Kurt Busch was the lowest man in the Round of 12 as it began Sunday (9/27). At the end of the race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway he was sitting at the top.
The 12 NASCAR drivers that advanced in the Playoffs knew that winning the South Point 400 would give them and automatic advance to the next round in the post-season. This would be a big for this round as the next two races are considered “wild card races” because they are at Talledega and the ROVAL of Charlotte. Anything can happen in those two races. That means bad luck as well as good luck for the drivers hoping to win the Championship title.
When the race began at Las Vegas it appeared that there were a few drivers that would have a change at the win. The top two appeared to be Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott. Denny was the winner of stage one while Chase was the winner of stage two. The two kept battling for the lead most of the race. That was until misfortune made it unlikely that Chase would challenge for the win.
During the third and final stage of the race most cars had made their final pit stop under green. Kurt Busch was not one of those drivers. He was among a few that were using a pit strategy of stay out as long as you can and hope for a caution. Kurt’s gamble in Las Vegas paid off as a caution did come.
That put him out front for the restart with the faster cars in race back in the pack. Kurt was able to race out to the lead. He appeared to be cruising to a win until another late race caution came. However, Kurt was able to hold the lead on that restart that came in NASCAR overtime of a green-white-checkered finish. Kurt claimed his first win the Cup Series at his home track of Las Vegas Motor Speedway. More importantly it gave him that “Golden Ticket” to the Round of Eight in NASCAR’s Playoffs.
Matt DiBenedetto claimed a runner-up finish although he was eliminated from the Playoffs after the Round of 16. Denny Hamlin was able to race through the field to earn a third place finish. Martin Truex Jr. claimed fourth place. Alex Bowman rounded out the top five. See the complete results of the South Point 400 here.
Kurt sits at the top of the Playoff standings as the only driver with a win in this round. Kevin Harvick is in second place with Denny Hamlin in third place. Brad Keselowski holds fourth place with Martin Truex Jr. rounding out the top five. See the complete NASCAR Cup Series Point Standings here.
The second race in the Round of 12 is the YellaWood 500 at Talledega Superspeedway this Sunday, October 4th.
By: Buck Stevens
