NASCAR: Las Vegas results, standings – Kurt Busch wins
By Asher Fair
Kurt Busch won the opening race of the round of 12 of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kurt Busch entered the round of 12 of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs having now won a race since July of 2019 when he won at Kentucky Speedway, and he entered this evening’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the opening race of the round, without ever having won at his home track.
He changed both of those statements, courtesy of a timely late caution flag period that allowed him to get his #1 Chevrolet to the front of the field.
After surviving multiple late restarts, including one in overtime, Busch hung on to end a 46-race win drought and lock up a berth in the round of 8. He has now won at least one race in seven consecutive seasons.
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Busch won the 268-lap race around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) oval in Las Vegas, Nevada by just 0.148 seconds over Wood Brothers Racing’s Matt DiBenedetto in second place. DiBenedetto, who is still seeking the first win of his career, also finished in a career-high second at the track back in February.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin, who took two new tires during a late pit stop, finished in third place behind the wheel of his #11 Toyota ahead of teammate Martin Truex Jr., who did the same, in fourth behind the wheel of his #19 Toyota.
Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman, who passed Hamlin for what would have been the race lead when the (un)timely caution flag flew, finished in fifth place behind the wheel of his #88 Chevrolet.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch, Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Erik Jones, Roush Fenway Racing’s Chris Buescher and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick rounded out the top 10 in sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th place in their #18 Toyota, #12 Ford, #20 Toyota, #17 Ford and #4 Ford, respectively.
Hamlin won stage one and Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott won stage two. But while Hamlin managed to finish in third place, the #9 team once again could not execute and ended up finishing in 22nd despite restarting ninth with two laps remaining.
They had a chance to take tires late but passed it up, and then Elliott got caught behind a slow #6 Ford of Roush Fenway Racing’s Ryan Newman on the final restart. Newman finished in 15th place.
Elliott’s four stage results at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this season included three wins and a fourth place finish (average finish of 1.75). His two race finishes were 26th and 22nd (average finish of 24.00).
The race featured 20 lead changes among 11 drivers. Hamlin led more laps than anybody else with 121 laps led while Elliott led 73. Kurt Busch won the race after leading just 29 laps.
Here are the full race results of the 2020 South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Race Results
1st – Kurt Busch
2nd – Matt DiBenedetto
3rd – Denny Hamlin
4th – Martin Truex Jr.
5th – Alex Bowman
6th – Kyle Busch
7th – Ryan Blaney
8th – Erik Jones
9th – Chris Buescher
10th – Kevin Harvick
11th – Jimmie Johnson
12th – Clint Bowyer
13th – Brad Keselowski
14th – Joey Logano
15th – Ryan Newman
16th – Cole Custer
17th – Aric Almirola
18th – Matt Kenseth
19th – Ryan Preece
20th – John Hunter Nemechek
21st – Michael McDowell
22nd – Chase Elliott
23rd – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
24th – Christopher Bell
25th – William Byron
26th – Ty Dillon
27th – Corey LaJoie
28th – Bubba Wallace
29th – Daniel Suarez
30th – Brennan Poole
31st – Gray Gaulding
32nd – Austin Dillon
33rd – J.J. Yeley
34th – Quin Houff
35th – Joey Gase
36th – Josh Bilicki
37th – Timmy Hill
38th – Tyler Reddick
39th – Chad Finchum
Here are the updated playoff standings following ‘s win.
Rank – Driver: Points (Behind), (Wins/Playoff Points), (+/- cut line)
1st – Kurt Busch: 3041 (-63), (1 WIN/6 PP), (1 WIN)
2nd – Kevin Harvick: 3104 (0), (9 WINS/67 PP), (+61)
3rd – Denny Hamlin: 3101 (-3), (6 WINS/49 PP), (+58)
4th – Brad Keselowski: 3059 (-45), (4 WINS/35 PP), (+16)
5th – Martin Truex Jr.: 3058 (-46), (1 WIN/16 PP), (+15)
6th – Joey Logano: 3054 (-50), (2 WINS/22 PP), (+11)
7th – Chase Elliott: 3053 (-51), (2 WINS/22 PP), (+10)
8th – Alex Bowman: 3052 (-52), (1 WIN/9 PP), (+9)
————ROUND OF 8 CUT LINE————
9th – Kyle Busch: 3043 (-61), (0 WINS/4 PP), (-9)
10th – Clint Bowyer: 3032 (-72), (0 WINS/4 PP), (-20)
11th – Aric Almirola: 3025 (-79), (0 WINS/5 PP), (-27)
12th – Austin Dillon: 3020 (-84), (1 WIN/5 PP), (-32)
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The next race on the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the second of three races in the round of 12 of the playoffs. This race, the YellaWood 500, is set to be broadcast live from Talladega Superspeedway on NBC beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, October 4.