Kyle Busch left it until the second last lap to pass Chase Elliott and win at the Monster Mile, as the first round of NASCAR’s Playoffs came to a close.
The attention was on the front and mid-pack as the title chances for Austin Dillon, Kasey Kahne, Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman all ended at Dover.
Busch led 30 laps in total to score his 42nd career win and third at the Monster Mile. He also won last week at Loudon.
“That was hard-fought, that was everything I had,” said Busch.
“I wasn’t sure I was going to make it, I rim-rided and carried it by the 24. I saw that carrot and I went for it.”
Jimmie Johnson finished third followed by Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Larson, Clint Bowyer, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Daniel Suarez, Jamie McMurray and Brad Keselowski.
It was a disappointment for Elliott who led a race-high 138 laps, and is still to break through his first race win in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup.
Twelve cars remained on the lead lap at the end of the Apache Warrior 400. Thirteenth-place finisher Ryan Newman missed advancing to the playoffs by two points.
The stage wins went the way of Brad Keselowski and Kyle Larson.
The race was relatively clean with the only major issue being a broken axle for Denny Hamlin late in the race.
Next week the series heads to Charlotte Motor Speedway to start the second round of the Playoffs.
VIDEO: Race recap
VIDEO: Kyle Busch speaks after the race
RESULTS: Apache Warrior 400 – Dover International Speedway
Cla
#
Driver
Make
Laps
Laps Led
Status
Points
1
18
Kyle Busch
Toyota
400
30
Running
56
2
24
Chase Elliott
Chevrolet
400
138
Running
47
3
48
Jimmie Johnson
Chevrolet
400
5
Running
40
4
78
Martin Truex Jr.
Toyota
400
51
Running
50
5
42
Kyle Larson
Chevrolet
400
137
Running
47
6
14
Clint Bowyer
Ford
400
Running
32
7
88
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Chevrolet
400
Running
34
8
19
Daniel Suarez
Toyota
400
Running
29
9
1
Jamie McMurray
Chevrolet
400
Running
30
10
2
Brad Keselowski
Ford
400
39
Running
40
11
20
Matt Kenseth
Toyota
400
Running
26
12
77
Erik Jones
Toyota
400
Running
25
13
31
Ryan Newman
Chevrolet
399
Running
24
14
5
Kasey Kahne
Chevrolet
399
Running
23
15
22
Joey Logano
Ford
399
Running
22
16
3
Austin Dillon
Chevrolet
399
Running
21
17
4
Kevin Harvick
Ford
399
Running
23
18
10
Danica Patrick
Ford
399
Running
25
19
17
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Ford
399
Running
25
20
41
Kurt Busch
Ford
398
Running
17
21
38
David Ragan
Ford
397
Running
18
22
13
Ty Dillon
Chevrolet
397
Running
15
23
21
Ryan Blaney
Ford
397
Running
14
24
6
Trevor Bayne
Ford
396
Running
13
25
43
Aric Almirola
Ford
396
Running
12
26
27
Paul Menard
Chevrolet
396
Running
11
27
95
Michael McDowell
Chevrolet
396
Running
10
28
47
A.J. Allmendinger
Chevrolet
395
Running
9
29
34
Landon Cassill
Ford
394
Running
8
30
37
Chris Buescher
Chevrolet
394
Running
7
31
32
Matt DiBenedetto
Ford
393
Running
6
32
72
Cole Whitt
Chevrolet
392
Running
5
33
83
Brett Moffitt
Toyota
391
Running
34
23
Corey Lajoie
Toyota
389
Running
3
35
11
Denny Hamlin
Toyota
374
Axle
8
36
51
B.J. McLeod
Chevrolet
372
Running
37
33
Jeffrey Earnhardt
Chevrolet
368
Running
1
38
15
Ross Chastain
Chevrolet
348
Running
39
55
Reed Sorenson
Toyota
162
Engine
1
40
66
Timmy Hill
Chevrolet
39
Electrical
STANDINGS
Pos
Driver
Pts
Behind
Wins
Starts
Top 5’s
Top 10’s
Poles
1
Martin Truex Jr.
3,059
Leader
5
29
13
20
2
2
Kyle Busch
3,041
-18
4
29
12
18
8
3
Kyle Larson
3,034
-25
4
29
14
18
3
4
Brad Keselowski
3,020
-39
2
29
12
17
2
5
Jimmie Johnson
3,017
-42
3
29
4
10
0
6
Kevin Harvick
3,015
-44
1
29
9
17
4
7
Denny Hamlin
3,013
-46
2
29
12
16
0
8
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
3,010
-49
2
29
4
7
1
9
Ryan Blaney
3,008
-51
1
29
3
10
1
10
Chase Elliott
3,006
-53
0
29
8
16
1
11
Matt Kenseth
3,005
-54
0
29
8
14
2
12
Jamie McMurray
3,003
-56
0
29
2
15
0
13
Ryan Newman
2,067
-992
1
29
6
11
0
14
Austin Dillon
2,065
-994
1
29
3
4
0
15
Kasey Kahne
2,046
-1,013
1
29
3
4
0
16
Kurt Busch
2,044
-1,015
1
29
5
13
0
17
Clint Bowyer
750
-2,309
0
29
5
12
0
18
Joey Logano
741
-2,318
1
29
9
14
1
19
Erik Jones
728
-2,331
0
29
4
12
1
20
Daniel Suarez
653
-2,406
0
29
1
11
0
21
Trevor Bayne
525
-2,534
0
29
1
4
0
22
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
516
-2,543
0
29
1
5
1
23
Paul Menard
489
-2,570
0
29
2
3
0
24
Ty Dillon
473
-2,586
0
29
0
0
0
25
Michael McDowell
448
-2,611
0
29
1
1
0
26
Chris Buescher
445
-2,614
0
29
0
3
0
27
Danica Patrick
440
-2,619
0
29
0
1
0
28
AJ Allmendinger
435
-2,624
0
29
1
5
0
29
David Ragan
359
-2,700
0
29
0
2
0
30
Aric Almirola
341
-2,718
0
22
2
3
0
31
Matt DiBenedetto
298
-2,761
0
29
0
2
0
32
Landon Cassill
295
-2,764
0
29
0
0
0
33
Cole Whitt
273
-2,786
0
29
0
0
0
34
Corey LaJoie
193
-2,866
0
26
0
0
0
35
Gray Gaulding
119
-2,940
0
22
0
0
0
36
Reed Sorenson
119
-2,940
0
23
0
0
0
37
Jeffrey Earnhardt
108
-2,951
0
27
0
0
0
38
Derrike Cope
36
-3,023
0
13
0
0
0
39
Michael Waltrip
29
-3,030
0
1
0
1
0
40
Billy Johnson
15
-3,044
0
1
0
0
0
41
Boris Said
15
-3,044
0
2
0
0
0
42
Gary Klutt
6
-3,053
0
1
0
0
0
43
Cody Ware
6
-3,053
0
5
0
0
0
44
Alon Day
5
-3,054
0
1
0
0
0
45
Stephen Leicht
5
-3,054
0
1
0
0
0
46
Kevin O’Connell
4
-3,055
0
1
0
0
0
47
Tommy Regan
3
-3,056
0
1
0
0
0
48
D.J. Kennington
2
-3,057
0
2
0
0
0
49
Brendan Gaughan
0
-3,059
0
3
0
1
0
50
Darrell Wallace Jr.
0
-3,059
0
4
0
0
0
51
Timmy Hill
0
-3,059
0
14
0
0
0
52
Elliott Sadler
0
-3,059
0
3
0
0
0
53
Ross Chastain
0
-3,059
0
2
0
0
0
54
Joey Gase
0
-3,059
0
5
0
0
0
55
Regan Smith
0
-3,059
0
2
0
0
0
56
JJ Yeley
0
-3,059
0
4
0
0
0
57
Ryan Sieg
0
-3,059
0
5
0
0
0
58
Carl Long
0
-3,059
0
2
0
0
0
59
Brett Moffitt
0
-3,059
0
5
0
0
0
60
B.J. McLeod
0
-3,059
0
6
0
0
0
61
Josh Bilicki
0
-3,059
0
2
0
0
0
62
Ray Black II
0
-3,059
0
1
0
0
0
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