We’ll get to Kyle Busch, but I do want to mention that when I looked at the results last night, knowing it had been a fuel mileage race and Kyle Larson had nose damage from bumping Denny Hamlin, and I saw Larson still in second place, a quiet sense of fearsome awe came upon me.
The Winner
Kyle Busch! The best. Busch, who’s been perpetually unhappy with his car for about a year and a half now (and the results seem to bear out that he hasn’t had a great car), evidently is fine as long as the car is full-on malfunctioning. Stuck in fourth gear for a big share of the end of the race, he made it work.
The Race
It was a fuel mileage race in the end, and that’s great drama when there isn’t a green-white-checkered kind of situation going on (or, you know, you’re not at Daytona or Talladega). William Byron had to pit. Denny Hamlin had to pit with just a lap left. Kyle Busch did not have to pit, and limped across the line to take the checkered flag.
Notable Names
In addition to finishing in second place, Larson got some good press regarding his involvement in the Urban Youth Racing School, an organization in Philadelphia the driver’s worked with as part of his continuing atonement for last summer’s n-word scandal.
Brad Keselowski was 3rd.
Kevin Harvick was 4th.
Bubba Wallace hit the fuel mileage game right and hung on after banging his car against the wall at one point, finishing 5th.
Ryan Blaney was 6th.
Alex Bowman was 7th and had a good time last night celebrating his Saturday win (if you’re new to Bowman, my strong impression is that he is not at all a douche and is instead a lovable goober).
Ryan Preece got an 8th-place finish.
Tyler Reddick was 9th and has been driving well of late.
Joey Logano was 10th.
Martin Truex Jr. won the first stage and finished 11th.
William Byron won the second stage and came back after his late fuel stop to hold onto 12th.
Austin Dillon was 13th.
Denny Hamlin stayed in 14th after his late stop.
Daniel Suárez had another nice day, finishing 15th.
Aric Almirola got a few stage points and finished 16th, but he needs a win.
Michael McDowell was 17th.
Matt DiBenedetto was 18th.
Chris Buescher didn’t make magic happen from the pole. 19th.
Kurt Busch was 20th.
Chase Briscoe was 21st.
Ryan Newman was 22nd.
Cole Custer was 24th.
Ross Chastain cut a tire early in the third stage and finished 26th.
Chase Elliott was 27th and was involved in the Chastain incident.
Erik Jones had some troubles and finished 31st.
Christopher Bell was involved in the Chastain/Elliott incident as well and finished 32nd.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s engine didn’t make it. 38th.
Standings
Just seven races left now before the playoffs. Two months’ worth of races, but just seven races. And it doesn’t feel all that likely we’ll get a surprise winner in the next six, given three of the six are road courses (where Elliott, Truex, Larson, and I’d say Bell after February are all going to be expected to be up front), two are intermediate tracks, and one’s New Hampshire which doesn’t tend to spark a lot of drama. So, maybe the top fifteen is a safe-ish spot right now?
1. Larson (4 wins, 42 playoff points)
2. Truex (3 wins, 23 playoff points)
3. Bowman (3 wins. 15 playoff points)
4. Kyle Busch (2 wins, 19 playoff points)
5. Byron (1 win, 15 playoff points)
6. Logano (1 win, 15 playoff points)
7. Elliott (1 win, 11 playoff points)
8. Blaney (1 win, 11 playoff points)
9. Keselowski (1 win, 7 playoff points)
10. Bell (1 win, 5 playoff points)
11. McDowell (1 win, 5 playoff points)
12. Hamlin (334 points ahead of first driver out, 20 playoff points)
13. Harvick (158 points ahead of first driver out, 2 playoff points)
14. Dillon (91 points ahead of first driver out)
15. Reddick (48 points ahead of first driver out)
16. Kurt Busch (last driver in, 3 points ahead of first driver out)
17. Buescher (first driver out, 3 points behind last driver in)
18. Suárez (48 points behind last driver in)
19. Stenhouse (54 points behind last driver in)
20. Wallace (54 points behind last driver in)
21. DiBenedetto (60 points behind last driver in)
22. Chastain (72 points behind last driver in)
23. Preece (101 points behind last driver in)
24. Newman (103 points behind last driver in)
25. Briscoe (116 points behind last driver in)
26. Jones (119 points behind last driver in)
27. Almirola (136 points behind last driver in)
28. Custer (156 points behind last driver in)
Thoughts, Implications, Up Next
It’s Road America next weekend, which feels like a chance for Chase Elliott to grab some playoff points. I don’t think this was NASCAR’s motivation, but it’d be funny and smart if someone had said, “Hey, Chase Elliott’s our best hope to be the next Jeff Gordon, and he’s great on road courses. Let’s stack those in the schedule so he can lock himself into the championship race before the playoffs even start.” That all said, Kurt Busch tends to be solid at road courses, so maybe he’ll be providing the shakeup and we’ll get an end-of-August Daytona race where it’s Reddick vs. The Field for the final playoff slot. That sounds fun. Long way away, though. Regardless, Reddick probably wants to catch Dillon if he can.
Terrible weekend for DiBenedetto, which is sad because he’s so likable. Not out of it by any stretch, but going to need to do some work, and has more guys to worry about than he did.
Is Chastain the last guy who could theoretically get in without winning? Hard to imagine Preece or anyone behind him making up an average of 15 points a race. Feel like any of those guys would need a win. Maybe we’ll get a Cole Custer/Kentucky-like situation, though, and mix things up.
Xfinity, Offseason Rumors
Austin Cindric won the Xfinity race, but the bigger story, at least among Twitter NASCAR fans, was Justin Haley’s wreck that knocked the wind out of him (he lay down on the track upon exiting his vehicle, which was nervewracking) and knocked good-guy Ryan Vargas out of the race.
Cindric, as has been mentioned elsewhere, is turning into a good bet to replace Keselowski in the 2 car this offseason as Keselowski is rumored to be moving to Roush Fenway, where he’s expected to be getting an ownership stake. Previously, the plan had been for Cindric to go to Wood Brothers and replace DiBenedetto, but now maybe DiBenedetto will be staying put? (This would leave Newman as the odd man out, but maybe he’d go to Ganassi and replace Kurt Busch if Kurt Busch moves to 23XI and takes over their second car, as is also a rumor? Lot of time left.)
Videos, Fun Stuff
Kyle Busch singing:
Kyle Busch joined by a friend (they were trying to fix the transmission issue):
