Kyle Busch steals the win at Dover

Kyle Busch celebrates at Dover

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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