NASCAR: Texas results, standings – Kyle Busch ends drought
By Asher Fair
Kyle Busch won the second race of the round of 8 of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch was eliminated from the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs after the round of 12, marking the first time he has failed to qualify for the Championship 4 since 2014 and marking the earliest elimination for a reigning champion.
But he took a win away from the eight remaining championship contenders, namely teammate Martin Truex Jr., at Texas Motor Speedway by winning the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500.
This win was his first of the season, and 34 races into a season is the latest the driver of the #18 Toyota has ever gone into a season without a win. Busch has now won at least one race in each of his 16 seasons of full-time Cup Series competition.
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Busch saved fuel to win this 334-lap race around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) oval in Fort Worth, Texas, which was postponed by three days due to rain after just 52 laps were run on Sunday, by just 0.468 seconds over Truex, the highest finishing round of 8 driver, in second place behind the wheel of his #19 Toyota.
Leavine Family Racing rookie Christopher Bell finished a career-high third place behind the wheel of his #95 Toyota to sweep the top three for Toyota. Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney led all the Ford drivers in fourth behind the wheel of his #12 Ford while Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman led all the Chevrolet drivers in fifth behind the wheel of his #88 Chevrolet as the second highest finishing round of 8 driver.
Round of 8 drivers Brad Keselowski of Team Penske, Kurt Busch of Chip Ganassi Racing, Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing and Joey Logano of Team Penske finished in sixth, seventh, ninth and 10th place behind the wheels of their #2 Ford, #1 Chevrolet, #11 Toyota and #22 Ford.
Logano is still the only driver who has clinched a spot in the Championship 4 via his win at Kansas Speedway.
Two round of 8 drivers, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick and Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott, had issues and could not recover.
Harvick hit the wall on Sunday and was never truly competitive on Wednesday en route to a 16th place finish behind the wheel of his #4 Ford.
Elliott had a tire going down immediately after a pit stop and fell one lap off the lead lap. He was in the free pass position for the entire following stint, but the race did not feature any more caution flag periods. He finished in 20th place behind the wheel of his #9 Chevrolet.
The race featured 23 lead changes among 11 leaders. Busch led more laps than anybody in the field with 90 laps led, and he also won stage two. Stewart-Haas Racing’s Clint Bowyer, who led 89 laps but had to pit late for fuel, won stage one.
Here are the full race results of the 2020 Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.
Race Results
1st – Kyle Busch
2nd – Martin Truex Jr.
3rd – Christopher Bell
4th – Ryan Blaney
5th – Alex Bowman
6th – Brad Keselowski
7th – Kurt Busch
8th – Matt DiBenedetto
9th – Denny Hamlin
10th – Joey Logano
11th – Austin Dillon
12th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
13th – William Byron
14th – Cole Custer
15th – Tyler Reddick
16th – Kevin Harvick
17th – Clint Bowyer
18th – Ryan Preece
19th – Ryan Newman
20th – Chase Elliott
21st – Erik Jones
22nd – John Hunter Nemechek
23rd – Aric Almirola
24th – Ty Dillon
25th – Corey LaJoie
26th – Michael McDowell
27th – Daniel Suarez
28th – Brennan Poole
29th – Josh Bilicki
30th – Timmy Hill
31st – Garrett Smithley
32nd – Reed Sorenson
33rd – Quin Houff
34th – Chris Buescher
35th – Chad Finchum
36th – Jimmie Johnson
37th – Joey Gase
38th – Bubba Wallace
39th – Matt Kenseth
40th – J.J. Yeley
Here are the updated playoff standings following Busch’s win.
Rank – Driver: Points (Behind), (Wins/Playoff Points), (+/- cut line)
1st – Joey Logano: 4094 (-43), (3 WINS/27 PP), (CLINCHED)
2nd – Kevin Harvick: 4137 (0), (9 WINS/67 PP), (+42)
3rd – Denny Hamlin: 4122 (-15), (7 WINS/55 PP), (+27)
4th – Brad Keselowski: 4120 (-17), (4 WINS/35 PP), (+25)
————CHAMPIONSHIP 4 CUT LINE————
5th – Alex Bowman: 4095 (-42), (1 WIN/9 PP), (-25)
5th – Chase Elliott: 4095 (-42), (3 WINS/28 PP), (-25)
7th – Martin Truex Jr.: 4084 (-53), (1 WIN/17 PP), (-36)
8th – Kurt Busch: 4039 (-98), (1 WIN/6 PP), (-81)
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The round of 8 of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs is scheduled to conclude this Sunday, November 1 at Martinsville Speedway with the Xfinity 500, which is set to be broadcast live on NBC beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET.