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Kurt Busch held off Kyle Larson to emerge victorious in Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway for his first win of the 2022 season. The victory puts Busch in position for a spot in the Cup Series Playoffs despite a slow start to the year.
It's Busch's first career win at Kansas Speedway and his first win while racing for Michael Jordan's 23XI Racing in the No. 45 Toyota.
It was an unlikely win for Busch, who had struggled throughout most of the 2022 season. He had led just nine laps this year entering Sunday. The victory snaps a 27-race winless streak for Busch.
Busch's younger brother Kyle Busch, who won the first stage of Sunday's race, placed third. Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell rounded out the top five.
Kurt Busch won the second stage and secured the overall victory after a late pass that caused Larson to run into the wall.
It was a rough day for multiple drivers as tire issues seemed to be the theme of the afternoon. Daniel Suarez caused an early caution when he spun into a wall to derail his strong start.
William Byron hit a wall after sustaining a flat in his left rear tire. He was two laps behind after being forced to pit.
A tire issue by Martin Truex Jr. on the final lap of Stage 2 opened the door for Kurt Busch to grab the win.
Early in the third stage, Chase Elliott also fell victim to the left rear tire issue. He was notably unhappy with the race conditions after his crash.
Despite the issues throughout Sunday, Fox's Bob Pockrass reported that there is confidence that next week's race won't face the same problems:
NASCAR will return to action next Sunday afternoon for the All-Star Open at Texas Motor Speedway.
Kyle Larson is having a season for the ages.
For the ninth time this season, the Hendrick Motorsports driver crossed the checkered flag first, winning Sunday's Hollywood Casino 400 at the Kansas Speedway.
Chase Elliott finished second, followed by Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch and Denny Hamlin.
Larson has now won three straight races and four of the past six during the playoff period. It's his second three-win streak of the season, the first time that's been done since Dale Earnhardt pulled off the trick in 1987.
He remains the only driver to have clinched a berth in the Championship 4 heading into the final NASCAR Cup Series Round of 8 playoff race next Sunday at the Martinsville Speedway (2 p.m. ET on NBC).
The win came 17 years to the day that a Hendrick plane crash killed all 10 people aboard the vessel, including Rick Hendrick's son, Ricky. Larson drives the same No. 5 car that Ricky Hendrick drove during his career.
"I didn't ever get to meet Ricky or the other men and women who lost their lives that day," Larson said after the race. "But I felt the importance of this race. So crazy how it all worked out for me to win. So again, thank you to Rick Hendrick, I know this means a lot to you and I'm glad I could get it done."
Larson has dominated the 550-horsepower races this season, though Sunday was the final race of the season under that classification.
Very little has gotten in Larson's way. That included a 15-minute weather delay Sunday and his teammate Elliott trying to track him down in the waning moments of the race.
All that's really left for Larson to do this year is win the NASCAR Cup Series, like Elliott did last year. At this point, who is going to bet against him?
Thirteen drivers will fight for nine spots in the next round of the NASCAR Cup Series on Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. advanced out of the round of 16 through victories in the first two playoff races. Kyle Larson got into the round of 12 off his points total.
Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney and Kevin Harvick sit in the best positions possible to move on to the next three-race postseason round.
If any of the 13 drivers from fourth to 16th place win at Bristol, they will automatically qualify for the round of 12.
All of the clinching scenarios to reach the round of 12 can be found here on NASCAR.com.
Bass Pro Shops Night Race Info
Date: Saturday, September 18
Start Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
TV: NBCSN
Live Stream: NBCSports.com and NBC Sports app
Odds
Kyle Busch (+400; bet $100 to win $400)
Kyle Larson (+450)
Denny Hamlin (+600)
Chase Elliott (+800)
Joey Logano (+1000)
Kevin Harvick (+1100)
Ryan Blaney (+1500)
Kurt Busch (+1500)
Starting Lineup
Preview
Kyle Busch is listed as the pre-race favorite because of his stellar history at Bristol.
The No. 18 car driver won three of the last seven races at the Tennessee track. He finished inside the top five for both of the races on the Bristol concrete in 2020.
The Cup Series visited Bristol earlier in the season, but that event took place on dirt.
Busch comes into Bristol in 10th place in the playoff standings with an eight-point edge over Alex Bowman in 13th place.
The other Busch brother, Kurt, had a pair of top-15 finishes at Bristol in 2020. He needs points more than Kyle Busch since he is in 12th in a tie with Bowman.
Bowman, Tyler Reddick, William Byron and Michael McDowell suffered setbacks in the first two playoff races that forced them beneath the cut line.
McDowell, who won the Daytona 500, is in the most trouble of being eliminated. He is 38 points adrift of Kurt Busch. Byron is within 18 points of Busch, while Reddick sits five points behind the No. 1 car driver.
The best-case scenario for any of those four drivers is to win the race, but that will be difficult among a field of drivers with past success at Bristol.
Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski, who both won in 2020, reside in the top 10 in points, and they have some comfort with their respective places in the standings.
Chase Elliott, Aric Almirola and Christopher Bell are among the drivers inside the top 12 who placed in the top 10 at Bristol last season.
Larson, Hamlin and Truex are already into the round of 12, but they could win the race and take away the automatic advancement spot.
Each of those three drivers are in strong form, and they could use the Bristol race to fine-tune things ahead of the next leg of races.
Truex and Hamlin begin the race on the front row. The last three winners on the Bristol concrete came from the first four starting positions.
Most brothers play out their athletic battles in the backyard or in the driveway.
Some do it at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Kurt Busch won the Quaker State 400 on Sunday by outlasting his brother Kyle in an intense final stage that saw them trade the lead multiple times. The older sibling seized the lead with more than 20 laps remaining and outlasted every late charge from the younger one to clinch the victory.
Before the brotherly showdown, the biggest storyline coming into the race was whether Kyle Larson would notch his first win at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
He seemed ready to do just that considering his overall dominance this season with recent victories at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Sonoma Raceway, Nashville Superspeedway and the All-Star Race, but Ryan Blaney prevailed in the last race in Atlanta by holding off Larson down the stretch.
Sean Montgomery of NASCAR.com noted that despite the runner-up finish to Blaney, Larson led 411 laps and won three of the last four stages in his previous two starts in Atlanta.
Yet he and the rest of the field were behind Kyle Busch after Stage 1, who won his fourth stage of the season.
His brother Kurt was in second place after a stage that saw pole-sitter Chase Elliott drop back because of a mistake on pit road and a crash that involved Daniel Suarez, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Cody Ware.
The family affair continued in the second stage, as Kurt jumped out to the lead and rode it to his third stage victory of the year with Kyle flipping the script and finishing in second.
Some of the drama in the second stage was due to rainy weather in the Atlanta area, and Aric Almirola went for a long-shot victory. The race was official in case of a rainout after the 130th lap, so Almirola remained on the track while the leaders went for pit stops and actually briefly held the lead after that 130th lap.
Alas, there was no postponement, and Kurt Busch eventually retook the lead and ended that strategy.
There wasn't much building on the momentum for the Busch brothers, though, as there was a lengthy delay at the start of the third stage because the track needed surface repairs. Such a delay was all the more notable because Atlanta Motor Speedway will be repaved for the 2022 season.
Once racing resumed, it was all about whether Kurt would hold off Kyle. They both traded momentum, and the latter retook the lead on a cycle out after pitting ahead of his brother with fewer than 50 laps remaining.
That lead didn't last for long, as Kurt took advantage of traffic and positioning from his teammate Ross Chastain to jump into first place heading into the final 20 laps.
The one opportunity was all he needed, and the elder Busch brother earned the checkered flag.
NASCAR begins its first West Coast swing of the 2021 Cup Series campaign Sunday.
The Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will be the first competition held outside the state of Florida this season.
The first three races produced a trio of long-shot winners in Michael McDowell, Christopher Bell and William Byron. With three of the 16 playoff positions already locked up, the pressure is on some of the top drivers to regain control at the front of the pack and avoid any postseason bubble stress at the end of the season.
Some of the most established drivers on the circuit have won at the 1.5-mile track. Kurt Busch captured the previous race in Nevada, and Joey Logano has two wins in the past four Las Vegas races.
Pennzoil 400 Schedule
Date: Sunday, March 7
Start Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
TV: Fox
Live Stream: FoxSports.com and Fox Sports app
Odds
Kevin Harvick: +600 (bet $100 to win $600)
Martin Truex Jr.: +600
Brad Keselowski: +800
Joey Logano: +800
Chase Elliott: +900
Denny Hamlin: +900
Kyle Larson: +1000
Ryan Blaney: +1300
Kyle Busch: +1300
Kurt Busch: +1800
William Byron: +1800
Starting Lineup
Preview
Although there have been three unexpected winners on the Cup Series circuit, the established names are still at the top of the points standings.
Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick, who went back-and-forth with victories in 2020, top the points standings through three races.
Harvick ended up with the pole position for Sunday's race based off the formula NASCAR is using, with no qualifying sessions taking place at most tracks.
The No. 4 car driver will start alongside Byron, with Kyle Larson and Martin Truex Jr. occupying the second row. Hamlin will start on the third row next to McDowell.
Starting position could turn out to be key at Las Vegas since six of the past eight first-place finishers at the track began the race inside the top 10.
Ford has been the dominant manufacturer at the track lately, with Team Penske's Logano and Brad Keselowski leading the charge with five wins since 2014.
Keselowski could be the top driver to watch Sunday. The No. 2 car driver owns three victories at Las Vegas and starts five positions ahead of his Penske teammate.
Truex broke up Ford's dominance with victories in March 2017 and September 2019, and he could cash in on his co-favorite status if a Ford does not reach Victory Lane.
The Joe Gibbs Racing competitor has improved his finishing position in each of the three races and is coming off a third-place mark at the season's first 1.5-mile race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Truex was in the mix for the lead with Byron and Kyle Larson, but he missed out on second after Tyler Reddick shot up the field to take silver.
If another long shot were to take over the race, Chris Buescher could be the man for the job. He led a bulk of the early laps at Homestead and has a pair of top-20 finishes from the past two races.
Buescher drives a Roush Fenway Racing Ford, so he may have the right setup under the hood to make a run at the top.
If another unexpected winner were to come out of Las Vegas, it would cut the list of available playoff spots to 12 and squeeze out some of the more inconsistent top drivers.
Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman and Ryan Blaney are among the more notable names beneath the top 15 in points. If they do not win, they need to put in more consistent runs to start making moves up the points standings.
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90. Statistics obtained from Racing Reference.
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For the second time in his career, Alex Bowman will lead the field when the green flag waves Sunday to start the 63rd running of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious event in NASCAR and the beginning of the 2021 racing season.
Whether he can maintain that lead following engine issues Thursday in the Bluegreen Vacations Duel remains to be seen.
"We talked through engine diagnostics and sent some guys over pit wall who don't normally go over the wall," crew chief Greg Ives told NASCAR.com's Alejandro Alvarez. "There were a lot of things you always think you are going to be prepared for until you actually go through them. I feel like we did a good job understanding it and hopefully we are able to diagnose it and make sure everything is good."
It is a season that welcomes a new team owned by Michael Jordan and, potentially, waves goodbye to a former series champion.
Here is how you can watch the race, and these are the stories to keep an eye on Sunday afternoon.
Date: Sunday, February 14
Start Time: 2:30 p.m.
How to Watch: Fox or Fox Deportes (TV); Fox Sports app (streaming)
MJ's 1st Dance...
Michael Jordan makes his NASCAR debut Sunday as co-owner of the 23XI racing team with Denny Hamlin and driver Bubba Wallace.
When asked about his foray into racing, Jordan told Bob Pockrass of Fox Sports, "My biggest conversation to Denny was I don't want to...just go around and around and around and finish 18th, 19th, 20th, 30th. I want to win. I want to be put in the position for the best chance for us to win. That's my competitive nature."
The partnership between Jordan and Hamlin began way back in 2011, when the racer first sported the Jumpman logo on his fire suit. Since then, the athletes have forged a friendship that became a business relationship.
The racing team has provided talented driver Wallace with all of the tools necessary to succeed and "shut up some of his haters," as he told Shannon Sharpe on Club Shay Shay.
He will start sixth in Sunday's race.
...And Kurt Busch's Last?
Kurt Busch and sponsor Monster left fans guessing about the 2004 NASCAR Cup Series champion's future when it dropped nine-minute movie Shifting Gears on YouTube recently.
Heavily centered on the possibility that 2021 will mark Busch's final year behind the wheel, it stops just short of an official announcement.
So why bother?
To drum up interest for the season, possibly? To introduce a new story or create intrigue in one of the seasoned veterans of the Cup Series, maybe? An overabundance of money, hence cameos from Rob Gronkowski and Vanilla Ice, perhaps?
Maybe it is simply to prepare fans for the possibility that Busch, long one of the constants of the NASCAR world, will be moving on at the conclusion of the year.
Busch enters the 2021 season with 32 career wins and the aforementioned 2004 title to his name. He starts Sunday's race at the No. 20 position.
One of Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski and Chase Elliott will not get a chance to run for the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series title.
The four favorites to advance to the championship round of the postseason were surprised by Joey Logano's victory at Kansas Speedway. That leaves three positions—two to potential race winners—left to move on from the round of eight. The first of those two races takes place Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway.
Harvick and Hamlin captured three of the past four races in Fort Worth, Texas. The exception to that trend was Austin Dillon's victory in July. Keselowski and Elliott do not have wins at the track, and they finished ninth and 12th in the season's first trip to the course.
Alex Bowman, Martin Truex Jr. and Kurt Busch are still alive in the round of eight, but their best way to get into the final four is through a victory because of the gap in points between themselves and the top four.
Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 Information
Date: Sunday, October 25
Start Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
TV: NBCSN
Live Stream: NBCSports.com or NBC Sports app
Starting Lineup
Odds
Kevin Harvick: +240 (bet $100 to win $240
Denny Hamlin: +450
Joey Logano: +750
Chase Elliott: +850
Ryan Blaney: +1000
Martin Truex Jr.: +1000
Brad Keselowski: +1100
Kyle Busch: +1500
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.
Preview
Harvick and Hamlin are two of four racers to take three or more wins at Texas Motor Speedway.
All three of Harvick's triumphs in the Lone Star State occurred in the past six races. He started in the top three in each of those victories. On Sunday, the No. 4 car driver begins the 500-mile race in the pole position with Logano next to him.
Hamlin will have to make up some ground since he begins the race on the fourth row alongside Kurt Busch. The Joe Gibbs Racing competitor won back-to-back races at Texas in 2010 and picked up his third victory at the track in 2019.
You could make the case that Hamlin may have trouble winning since he owns a single victory at Texas since 2011, but he still possesses seven top-five finishes and 13 top-10 placings.
Hamlin produced a rare 20th-placed finish at Texas in July, and his form at the track suggests he will rebound from that result. If he lands in the top five or 10 again, Hamlin should feel safe about his position in the final four heading into the race at Martinsville Speedway on Nov. 1. The same can be said about Harvick's playoff chances.
Keselowski could be face much more difficulty than the top two drivers in the playoff standings. He has five top-five placings in 24 races at Texas. Those statistics convinced the oddsmakers to give the Penske Racing driver higher odds than other playoff competitors to win Sunday.
Elliott may be in a tough spot as well given he did not finish in the top 10 in each of his past three starts at Texas. If Keselowski and Elliott slip up Sunday, it may open the door for Bowman and Truex to pick up points and threaten their playoff positions at Martinsville.
Keselowski sits on the cut line with an eight-point advantage over Elliott. Bowman is 19 points back of Elliott, there is a four-point difference back to Truex and Busch is 40 points behind the No. 19 car driver.
Busch most likely needs a victory at Texas or Martinsville to advance, while Bowman and Truex still have an opportunity to move on through points if the Texas trends of Keselowski and Elliott continue Sunday.
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90. Statistics obtained from Racing-Reference.
If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) (IL).
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NASCAR legend Kurt Busch is considering calling it a career.
After winning his first race of the 2020 season Sunday, the 42-year-old said there's a chance his years on the track are coming to an end, per CBS Sports' Matt Mayer.
"I've been at this game a long time," he said. "Been out there 21 years, and my wife is a great supporter of mine, and she loves the racing. But it's been a bunch of years out on the road and out on the circuit. And we'll see what 2022 brings us when we get there."
On a Zoom call with reporters after grabbing his 32nd win in Sunday's race to advance to the Round of 8 in the Cup Series playoffs, the 2004 Cup Series champion joked about finding a "rocking chair" as his five-year-old nephew Brexton won his first race in the same weekend.
"I honestly had a feeling on the plane ride out here [Sunday], with his win, it was like, you know, my job is almost done here," he said. "I'm starting to become that old guy. Got to find the rocking chair because Brexton is taking over. But not so fast. It's great to be back in Victory Lane."
Busch's win Saturday was his first at his home track, Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He grabbed the lead when Jimmie Johnson got a flat tire, and he took advantage of a pit stop under caution and two restarts.
After a strong start to the season with 12 top-10 finishes during the first 20 outings, Busch had finished in the top 10 of just three of last nine races and hadn't placed in the top five since July.
Kurt Busch could not have planned a better start to the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.
Busch outlasted the rest of the field in an overtime sprint to clinch the victory in Sunday's South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the first of three races before the playoff field is trimmed from 12 to eight. Next up are races at Talladega Superspeedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway, but Busch already clinched his spot in the next round with the win.
There was some drama when William Byron spun out with seven laps left to help create overtime, but Busch was up for the challenge.
Entering Sunday's race, Kevin Harvick led the playoff field in points followed, in order, by Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr., Alex Bowman, Austin Dillon, Aric Almirola, Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer and Kurt Busch.
Logano and Keselowski figured to be two of the most competitive racers in Las Vegas seeing as how the former finished in the top 10 in his last nine races in Sin City. The latter finished in the top 10 in his previous 10 races at the track with three wins in that span. Only Jimmie Johnson (four) has more victories in Las Vegas.
However, Keselowski struggled right out of the gates, falling behind the rest of the playoff field in the first stage.
It appeared as if Elliott were going to cruise to a stage win in the opening portion of the race, but Busch won a race off pit road before Hamlin passed him on a restart. Hamlin rode that all the way to a win in a first stage that saw Logano block Elliott in a head-turning move:
There was plenty of drama in the second stage.
Logano took the lead on a restart, but he and Kyle Busch contacted each other. Logano went to pit road and fell multiple laps back, while Busch fell because of an issue on pit road. It wasn't the first time there was an issue between Logano and Busch, and Hamlin took advantage and took the lead.
Elliott then passed Hamlin, clinching his eighth stage win of the season.
There was trouble in the third stage for Dillon, who fell well off the lead lap with steering issues.
However, it was a key caution late in the race that appeared to set the stage for Kurt Busch. He was the only playoff driver on the lead lap when the caution came out, and he took the lead on the restart with Matt DiBenedetto chasing.
That momentum faded when Byron spun out with seven laps to go, setting up another caution and critical restart.
That led to overtime, but Busch could not be topped.
