Kyle Busch Holds Off Kevin Harvick for Richmond Playoff Race Victory

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RICHMOND, VA – RIS – Kyle Busch passed leader Brad Keselowski with 38 laps to go and held off a charging Kevin Harvick to win the Federated Auto Parts 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup race at Richmond Raceway on Saturday night. 

Busch won for the 50th time in his career, the sixth time on the 0.75-mile oval and for the first time here in the fall.

Harvick closed a gap of more than 1.5 seconds over the final few laps, but was not able to deprive Busch of tying him with a season-best seven wins this season.

Martin Truex Jr., who swept the first two stages before a penalty forced him to play catch up, rallied for third, followed by Chase Elliott and Aric Almirola. It was the first time all season that the three drivers who have dominated all season claimed the top three spots in a race.

Busch and rival Brad Keselowski, seeking his fourth consecutive victory in the series, battled for the lead for much of the last 100-plus laps. Keselowski grabbed to top spot on lap 343, but Busch took it back 20 laps later before Keselowski faded and Harvick picked up the chase.

The race unfolded much like the spring race in April when Joey Logano swept the first two stages, each run without an on-track caution.

This time, it was Truex who completed the sweep, but then his team burned him on pit road. During the caution after the second stage, Truex’s team was penalized for an uncontrolled tire, dropping him to 19th place. After leading 159 laps, he had to play catch up. He was 5.8 seconds behind at the finish.

After Busch, Harvick, and Truex, Chase Elliott, and Aric Almirola made up the top five.  Austin Dillon, Kyle Larson, Jimmie Johnson, Keselowski, and Clint Bowyer finished in positions 6-10.

Since this was a playoff race, Kyle Busch is guaranteed to move on to the next round of 12 drivers.  Four will be eliminated after the Charlotte race.  Those most in trouble are the two in 13th and 14th place (Bowyer and Johnson) as well as the 11th and 12th place drivers (Alex Bowman and Clint Bowyer) who are only a few points behind the those 11th and 12th place drivers. 

The drivers and teams next head to Charlotte Motor Speedway to attack the combination oval and road course known as the ROVAL next weekend.

Unofficial Race Results for the 61st Annual Federated Auto Parts 400 - Richmond Raceway - September 22, 2018

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 11, Kyle Busch (P), No. 18 M&M's Toyota, 400, , , 3, 92, 5, 40, Running
2) 1, Kevin Harvick (P), No. 4 Jimmy John's New 9-Grain Wheat Sub Ford, 400, 2, 2, 1, 40, , 53, Running
3) 3, Martin Truex Jr. (P), No. 78 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota, 400, 1, 1, 3, 163, 2, 54, Running
4) 18, Chase Elliott (P), No. 9 Hooters Chevrolet, 400, 4, 4, 2, 34, , 47, Running
5) 6, Aric Almirola (P), No. 10 Get Grilling America Smithfield Ford, 400, 6, 3, 1, 1, , 45, Running
6) 26, Austin Dillon (P), No. 3 Dow VORASURF Chevrolet, 400, , 7, , , , 35, Running
7) 9, Kyle Larson (P), No. 42 DC Solar Chevrolet, 400, , 9, , , , 32, Running
8) 21, Jimmie Johnson (P), No. 48 Lowe's for Pros Chevrolet, 400, , 8, , , , 32, Running
9) 7, Brad Keselowski (P), No. 2 Reese/DrawTite Ford, 400, 3, 5, 5, 67, , 42, Running
10) 24, Clint Bowyer (P), No. 14 ITsavvy Ford, 400, , , , , , 27, Running
11) 8, Erik Jones (P), No. 20 Craftsman Toyota, 400, 7, , , , , 30, Running
12) 13, Alex Bowman (P), No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet, 400, 8, 6, 1, 1, , 33, Running
13) 15, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Fastenal Ford, 400, , , 1, 2, , 24, Running
14) 12, Joey Logano (P), No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 399, 10, 10, , , , 25, Running
15) 16, Ryan Newman, No. 31 Bass Pro Shops/Cabela's Chevrolet, 399, , , , , , 22, Running
16) 2, Denny Hamlin (P), No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota, 399, 9, , , , , 23, Running
17) 38, Daniel Suarez, No. 19 Comcast Toyota, 399, , , , , , 20, Running
18) 5, Kurt Busch (P), No. 41 State Water Heaters/Haas Automation Ford, 398, 5, , , , , 25, Running
19) 4, Ryan Blaney (P), No. 12 Menards/Richmond Ford, 398, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 19, William Byron #, No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet, 398, , , , , , 17, Running
21) 14, Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Cessna Chevrolet, 398, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 20, Paul Menard, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford, 397, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 40, David Ragan, No. 38 The Pete Store Ford, 397, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 23, Michael McDowell, No. 34 Dockside Logistics Ford, 397, , , , , , 13, Running
25) 17, Matt Kenseth, No. 6 Performance Plus Motor Oil Ford, 396, , , , , , 12, Running
26) 10, Cole Custer(i), No. 51 Jacob Companies Ford, 396, , , , , , 0, Running
27) 25, Bubba Wallace #, No. 43 World Wide Technology Chevrolet, 395, , , , , , 10, Running
28) 29, Ty Dillon, No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet, 395, , , , , , 9, Running
29) 28, AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Kroger ClickList Chevrolet, 394, , , , , , 8, Running
30) 22, Chris Buescher, No. 37 Cheerios Zero Hunger Zero Waste Chevrolet, 394, , , , , , 7, Running
31) 39, Regan Smith, No. 95 FDNY Foundation Chevrolet, 394, , , , , , 6, Running
32) 31, Corey LaJoie, No. 72 ARK.io Blockchain Solutions Chevrolet, 393, , , , , , 5, Running
33) 30, Ross Chastain(i), No. 15 Chevrolet, 392, , , , , , 0, Running
34) 27, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 32 Keen Parts/CorvetteParts.net Ford, 391, , , , , , 3, Running
35) 35, Joey Gase(i), No. 00 Eternal Fan Chevrolet, 388, , , , , , 0, Running
36) 36, * Landon Cassill(i), No. 99 StarCom Fiber Chevrolet, 387, , , , , , 0, Running
37) 32, * Jeffrey Earnhardt, No. 96 Xtreme Concepts/iK9 Toyota, 387, , , , , , 1, Running
38) 34, Alon Day, No. 23 Best Bully Sticks Toyota, 383, , , , , , 1, Running
39) 37, * Timmy Hill(i), No. 66 Ternio Toyota, 382, , , , , , 0, Running
40) 33, * Gray Gaulding, No. 52 LIVE! Casino & Hotel Ford, 289, , , , , , 1, Brakes
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie, (*) non charter team

.75 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 400 Laps - 300 Miles
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 54 Mins, 30 Secs.
Average Speed: 103.152 MPH
Margin of Victory: 0.777 Seconds
Race Comments: Kyle Busch won the 61st Annual Federated Auto Parts 400, his 50th victory in 490 NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series races.
Caution Flags: 3 for 23 laps: Laps: 102-109 (Stage 1 Conclusion [38]);
202-209 (Stage 2 Conclusion [17]);
327-333 (No. 96 incident in Turn 2 [17]).
Lead Changes: 16 among 8 drivers: K. Harvick (P) 1-40;
M. Truex Jr. (P) 41-103;
B. Keselowski (P) 104;
M. Truex Jr. (P) 105-203;
A. Almirola (P) 204;
C. Elliott (P) 205-213;
B. Keselowski (P) 214-243;
C. Elliott (P) 244-268;
A. Bowman (P) 269;
M. Truex Jr. (P) 270;
R. Stenhouse Jr. 271-272;
B. Keselowski (P) 273-286;
Kyle Busch (P) 287-327;
B. Keselowski (P) 328;
Kyle Busch (P) 329-342;
B. Keselowski (P) 343-363;
Kyle Busch (P) 364-400.
American Ethanol Green Flag Restart Award: Kevin Harvick, No. 4 
Busch Pole Award: Kevin Harvick, No. 4 121.88 mph
Fastest Lap: Kurt Busch, No. 41 
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race: Toyota Racing Development (TRD), No. 18 
Moog Go the Extra Mile: Kyle Busch, No. 18 crew chief Adam Stevens, 0.185 seconds
Sunoco Rookie of the Race: William Byron, No. 24

Points of Playoff Contenders:

Points Report
Richmond Raceway
61st Annual Federated Auto Parts 400
UNOFFICIAL Provided by NASCAR Statistics  - Saturday, 9/22/2018 @ 10:41 PM Eastern UNOFFICIAL
Rank Driver Car Points Ldr Nxt Race Wins Stage Wins Playoff Pts
1. Martin Truex Jr. (P) 78                                                                    2141 0 0 4 10 38
2. Kyle Busch (P) 18                                                                    2125 -16 -16 7 5 55 
3. Kevin Harvick (P) 4                                                                     2113 -28 -12 7 12 50
4. Brad Keselowski (P) 2                                                                     2111 -30 -2 3 5 25
5. Joey Logano (P) 22                                                                    2081 -60 -30 1 3 14
6. Aric Almirola (P) 10                                                                    2079 -62 -2 0 1 1
7. Kyle Larson (P) 42                                                                    2073 -68 -6 0 3 5
8. Kurt Busch (P) 41                                                                    2071 -70 -2 1 2 14
9. Chase Elliott (P) 9                                                                     2066 -75 -5 1 3 8
10. Austin Dillon (P) 3                                                                     2066 -75 0 1 0 5
11. Alex Bowman (P) 88                                                                    2061 -80 -5 0 0 0
12. Ryan Blaney (P) 12                                                                    2060 -81 -1 0 5 7
13. Clint Bowyer (P) 14                                                                    2056 -85 -4 2 1 15
14. Jimmie Johnson (P) 48                                                                    2054 -87 -2 0 0 0
15. Erik Jones (P) 20                                                                    2039 -102 -15 1 0 5
16. Denny Hamlin (P) 11                                                                    2031 -110 -8 0 2 3