Kurt Busch takes dramatic playoff win at Las Vegas

Kurt Busch took home the daily double on Sunday night at Las Vegas, earning his first Cup Series win at his hometown track and advancing to the second round of the 2020 playoffs.

Busch held off Matt DiBenedetto in a wild, two-lap overtime to win the SouthPoint 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, his first victory at his hometown track in 22 career starts.

The win is Busch’s first of the 2020 season and couldn’t come at a better time, locking him into the semifinal round of the playoffs regardless of how he finishes at Talladega, Ala., and the Charlotte Roval over the next two weeks.

Kurt Busch got a congratulatory bump from his younger brother, Kyle, on the cool-down lap after earning his win.

Busch was thrust into position to contend for the win when a caution interrupted the final round of green-flag pit stops and Busch was one of the few who had not yet pit.

On Lap 243 of 268 laps, Busch lined up second on the restart and quickly powered into the lead after a side-by-side battle with DiBenedetto that lasted nearly a lap.

DiBenedetto ended up second, Denny Hamlin was third, Martin Truex Jr. was fourth and Alex Bowman rounded out the top-five.

Completing the top-10 were Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney, Erik Jones, Chris Buescher and Kevin Harvick.

Entering next weekend race at Talladega, the four drivers in danger of not advancing to the next round are Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer, Aric Almirola and Austin Dillon.

Stage 3

Following the break between Stages 2 and 3, Hamlin was the first off pit road following pit stops.

On the restart on Lap 167, Hamlin was followed by Bowman and Chase Elliott.

Bowman got around Hamlin off Turn 4 on the restart lap to grab the lead for the first time in the race.

On Lap 172, Hamlin got around Bowman off Turn 2 to reclaim the lead.

On Lap 176, Elliott went to the outside of Bowman in the middle of the backstretch and took over the second position, less than a second behind Hamlin.

NASCAR threw a caution on Lap 191 for debris in Turn 2. The lead-lap cars all pit with Hamlin the first off pit road.

Austin Dillon had to restart from the rear of the field due to a safety violation during his pit stop.

On the restart on Lap 197, Hamlin was followed by Truex and Bowman.

DiBenedetto went four-wide out of Turn 3 to grab the second spot behind Hamlin on the restart.

On Lap 202, Bowman got around DiBenedetto in Turns 1 and 2 and to take over the second position.

On Lap 215, Austin Dillon made a green-flag pit stop after complaining about a possible power steering issue.

With 50 laps remaining in the race, Hamlin held a 1.6-second lead over Bowman with DiBenedetto still in third.

All lead-lap cars still had to make one final stop for fuel in order to finish the race.

On Lap 232, Harvick and Kyle Busch were among the first to kick off green-flag pit stops to take new tires and fuel to make it to the end of the race.

On Lap 236, a caution was displayed for debris on the backstretch after Jimmie Johnson’s No. 48 Chevrolet suffered a flat tire and dropped pieces on the track. Just about every playoff driver was caught a lap down by the caution, having recently completed their respective stops.

Following stops by those who still had to pit, DiBenedetto led the way followed by Kurt Busch and Nemechek on the restart on Lap 243. Bowman, in 10th, was the only other playoff driver on the lead-lap.

Kurt Busch went side-by-side with DiBenedetto for nearly a lap before emerging with the lead.

On Lap 250, John Hunter Nemechek and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. wrecked in Turns 3 and 4 in an incident in which Erik Jones also received damage. Kurt Busch also reported that he may have a flat tire.

Several lead-lap cars pit but Kurt Busch remained on the track and in the lead. On the restart on Lap 256, Busch was followed by DiBenedetto and Bell. Bowman was the next playoff driver after Busch, in sixth.

With 10 to go, Bowman moved into third, behind Kurt Busch and DiBenedetto.

With seven laps to go, Bell got into the wall and William Byron spun down the frontstretch to bring out another caution. Corey LaJoie was also involved in the incident.

The race returned to green with a two-lap overtime with Kurt Busch out front followed by DiBenedetto, Bowman and Hamlin.

Stage 2

Elliott withstood a late charge from Hamlin to hang on for the Stage 2 victory.

Bowman was third, Truex fourth and Blaney rounded out the top-five.

Following the break between Stages 1 and 2, the lead-lap cars all pit with Kyle Busch once again the first off pit road.

On the restart on Lap 87, Kyle Busch was followed by Joey Logano and Hamlin.

Logano quickly grabbed the lead on the restart only to see Hamlin use a 3-wide move to reclaim the top spot on Lap 88.

On Lap 90, Logano dove down pit road for new tires after developing a tire rub from contact with Kyle Busch.

Busch also appeared to suffer some damage from a run-in with the wall. “Pulling it out isn’t gonna fix it at all,” he said over his team radio. “It’s messed up the crush panel so it’s taken the speed out of it. It’s got no (expletive) speed.”

On Lap 92, Elliott got to the inside of Hamlin in Turn 3 and reclaimed the lead.

Bowman moved into the third spot on Lap 104 as Kyle Busch remained fourth despite the damage to his No. 18 Toyota.

With 45 laps remaining in the second stage, Elliott held about a 1-second lead over Hamlin with Bowman still in third.

All teams still need a pit stop to make it to the finish of the stage and on Lap 118, Truex was the first to hit pit road. Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Harvick all soon followed.

Johnson was penalized during his top for being too fast on pit road and had to serve a pass-through penalty under green.

Once the cycle of stops was completed on Lap 145, Elliott returned to the lead.

With 10 laps remaining in the second stage, Elliott held a 1.1-second lead over Hamlin while Bowman ran third, more than 4 seconds behind the leader.

With five laps to go, Hamlin appeared to be gaining on Elliott as he tried for a late-stage pass for the lead.

Stage 1

Hamlin grabbed control of the race late in the stage and cruised to the Stage 1 win over Logano.

Kyle Busch was third, Elliott fourth and Harvick rounded out the top-five.

Harvick, who started on the pole, saw Elliott get past him entering Turn 1 on the first lap and grab the lead as Logano moved into second.

On Lap 11, Kyle Busch went to the inside of Logano to take over the second position.

On Lap 26, NASCAR displayed a competition caution to allow teams to check tire wear. All lead-lap cars elected to pit with Kyle Busch the first off pit road.

Both sByron and Christopher Bell were penalized for speeding on pit road and had to restart from the rear of the field.

The race returned to green on Lap 31 with Kyle Busch out front followed by Hamlin and Elliott.

Hamlin powered around Kyle Busch exiting Turn 4 on the restart lap to grab the lead for the first time in the race.

With 40 laps remaining in the first stage, Hamlin maintained about a half-second lead over Logano as Kyle Busch ran third.

With 25 laps to go, Hamlin’s lead over Logano had expanded to nearly 1-second ad Kyle Busch remained third, 3 seconds behind the leader.

Hamlin’s lead over Logano pushed to nearly 3 seconds with 10 laps remaining in the first stage. They were followed by Kyle Busch, Elliott and Harvick.

Cla#Driver ManufacturerLapsTimeGapIntervalLaps Led
11 Kurt Busch Chevrolet2683:03’31.724  29
221 Matt DiBenedetto Ford2683:03’31.8720.1480.1488
311 Denny Hamlin Toyota2683:03’31.9980.2740.126121
419 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota2683:03’32.1270.4030.129 
588 Alex Bowman Chevrolet2683:03’32.1520.4280.0255
618 Kyle Busch Toyota2683:03’32.3200.5960.1686
712 Ryan Blaney Ford2683:03’32.3290.6050.0091
820 Erik Jones Toyota2683:03’32.7281.0040.399 
917 Chris Buescher Ford2683:03’32.7481.0240.02010
104 Kevin Harvick Ford2683:03’32.9061.1820.158 
1148 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet2683:03’32.9821.2580.076 
1214 Clint Bowyer Ford2683:03’33.0481.3240.066 
132 Brad Keselowski Ford2683:03’33.1221.3980.0742
1422 Joey Logano Ford2683:03’33.2391.5150.1171
156 Ryan Newman Ford2683:03’33.2821.5580.043 
1641 Cole Custer Ford2683:03’33.4341.7100.152 
1710 Aric Almirola Ford2683:03’33.4611.7370.027 
1842 Matt Kenseth Chevrolet2683:03’33.5861.8620.125 
1937 Ryan Preece Chevrolet2683:03’33.7872.0630.201 
2038 John Hunter Nemechek Ford2683:03’33.7892.0650.002 
2134 Michael McDowell Ford2683:03’33.8792.1550.090 
229 Chase Elliott Chevrolet2683:03’34.0292.3050.15073
2347 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Chevrolet2683:03’34.6312.9070.602 
2495 Christopher Bell Toyota2683:03’34.6732.9490.042 
2524 William Byron Chevrolet2683:03’34.7953.0710.12212
2613 Ty Dillon Chevrolet2673:03’36.4651 Lap1 Lap 
2732 Corey Lajoie Ford2673:04’01.8651 Lap25.400 
2843 Bubba Wallace Chevrolet2663:03’35.1462 Laps1 Lap 
2996 Daniel Suarez Toyota2653:03’34.2833 Laps1 Lap 
3015 Brennan Poole Chevrolet2653:03’35.2813 Laps0.998 
3127 Gray Gaulding Ford2623:03’42.0286 Laps3 Laps 
323 Austin Dillon Chevrolet2613:03’36.7427 Laps1 Lap 
3377 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet2613:03’39.5267 Laps2.784 
3400 Quin Houff Chevrolet2593:03’40.7229 Laps2 Laps 
3551 Joey Gase Ford2563:03’43.46412 Laps3 Laps 
3653 Josh Bilicki Chevrolet2272:41’06.15441 Laps29 Laps 
3766 Timmy Hill Toyota1602:15’22.080108 Laps67 Laps 
388 Tyler Reddick Chevrolet1571:35’31.754111 Laps3 Laps 
3949 Chad Finchum Toyota1912’25.726249 Laps138 Laps 

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