Kurt Busch Shocks Playoff Field with Las Vegas Win

 Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kurt Busch won the South Point 400 from Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday night for his first career victory at his hometown track.

A caution in the middle of green-flag pit stops late in the race caught most of the leaders -- and most of the Playoff drivers -- a lap down.  Busch stayed out longer than the others and was able to inherit the lead when the caution came out and the other leaders had to wave around.

Over the final 30 laps, Busch held off Matt DiBenedetto, Alex Bowman and Denny Hamlin over numerous restarts to claim his first victory of 2020 and lock himself into the next round of the Playoffs.

Busch said the victory was the culmination of two decades of frustration at his home track.

“You dream of winning at your hometown track, and for two decades it’s kicked my butt,” Busch said.  “I’m in awe, this is what kids dream of when they grow up racing.”

Busch said the victory was due to his crew chief’s pit strategy call finally working in their favor.

“One of those quirky Matt McCall pit sequences finally unfolded,” Busch said.  “We got lucky; I knew the race would come to us, we just needed to get to nightfall.”

Hamlin had one of the fastest cars throughout the race, but he couldn’t get to Busch’s bumper and challenge for the victory in the closing laps.

Hamlin said it was another example of late-race cautions costing his team a chance at the victory.

“Just the same thing as Darlington, untimely cautions,” Hamlin said.  “It’s what’s keeping us out of victory lane.  We obviously had a dominant car today.”

“Really encouraged with the way we ran.  Obviously disappointed we didn’t win and that’s just been the way the Playoffs have gone.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kurt Busch

2. Matt DiBenedetto

3. Denny Hamlin

4. Martin Truex Jr.

5. Alex Bowman

6. Kyle Busch

7. Ryan Blaney

8. Erik Jones

9. Chris Buescher

10. Kevin Harvick

11. Jimmie Johnson

12. Clint Bowyer

13. Brad Keselowski

14. Joey Logano

15. Ryan Newman

16. Cole Custer

17. Aric Almirola

18. Matt Kenseth

19. Ryan Preece

20. John Hunter Nemechek

21. Michael McDowell

22. Chase Elliott

23. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

24. Christopher Bell

25. William Byron

26. Ty Dillon

27. Corey LaJoie

28. Bubba Wallace

29. Daniel Suarez

30. Brennan Poole

31. Gray Gaulding

32. Austin Dillon

33. JJ Yeley

34. Quin Houff

35. Joey Gase

36. Josh Bilicki

37. Timmy Hill

38. Tyler Reddick

39. Chad Finchum

Photos courtesy Chris Graythen (Getty Images)

Harvick Wins at Bristol in Round 1 Finale

 Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kevin Harvick won the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race from Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday night for his ninth win of the season.

Harvick raced with Kyle Busch over the final 50 laps, and the two swapped the lead while getting around lapped traffic.

Busch was not able to get to Harvick’s back bumper in the closing laps, but Harvick said he almost gave away the victory while getting around the slower cars.

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

“To beat Kyle Busch at Bristol, I kind of put myself in a little bit of a ringer there,” Harvick said.  “I hit a lapped car and got a hole in my nose.”

“We just kept fighting; we’ve got nothing else to lose.  We were here to try and win a race.”

Busch, who is still winless in 2020, said Harvick’s speed throughout the race was just too much to overcome.

“Just didn’t have enough there at the end,” Busch said.  “Guys did a great job and gave me a really good piece tonight to contend and at least be up there to be close.”

“Lapped cars were definitely a problem, but it’s part of racing.  [Harvick] obviously had the better car.”

Bristol was the final race in the first round of NASCAR’s Playoffs, and four drivers were eliminated from Playoff contention.  Following the race on Saturday night, Cole Custer, William Byron, Ryan Blaney and Matt DiBenedetto saw their championship hopes come to an end.

Unofficial results:

1. Kevin Harvick

2. Kyle Busch

3. Erik Jones

4. Tyler Reddick

5. Aric Almirola

6. Clint Bowyer

7. Chase Elliott

8. Chris Buescher

9. Ryan Preece

10. Michael McDowell

11. Joey Logano

12. Austin Dillon

13. Ryan Blaney

14. Matt Kenseth

15. Kurt Busch

16. Alex Bowman

17. Jimmie Johnson

18. Ty Dillon

19. Matt DiBenedetto

20. John Hunter Nemechek

21. Denny Hamlin

22. Bubba Wallace

23. Cole Custer

24. Martin Truex Jr.

25. Ryan Newman

26. Daniel Suarez

27. Gray Gaulding

28. Christopher Bell

29. Quin Houff

30. JJ Yeley

31. Joey Gase

32. Garrett Smithley

33. Corey LaJoie

34. Brad Keselowski

35. James Davison

36. Reed Sorenson

37. Timmy Hill

38. William Byron

39. Josh Bilicki

40. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Keselowski Dominates in Richmond

 Originally written for CLNS Media.

Brad Keselowski won the Federated Auto Parts 400 from Richmond Raceway on Saturday night to lock himself into the second round of the Playoffs.

Keselowski was dominant all night, and led a race-high 192 laps.  Keselowski took the lead for the first time in Stage 2, and he was able to control the race the rest of the way.

Keselowski’s team brought the same car to Richmond that won earlier in the year at New Hampshire, and he said he hopes to take the same car to Phoenix and fight for the Championship.

“I wanted to do a really cool burnout with it, but I want this car for Phoenix; it’s two-for-two,” Keselowski said.  “I don’t want to look too far ahead; we’ve got to get there.”

“If we can get to Phoenix, we’ll be really good.”

Martin Truex Jr. was strong on Saturday, but he wasn’t able to catch Keselowski on the final run, ultimately settling for a second-place finish.

Truex said he didn’t think he was going to run up front after struggling with his car’s handling early in the race.

“Never really got the balance right all night,” Truex said.  “It was slow on the short run early and slow on the long run late.  Somewhere in between we’d be pretty competitive, but we really couldn’t just put it all together.”

“Just solid every week.  Hopefully we can keep putting ourselves in the front and we can win races.”

Next Saturday, the Cup Series heads to Bristol Motor Speedway for the final race in the firsr round of the Playoffs, where four drivers will be eliminated from championship contention.

Austin Dillon, one of the underdogs going into the Playoffs, followed up his runner-up finish at Darlington with a fourth-place at Richmond with one of the fastest cars of the night to put himself 36 points above the cut line.

Dillon said a late-race pit miscue may have cost him a shot at contending with Keselowski for the victory.

“When we came to pit road, we were trying to bring everybody down,” Dillon said.  “I was going to hit the red box, so I had to make another lap.  That cost us three seconds.”

“I hope they keep doubting us.  We’re in a good spot and we’ve got a good round after that.  We’ll go to Bristol and do what we need to do to get to the next round.”

Unofficial results:

1. Brad Keselowski

2. Martin Truex Jr.

3. Joey Logano

4. Austin Dillon

5. Chase Elliott

6. Kyle Busch

7. Kevin Harvick

8. Aric Almirola

9. Alex Bowman

10. Clint Bowyer

11. Tyler Reddick

12. Denny Hamlin

13. Kurt Busch

14. Cole Custer

15. Christopher Bell

16. Matt Kenseth

17. Matt DiBenedetto

18. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

19. Ryan Blaney

20. Ryan Preece

21. William Byron

22. Erik Jones

23. Ryan Newman

24. Chris Buescher

25. Michael McDowell

26. Bubba Wallace

27. Corey LaJoie

28. Ty Dillon

29. Daniel Suarez

30. John Hunter Nemechek

31. Jimmie Johnson

32. Quin Houff

33. Brennan Poole

34. JJ Yeley

35. Joey Gase

36. Reed Sorenson

37. James Davison

38. Timmy Hill

Photos courtesy Jared C. Tilton and Sean Gardner (Getty Images)

Harvick Holds off Dillon to Win Southern 500

 Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kevin Harvick won the Cook Out Southern 500 from Darlington Raceway on Sunday night to win the first race of NASCAR’s Playoffs.

Harvick inherited the lead late in the race after the two front-runners made contact racing for the lead.  With the laps winding down, Chase Elliott was doing his best to hold off Martin Truex Jr.  When Truex drove hard into the corner, the two made contact and slammed into the wall.

Truex pitted with a flat tire as Elliott limped around trying to nurse the car to the finish, and Harvick was able to take the lead.

Harvick said he was excited to start off the Playoffs with a victory without having the fastest car.

“Wound up fighting all night long,” Harvick said.  “This Busch Beer Ford Mustang wasn’t where we wanted it to be, but leaders got tangled up there.  Next thing you know, we’re racing for the win.”

Harvick had to hold off a charge from Austin Dillon in the closing laps.  As Harvick’s car got tighter over the final 10 laps, Dillon was able to pull within a half-second but couldn’t make the pass.

Dillon drove the car hard into the final corner, but came up just short on getting to Harvick’s back bumper.

Dillon said he was trying everything he could do to win and lock himself into the next round of the Playoffs.

“I was just trying all I could,” Dillon said.  “It’d have been nice to get that win and lock ourselves in the next round.  Heck of a finish for our whole Number 3 team.”

Dillon started the Playoffs as an underdog, and started the race below the cutoff line.  Leaving Darlington, Dillon now sits eighth in the standings, 10 points above the cutoff with two races remaining.

Dillon said his team has worked all season to perform when it mattered most.

“We showed up when it mattered,” Dillon said.  “A lot of people count you out, but I don’t count myself out or this team.  We’re just going to keep doing our thing.”

“We’ve just got to keep plugging.  Richmond’s next week and we’ve got another good short track car for them.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kevin Harvick

2. Austin Dillon

3. Joey Logano

4. Erik Jones

5. William Byron

6. Alex Bowman

7. Kyle Busch

8. Kurt Busch

9. Aric Almirola

10. Clint Bowyer

11. Brad Keselowski

12. Cole Custer

13. Denny Hamlin

14. Matt Kenseth

15. Ryan Newman

16. Michael McDowell

17. Ryan Preece

18. Jimmie Johnson

19. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

20. Chase Elliott

21. Matt DiBenedetto

22. Martin Truex Jr.

23. Tyler Reddick

24. Ryan Blaney

25. Daniel Suarez

26. Chris Buescher

27. Ty Dillon

28. Brennan Poole

29. Ross Chastain

30. JJ Yeley

31. Quin Houff

32. Josh Bilicki

33. Joey Gase

34. Christopher Bell

35. Timmy Hill

36. John Hunter Nemechek

37. Corey LaJoie

38. Bubba Wallace

39. James Davison

Photos courtesy Chris Keane and Jared C. Tilton (Getty Images)