the first overtime attempt when he was involved in a multi-car wreck along with teammate Kyle Busch, Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick. Though he lost two laps in the process of having the damage to his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry repaired, Truex was able to cross the finish line in 23rd place.
With his 23rd-place result, Truex is 32 points above the top-eight cutline entering next weekend’s race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, an event where he nearly won in 2018 until he was involved in a final lap altercation with Jimmie Johnson.
“It was textbook, as perfect as Talladega could go for us,” Truex said on NBC. “Just nowhere to go obviously in that last wreck. Proud of the effort, strong car. We wanted to get stage points and we got a stage win, that was a nice little bonus. Had fun up until the crash. Just wrong place, wrong time. Wish we could have ran until the end. We had a really fast Bass Pro Toyota…Go to the Roval and have some fun next week. I feel like we can go there and win. That’s what we’re gonna try to do.”
Photo by Tim Jarrold for SpeedwayMedia.com.
For Logano, who started in eighth place, the majority of his run on Sunday at Talladega went very well as he led three laps and finished in second place in the first stage. In the second stage, however, he was assessed a penalty prior to the stage’s conclusion following contact with Matt DiBenedetto, where he forced DiBenedetto below the double yellow line on the backstretch. Despite the penalty, Logano muscled his way back to the front and kept himself in contention at the front as he led a race-high 45 laps. While Logano appeared to have a race-winning car established as he prevented runs from overtaking him on both lanes, his race went away during the first overtime attempt when he forced Chase Elliott below the double yellow line entering Turn 4, though Elliott was able to take the lead. Placed in a three-wide situation and getting shuffled back entering the tri-oval, Logano’s chances of winning all but evaporated when he was clipped by Kyle Busch and was involved in a multi-car wreck. Shortly after, Logano was informed that he was being penalized a second time for forcing Elliott below the double yellow line. Following a red flag period due to the wreck, however, Logano was unable to continue as he was pushed back to the garage by a wrecker.
Despite concluding his run in 26th place and with a DNF, Logano retains the eighth and final transfer spot to the Round of 8 by 21 points over Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon entering next weekend’s Playoff elimination race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval.
“We had a lot of speed in our Shell/Pennzoil Mustang car,” Logano said in the infield care center on NBC. “It was fast and it was up towards the front the whole race, leading a lot of laps. We were right where we wanted to be at the end of the race and [Elliott] had a huge run. I probably shouldn’t have tried to block it. He was so fast and I lost a lot of momentum when I tried to block that, and that gave [William Byron] a big run and then I got in the middle and then I got in the soup and the next thing that happens is they all crashed, so it’s gonna be a tough week next week.”
Photo by Tim Jarrold for SpeedwayMedia.com.
Harvick, Keselowski, Truex and Logano, along with their fellow Cup Series competitors, will return for next weekend’s series race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval on Sunday, October 11, at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
In a controversial finish for the ages, Denny Hamlin concluded a conservative afternoon of running towards the rear of the field to emerge victorious on the final lap in the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, October 4.
Entering the final turn, Hamlin was in fifth place. He then made a controversial move on the apron and below the double yellow line zone to avoid contact between teammate Erik Jones and Chris Buescher before he outraced Matt DiBenedetto and William Byron across the tri-oval to emerge out in front at the finish line and grab the win. The victory at Talladega all but advanced Hamlin into the Round of 8 in the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.
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, Denny Hamlin started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Kurt Busch, winner of last weekend’s Playoff race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Prior to the race, Cody Ware started at the rear of the field due to a driver change along with Brennan Poole and Timmy Hill, both due to failing pre-race technical inspection twice.
When the green flag waved and the race started, Hamlin received a push from teammate Martin Truex Jr. to jump to an early lead through the backstretch. Just as the field was entering Turn 3, the first caution of the race flew when Christopher Bell spun in the middle of the turn after cutting a left-rear tire and was hit on the left side by Tyler Reddick, who sustained front-nose damage to the front of his No. 8 Caterpillar Next Gen Dozers Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. In addition, Bubba Wallace made contact with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. while avoiding the wreck while Ty Dillon received little damage from the wreck. Following the wreck, all but Bell continued.
The race restarted under green on Lap 4 with Hamlin and Kurt Busch on the front row. At the start, Hamlin jumped ahead with the lead and moved in front of teammates Truex and Kyle Busch on the outside lane while also blocking both lanes with Kurt Busch leading the inside lane.
By the sixth lap, the three Joe Gibbs Racing Playoff contenders led by Hamlin and followed by Truex and Kyle Busch were leading the field followed by Kurt Busch and Brad Keselowski. Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer, Joey Logano, Aric Almirola and Alex Bowman were running in the top 10 with Chase Elliott running in 11th place.
The caution returned a few laps later when contact from John Hunter Nemechek sent Stenhouse sliding in Turn 4 before he backed his No. 47 Hungry Jack Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE hard into the inside wall with significant rear-end damage. The wreck was enough to end Stenhouse’s day in the garage.
Following two early cautions of the race, the race restarted under green on Lap 13 with teammates Hamlin and Truex on the front row. At the start, Hamlin moved his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry in front of teammate Truex’s No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry on the inside lane to retain the lead while Harvick made a move beneath Kyle Busch’s No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry to move into third place, thus moving Busch in the middle lane. With the field entering the backstretch, a third lane started forming with Brad Keselowski peaking to the outside lane followed by Bowyer. Shortly after, the caution flew due to Corey LaJoie stalling his car just past the start/finish line.
The race restarted on Lap 15 with teammates Hamlin and Truex on the front row. At the start, Hamlin retained the lead and was able to block all runs from the top lane led by Harvick and the bottom lane with Truex trailing behind while continuing to lead the race when the field cycled back to the start/finish line.
On Lap 17, Joey Logano, racing in his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang, emerged with the lead following a run on the outside lane of Hamlin and receiving a push from Harvick. The following lap, the field expanded to three lanes with Hamlin leading the middle lane and Truex leading the inside lane while Logano continued to lead the race on the outside lane.
Not long after, Hamlin was able to move in front of Logano’s front nose on the outside lane in Turn 3 to reassume the lead. With that, Hamlin emerged out in front of Logano and Harvick while Keselowski and Bowyer were in the top five.
By Lap 22, names like Cole Custer, Ryan Preece, Bubba Wallace, Chris Buescher, Daniel Suarez and Matt DiBenedetto were running in the top 10 while Hamlin continued to lead Logano, Harvick and Bowyer. In addition, the field settled into racing on two lanes with a majority racing on the outside lane led by Hamlin and some racing on the inside lane led by DiBenedetto.
The following lap, the inside lane led by DiBenedetto gained a run for the lead through the tri-oval and entering Turn 4, but Hamlin moved in front of DiBenedetto to block the run. Through the following lap, Hamlin was able to block both lanes with a number of competitors charging with runs and retain the lead when the competition caution flew on Lap 25. By then, six of the remaining 12 Playoff contenders led by Hamlin were running in the top 10 while Truex and Austin Dillon were in 11th and 12th. Elliott was in 14th while Kurt Busch, Alex Bowman and Keselowski were in 21st, 22nd and 23rd.
Under the competition caution, the leaders pitted and Aric Almirola, racing in his No. 10 Smithfield Power Bites Ford Mustang, emerged with the lead after only taking fuel to his car. Logano, Bowyer, DiBenedetto, Hamlin and Blaney, all of whom also went with fuel only on their stops, followed suit. During the pit stops, Bowyer nearly made contact with Matt Kenseth while exiting his pit stall while Kenseth was trying to enter his. In addition, Kyle Busch overshot his pit stall and dropped all the way back to 15th place. Also, Chase Elliott was sent to the rear of the field due to speeding on pit road.
The race restarted under green on Lap 30 and Almirola jumped ahead with the lead while receiving a push from DiBenedetto. The following lap, four Fords were running first through fourth with Almirola leading followed by Ryan Blaney, DiBenedetto and Joey Logano.
Entering the backstretch, Hamlin dropped below the double yellow line and surrendered his track position towards the front to fall to the rear of the field and avoid the early pack racing. The following lap, Harvick dropped his No. 4 Jimmy John’s Ford Mustang below the double yellow line and surrendered his track position towards the front to fall to the rear of the field and avoid the early pack racing.
At the front, two lanes formed with Blaney and his No. 12 Menards/Pennzoil Ford Mustang leading the outside lane and going for the lead while Almirola continued to lead from the inside lane. By then, Erik Jones moved up to third place behind Blaney while Truex, Logano, Bowyer and Kyle Busch were running inside the top 10. In addition, Jimmie Johnson started to make his move towards the top 10 while Elliott was in 12th place following his pit road speeding penalty.
On Lap 35, Jones emerged with the lead while Blaney fought back on the inside lane followed by Almirola. The following lap, Blaney returned to the lead with Almirola running behind him on the inside lane. Jones, meanwhile, continued to run on the outside lane and in front of teammates Truex and Kyle Busch while Suarez joined the party.
By Lap 40, Jones was back out front while three lanes started to form behind him. Teammates Truex and Kyle Busch were in second and third followed by Blaney and Almirola while Suarez led the middle lane in sixth place while receiving a push from Keselowski.
Two laps later, the field settled into racing by two lanes with Blaney leading a bevy of cars on the outside lane and Jones leading a bevy of cars on the inside lane. Shortly after, Blaney moved in front of teammates Keselowski and Logano to retain the lead and clear of the pack while Chris Buescher joined the party.
By Lap 50, Logano emerged with the lead as the field returned to racing between two lanes in a pack. Jones was in second followed by Blaney, Kyle Busch and Keselowski while Elliott was in sixth place. Shortly after, Jones led a lap before Elliott aggressively made his move to the front of the pack. With Elliott leading, Bubba Wallace moved into second place followed by Kyle Busch, Cole Custer and Kurt Busch while Logano fell back to sixth place. Austin Dillon moved into eighth place while Blaney and Jones fell back to ninth and 10th.
Meanwhile, Hamlin and Harvick were in 26th and 27th while Truex was in 17th, Bowman was in 15th and Keselowski was in 13th. Austin Dillon and Almirola were in 10th and 11th as the laps in the first stage were dwindling.
After leading three laps, Kurt Busch made his move for the lead before Almirola peaked below Busch’s No. 1 Gearwrench Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE and reassumed the lead.
With the laps in the first stage winding down, the pack running at the front started to fan out into three lanes with a multitude of Playoff competitors making moves towards the front. With three laps remaining in the first stage, however, the caution flew when contact from Bowman, who was being pushed by Logano, and Almirola turned Almirola sideways across the outside wall in the backstretch with both competitors pinned against one another and the outside wall. Behind, Kyle Busch was turned and his No. 18 M&M’s Toyota briefly came off the ground before he spun and made contact with Blaney. He was able to limp back to pit road and receive repairs to remain on the lead lap along with Bowman.
Returning to pit road, Almirola expressed his displeasure to Bowman on pit road before he retired from the race. The wreck and retirement from the race placed Almirola in a “must-win” scenario for next weekend’s Playoff elimination race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval.
“I’m okay,” Almirola said at the infield care center on NBC. “I honestly haven’t seen the replay, so it’s hard to say, but I got hit from behind and turned in the outside fence. It’s such a shame. We had such a fast Smithfield Power Bites Ford Mustang. I’m just disappointed. We were doing everything we needed to do. We were closing in to the end of stage one and it looked like we were gonna score a lot of points there, which is exactly what we needed to do. It looks like [Bowman] got to my outside and my car started to turn to the right, so it’s unfortunate. I don’t know if he got in the back of me and hooked me or how that played out, but my car just made a hard right into the fence. It’s unfortunate.”
With the first stage concluding under caution on Lap 60, Chris Buescher emerged out in front as he claimed his first career stage victory. Logano settled in second place followed by Austin Dillon, Keselowski and Jones while Elliott, Reddick, Truex Kurt Busch and Custer settled in the top 10. Moments after, Austin Dillon, who sustained damage from the late multi-car wreck, limped to pit road with a flat left-rear tire.
Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Elliott emerged out in front following a stellar four-tire pit stop from the No. 9 NAPA crew. Keselowski exited in second place followed by Buescher, Jones and Truex. Following the pit stops, a handful of competitors, including Harvick, were penalized due to an uncontrolled tire violation.
The second stage started under green on Lap 65 and with Elliott and Keselowski on the front row. At the start, Keselowski was able to emerge out in front for the first time and lead Lap 66 with Jones and Custer tucked behind Keselowski’s No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang.
A few laps later, the caution flew due to debris in Turn 2 that came off of the damaged No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry of Kyle Busch, who blew a left-front tire and was running at the rear of the field along with Logano, Harvick and Hamlin. Following repairs, Busch was able to remain on the lead lap.
Under caution, a handful of competitors, including Elliott, Truex, William Byron, Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Suarez, Ty Dillon, Kurt Busch, Wallace, Nemechek, Austin Dillon, Ryan Newman, Harvick and Hamlin pitted while the rest led by Buescher and Keselowski remained on the track. Following the pit stops, however, Hamlin was nabbed with a pit road speeding penalty.
When the race restarted on Lap 73, Buescher jumped ahead and moved in front of Keselowski to retain the lead. Returning to the tri-oval and the start/finish line, the field at the front expanded to two lanes with Jones leading the outside lane while Buescher continued to lead on the inside lane.
Shortly after, Jones received a push from Michael McDowell to move back into the lead with Hendrick Motorsports’ teammates Elliott, Byron and Jimmie Johnson lined up on the outside lane. By then, Keselowski was the only Playoff contender running in the top 10. Austin Dillon, Kurt Busch and Bowyer were in 16th, 17th and 18th while Bowman, Logano, Hamlin, Truex, Harvick were running in 26th through 30th. Kyle Busch was back in 32nd place behind veteran Brendan Gaughan.
By Lap 80, Buescher continued to lead on the inside lane with the pack fanning out to two lanes. Keselowski was in second place followed by Reddick, Custer and Ryan Preece while Nemechek, DiBenedetto, Kenseth, Jones and Elliott. In addition, the first-place car of Buescher and the 19th-place car of Austin Dillon were separated by less than two seconds.
Two laps later, Jones returned to the lead by a nose over DiBenedetto while Elliott made his move into third place. Buescher fell back to fifth place in front of Keselowski and next to Jimmie Johnson’s No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE.
By Lap 85, Jones continued to lead Elliott on the inside lane and a pack of cars fanning out to two lanes while William Byron was the first car running on the outside lane in fifth place.
A lap later, a bevy of Chevrolet competitors led by Elliott made a pit stop under green. The next lap, the caution flew due to Blaney making contact with the Turn 3 outside wall after cutting a tire. By then, DiBenedetto was out in front followed by Buescher, Keselowski, Logano and Bowyer, all of whom had yet to make a pit stop. Also, Kyle Busch was spared from falling a lap behind the leaders.
Under caution, a majority of lead lap competitors pitted and Harvick exited in first place after pitting for only fuel. Reddick exited in second place followed by Kenseth, Nemechek, Suarez and Truex.
The race restarted on Lap 92 with teammates Elliott and Byron occupying the front row. At the start, Elliott moved in front of Byron to retain the lead. By then, Elliott was at the front of a six-car Chevrolet group on the inside lane while Chevrolet competitor Ryan Preece was the first competitor racing on the outside lane followed by Ty Dillon and Reddick.
By Lap 95 and with the race passing its halfway mark, Elliott continued to lead followed by teammate Byron, Kurt Busch, teammate Johnson and Bubba Wallace while Kenseth, Suarez, Ty Dillon, Reddick and Bowyer were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Logano was in 13th, Austin Dillon was in 15th and Keselowski and Truex were in 19th and 20th. Bowman, Hamlin and Harvick were in 29th, 30th and 31st while Kyle Busch was in 26th.
Five laps later, on Lap 100, Elliott continued to lead followed by teammate Byron, Kurt Busch, teammate Johnson and Wallace. Kenseth, Suarez, Bowyer and Austin Dillon settled in sixth through ninth while Jones made a move beneath Ty Dillon to move into 10th place. Prior to this, Custer got loose following contact from Logano while racing in the middle of the pack, but he was able to prevent his car from spinning in the middle of the pack, though he lost his momentum and the draft towards the front.
Another five laps later, on Lap 105, Elliott retained the lead followed by teammate Byron, Kurt Busch, Wallace and Kenseth while Johnson moved up the outside lane while being pushed by Logano in a two-lane pack racing for the lead. By then, Elliott, Kurt Busch, Logano and Austin Dillon were the only Playoff contenders running in the top 10 while Bowyer, who was running near the front a few laps earlier, fell back to 17th place.
Another two laps later, Johnson, racing with a piece of tape on the front nose of his No. 48 Chevrolet, led a lap before he was shuffled back. The following lap and with the field fanning out to three-wide racing, a multi-car wreck erupted on the frontstretch that started when contact from Bowyer turned Johnson sideways as he clipped Kurt Busch, who made head-on contact into the outside wall and went airborne on top of Custer’s No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang before he came to rest on all four wheels without being turned over, but with significant damage to the No. 1 Gearwrench Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. The wreck collected a total of 13 competitors, including Bowyer, Keselowski, Preece, Austin Dillon, Suarez, Joey Gase, Brennan Poole, Kyle Busch and Brendan Gaughan, who concluded his final NASCAR career start with a wrecked car. The wreck eliminated Bowyer for the remainder of the race as he also faces a “must-win” situation next weekend at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval to retain his title hopes. Following the wreck, Johnson voiced his frustrations at Bowyer over the contact.
“You’ve got to go,” Bowyer said in the infield care center on NBC. “You’ve got to push [Johnson]…As soon as I got to him, I push him in the front and the whole rear of the car went down and I was like, ‘Oh my God,’ and before I know it he was tank swapping all over the place. I don’t know if that was how they had their cars built or whatever, but as soon as you got close to him he was all over the place. Obviously didn’t mean to wreck him, but you’re going hard and three-wide and people are behind you pushing. I was hoping he would save it, but he didn’t and we all wrecked.”
“Yeah, it was a wild ride,” Kurt Busch said. “That’s the nature of this sport. You’re on top one week with a win and everything’s fantastic. And then this week here at Talladega, we were hoping for a nice, smooth run and to gain some points. I was just doing my job as a Chevy helper running top-five and next thing you know, I’m going for one of the wildest rides I’ve ever been in.”
Following the wreck, the race was red-flagged for 10 minutes and 27 seconds. When the red flag lifted and the competitors resumed under cautious pace, some that included Hamlin, Harvick, Truex, Bowman and Blaney pitted while the rest led by Elliott and Byron remained on the track. By then, Kyle Busch, Johnson, Austin Dillon and Keselowski continued following the multi-car wreck on the frontstretch.
With seven laps remaining in the second stage, the race restarted under green as Elliott retained the lead over teammate Byron and Logano. Shortly after, Logano received a draft from DiBenedetto to return to the lead the following lap.
With five laps remaining in the second stage, Logano and his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang was still leading followed by DiBenedetto, Buescher and Truex while Elliott and Reddick battled dead even in two lanes for fifth place.
Two laps later, Truex gained a run on the outside lane to lead a lap over Logano. Entering the backstretch, DiBenedetto got forced below the double yellow line zone following contact with Logano, but he was able to blend back on the track inside the top 10 without being assessed a penalty. Shortly after, Reddick led a lap before Truex moved back into the lead followed by Elliott.
At the start of the final lap of the second stage, Truex emerged with the lead followed by Keselowski, Buescher and Elliott while Logano dropped back after being told that he was being assessed a penalty for forcing DiBenedetto below the double yellow line zone. Entering the tri-oval, Truex and Keselowski managed to pull away from the pack and then, Truex was able to roll to the second stage win on Lap 120 and claim his fifth stage victory of the season. Keselowski settled in second place followed by Buescher, Elliott and Nemechek while Byron, Blaney, Preece, Ty Dillon and Wallace settled in the top 10.
Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Truex retained the lead after exiting pit road in first place. Keselowski exited in second place followed by Jones, Reddick, Quin Houff, Bowman and Elliott. By then, Austin Dillon took his No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE to the garage for repairs. Once he returned, he was two laps behind the leaders.
With 63 laps remaining, the final stage commenced under green with Truex and Keselowski occupying the front row. At the start, Truex jumped ahead until Keselowski gained a huge run on the backstretch to move back into the lead. With Keselowski in the lead, Truex settled behind him in second place and in front of teammate Jones while Reddick started to form a line on the outside lane and a run towards the front followed by Bowman, Kenseth and Wallace.
Three laps later, with 60 laps remaining, Keselowski was still ahead of Reddick as the pack towards the front fanned out to three-wide racing. On the backstretch, Wallace started to challenge Keselowski for the lead while Elliott bailed out of the lead pack.
With 55 laps remaining and most of the competitors at the front settling into single-file racing, Wallace continued to lead followed by Bowman, who was continuing to run strong despite a patched-up front nose and following 11 pit stops. Kenseth was in third place followed by Buescher, Preece, Keselowski, Nemechek, Reddick, Jones and Blaney. By then, Blaney formed a pack running on the outside lane before Keselowski and Buescher moved in front of him to gain a draft and run for the lead over Wallace.
Another five laps later, with 50 laps remaining, Logano was back at the front followed by Byron and Ty Dillon while Keselowski was dead even with Jones for fourth place. By then, Wallace was back in 10th, Bowman was in 13th and Truex was in 20th while Blaney and Harvick moved up to seventh and eighth. In addition, Kyle Busch was in 22nd, Hamlin was in 25th and Austin Dillon was in 27th, two laps behind. Johnson was in 28th, 10 laps behind the leaders.
Down to the final 45 laps of the race and the entire pack running in a single-file line on the outside lane, Logano continued to lead followed by Byron, Ty Dillon, Jones and Preece while Harvick, Keselowski, Wallace, Kenseth and Blaney were scored in the top 10. By then, Logano, Harvick and Keselowski were the only Playoff contenders running inside the top 10. Teammates Elliott and Bowman were in 12th and 13th, Truex was in 18th and Kyle Busch was in 21st. Hamlin was still in 25th while Austin Dillon was still mired in 27th.
With 40 laps remaining, the caution flew due to debris coming off of Jimmie Johnson’s damaged No. 48 Chevrolet. Under caution, the leaders pitted and Logano retained the lead over Harvick, Jones, Byron and Kenseth upon exiting pit road. Prior to the restart, some like Elliott, Hamlin, DiBenedetto, Newman, Reddick, Bowman, Kyle Busch and Wallace pitted again for fuel.
The race restarted under green with 36 laps remaining. At the start, Logano cleared and moved in front of Harvick to retain the lead while Byron was the first competitor racing on the outside lane followed by Preece and Keselowski. Behind, Hamlin bailed out of the heavy pack racing for the lead once again.
At the front, Byron assumed the lead followed by Preece while Logano and Keselowski were back in third and fourth. The following lap, with 35 laps remaining, Logano moved back into the lead followed by Preece and Keselowski. Behind, Brennan Poole moved into fourth place followed by Buescher and DiBenedetto. Shortly after, Poole was shuffled out of the lead pack along with Byron while Logano, who was racing on fumes and who was uncertain about having enough fuel to make it to the finish, led a bevy of competitors racing in a single-file lane on the outside lane.
With 30 laps remaining, Logano continued to lead followed by Preece, Keselowski, Buescher and DiBenedetto while Elliott started to gain a run as the first car to lead the inside lane. By then, Cody Ware made an appearance in the top 10 while Wallace was in 12th in front of Newman, Blaney and Nemechek. Five laps later, with 25 laps remaining, the field fanned out into two-wide racing as Logano and Wallace battled for the lead.
Down to the final 20 laps of the race, Elliott emerged back out in front while Logano started to fight back for the lead on the outside lane. Byron was in third place followed by Keselowski and Harvick while Preece, Wallace, Kenseth, Ty Dillon and Buescher were scored in the top 10 ahead of Truex.
With 15 laps remaining, Logano was leading followed by teammate Keselowski, Preece, Wallace and Buescher. Meanwhile, Truex, Elliott and Bowman were in the top 10 while Kyle Busch was in 15th. Harvick was in 17th while Hamlin was in 23rd.
With 10 laps remaining, Logano received a push from Keselowski to retain the lead over Wallace with Preece and Buescher in the top five. Logano continued to lead the outside pack while Wallace was the first car on the inside lane in front of Elliott and Byron. A lap later, Keselowski got shuffled out as Wallace made another bid for the lead over Logano.
Down to the final seven laps of the race, Wallace, racing in his No. 43 World Wide Technology Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, continued to lead on the outside lane in front of Logano while DiBenedetto made a bid on the inside lane, thus shoving Elliott out of the draft. A lap later, a bump from Preece sent Wallace scraping the backstretch outside wall as he fell out of contention for the lead with damage on the right side of the No. 43 Chevrolet.
Shortly after and just as Wallace was coming to pit road for service, the caution flew due to a spin involving James Davison in Turn 4. Under caution, some like Truex, Hamlin and Jones pitted while the rest led by Logano, DiBenedetto and Keselowski remained on the track.
The race was sent into overtime and with Logano and DiBenedetto on the front row. At the start, Logano retrained the lead over teammate Keselowski and DiBenedetto. Entering Turns 3 and 4, however, Elliott gained a huge run and made a bold crossover move beneath Logano to retain the lead despite Logano making contact and barely forcing Elliott below the double yellow line. In addition, Byron made a move on the outside lane while Logano was shuffled back in the middle lane.
Just as Elliott and Byron were approaching the start/finish line to start the final lap, the caution flew for a multi-car wreck on the tri-oval that started when Reddick turned Kyle Busch into Logano as the carnage involved Harvick, Truex, Bowman and Newman. The wreck ended the long afternoon for Kyle Busch, who emerged uninjured out of his battered No. 18 M&M’s Toyota and made the trip to the infield care center.
“The car was just real slow due to all of the damage, obviously, so I’m just holding up the line,” Kyle Busch said on NBC. “I was trying to draft off the guys in front of me and I’m pushing too much backwards on the guys that are trying to push me forwards and it creates a wreck. Oh, well. The M&M’s Camry guys did a great job and just wish there was more for it.”
The race was red flagged for nearly 11 minutes following the second multi-car wreck that collected a number of Playoff contenders. When the red flag lifted and the field resumed under cautious pace, some like Byron, Keselowski, Newman, Blaney, Jones, Bowman, Truex and Harvick pitted while the rest led by Elliott and DiBenedetto remained on the track. Following his involvement in the wreck, Logano was penalized a second time for forcing Elliott below the double yellow line zone. He, however, was unable to re-fire from the red flag period and was pushed by a wrecker back to the garage, where his race concluded.
With the race restarting under green on a second overtime attempt, Elliott, who reported fuel concerns, jumped out with the lead, but was placed in a three-wide situation on the backstretch in between Preece and DiBenedetto. Entering Turns 3 and 4, Wallace gained a run on the outside lane, but he turned across the front nose of Preece’s No. 37 Kroger Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. The contact sent Wallace into the outside wall with heavy front nose damage, where Blaney was also collected along with Kenseth, Bowman and Austin Dillon, who had just worked his way back on the lead lap, as the caution flew and sent the race into a third overtime attempt. The wreck was enough to end Wallace’s run following a strong late charge towards the front and after leading a career-high 10 laps.
Under caution, Elliott pitted along with Nemechek, Timmy Hill, Keselowski, Preece and Austin Dillon while the rest led by DiBenedetto and Denny Hamlin remained on the track. By then, Buescher, Ty Dillon and Byron were in the top five followed by Newman, Cody Ware, Quin Houff, Erik Jones and Reddick.
In the third overtime attempt, DiBenedetto, in pursuit of his first Cup career win, peaked ahead over Hamlin and cleared the field entering the backstretch and with Buescher pushing him. DiBenedetto retained the lead for a full cycle around the track with Buescher and Byron behind.
When he started the final lap, however, DiBenedetto was being pressured by Byron, Buescher and Jones for the lead. In Turns 1 and 2 and through the backstretch, Jones pushed DiBenedetto out with the lead as Buescher and Byron were gaining a run on the front two for the lead.
With Cody Ware wrecking behind, Buescher and Jones made contact entering Turns 3 and 4 on the outside lane. Their contact allowed Byron to gain a run at DiBenedetto for the lead on the inside lane. Then, DiBenedetto drove all the way down to the bottom and made contact with Byron, forcing Byron below the double yellow line.
Out of the blue, Hamlin, who was in fifth entering the turns and drove on the apron and below the double yellow line zone to avoid the contact ensuing between Jones and Buescher, stormed to the front and challenged for the lead in a three-wide battle with Byron and DiBenedetto as Keselowski spun behind following contact with Reddick. Through the tri-oval and coming back to the finish line, Hamlin was able to emerge out in front of DiBenedetto to win in a photo finish while Byron was shuffled back to a top-five result.
Though the finish went under review following the race’s conclusion, NASCAR declared Hamlin as the official winner and his move beneath the double yellow line legal since he was trying to avoid contact and a potential wreck ensuing in front of him.
With his unprecedented seventh victory of the season, second at Talladega and the 44th of his NASCAR Cup Series career, which moved him into a tie with childhood hero and Hall of Famer Bill Elliott for 18th place on the all-time Cup wins list, Hamlin locked himself into the Round of 8 in the Playoffs as he continues his pursuit for his first Cup championship. Following his celebratory burnout and salute to the fans, Hamlin dedicated the win to J.J. Damato, an executive and VP/Marketing Services at Joe Gibbs Racing who died a day ago at age 48.
“Just a lot of attrition,” Hamlin said on NBC. “We just played the strategy and the numbers game to run in the back until we were locked in. Just things worked out. We finally got one back. This one was unexpected to say the least, but proud of this whole FedEx team, Toyota and everyone at JGR for bringing great race cars…Really excited about this win. This was unexpected for sure. They were crashing in front of us. Obviously, I got forced down there just like [DiBenedetto] and others did. There were a bunch of us that all crashed down there…Just an amazing day.”
DiBenedetto, who initially settled in second place for the third time this season, was left with tears of disappointment in coming up short in delivering his first victory and the historic 100th win for the Wood Brothers Racing team as he has yet to announce his racing plans for next season.
“It’s just a crazy finish,” DiBenedetto said on NBC. “I haven’t been able to really process it. I just really want to get this thing in Victory Lane. This Tuscany Faucets team. I feel like this is the same story a lot of times, just heartbreak. My wife and I have had a stressful week again just with the uncertainty — always fighting for my life — but I’m so appreciative of this team. The Wood Brothers, I want this 100th win for the Woods so bad. Our alliance with Team Penske, Ford — I appreciate them putting me in this car. It’s so much fun to drive and have a shot to win. Denny did a great job. Deja vu. Holy cow. Denny deserves all the support in the world. He’s an incredible racer. He was my biggest threat. I tried to block all I could. My spotter, Doug, did a great job. This is tough…My windshield was filthy from all the speedy dry. I was having trouble seeing to block. I was blocking everyone’s lane. I mean, that was pure desperation, but that’s how I drive every race. Every time I step foot in a race car. I’m appreciative for the challenges I’ve faced. That’s what it teaches you when you have those shots…Wild finish. That’s Talladega. I’m glad the fans got a great show. I just hope to win races. I know we can do it.”
Following the race, however, DiBenedetto was penalized for forcing Byron below the double yellow line that involved contact. With that, DiBenedetto was credited with a 21st-place result.
Chase Elliott was also penalized for going below the double yellow line through the tri-oval and was originally scored back to 22nd place. Following the race, however, NASCAR rescinded the penalty on Elliott after it was discovered that Elliott was forced beneath the yellow line by Buescher. With that, Buescher was penalized all the way back to 22nd place while Elliott retained fifth place on the track.
Following DiBenedetto’s penalty, Erik Jones was scored in second place followed by Ty Dillon, who notched a career-best result. Byron settled in fourth place in front of teammate Elliott. Newman, Reddick, Nemechek, Poole and Preece rounded out the top 10 on the track.
Austin Dillon limped home in 12th place, two spots ahead of Bowman, while Keselowski fell all the way back in 18th place. Harvick settled in 20th place while Truex ended his run in 23rd place. Jimmie Johnson finished in 29th place in his 38th and final run at Talladega.
There were 58 lead changes for 18 different leaders. The race featured a record 13 cautions for 54 laps.
Results.
1. Denny Hamlin, 26 laps led
2. Erik Jones, 13 laps led
3. Ty Dillon
4. William Byron, one lap led
5. Chase Elliott, 41 laps led
6. Ryan Newman
7. Tyler Reddick, two laps led
8. John Hunter Nemechek
9. Brennan Poole
10. Ryan Preece
11. Justin Haley
12. Austin Dillon
13. Quin Houff
14. Alex Bowman
15. Timmy Hill, one lap led
16. Matt Kenseth
17. Joey Gase
18. Brad Keselowski, six laps led
19. Cody Ware, one lap led
20. Kevin Harvick, two laps led
21. Matt DiBenedetto, 10 laps led
22. Chris Buescher, 15 laps led, Stage 1 winner
23. Martin Truex Jr., two laps down, six laps led, Stage 2 winner
24. Bubba Wallace – OUT, Accident, 10 laps led
25. Ryan Blaney – OUT, Accident, 10 laps led
26. Joey Logano – OUT, Accident, 45 laps led
27. Kyle Busch – OUT, Accident
28. Corey LaJoie, 12 laps down
29. Jimmie Johnson – OUT, Accident, one lap led
30. James Davison, 82 laps down
31. Cole Custer – OUT, Accident
32. Kurt Busch – OUT, Accident
33. Clint Bowyer – OUT, Accident
34. Daniel Suarez – OUT, Accident
35. Brendan Gaughan – OUT, Accident
36. Michael McDowell – OUT, one lap led
37. Aric Almirola – OUT, Accident, nine laps led
38. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Accident
39. Christopher Bell – OUT, Accident
Playoff standings.
1. Denny Hamlin – Advanced
2. Kurt Busch – Advanced
3. Kevin Harvick +68
4. Chase Elliott +44
5. Brad Keselowski +41
6. Martin Truex Jr. +32
7. Alex Bowman +22
8. Joey Logano +21
9. Kyle Busch -21
10. Austin Dillon -21
11. Clint Bowyer -38
12. Aric Almirola -48
With the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs reaching its halfway point, the series will travel to the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course for the Bank of America ROVAL 400 and the final Playoff event in the Round of 12. The race will occur on Sunday, October 11, at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
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.
