Kyle Busch clear of wreckage to win in Martinsville

Kyle Busch takes the chequered flag to win the First Data 500

Kyle Busch has taken victory in the first race of NASCAR’s Round of 8 as mayhem erupted behind him at Martinsville Speedway.

In an overtime finish, Busch (#18 M&M’s Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota) moved Denny Hamlin aside on the penultimate lap to take the race lead, but still had work to do to beat Martin Truex Jr. to the chequered flag by 0.141s.

In the background, Ryan Blaney got into the side of Hamlin near the head of the pack, causing cars to spray all over the main straight on the 0.526mi short track.

Just minutes earlier, Hamlin was the aggressor in a controversial incident when he unloaded then-leader Chase Elliott with three laps of the scheduled 500 remaining, bringing out the Caution which caused overtime.

The two prangs allowed Clint Bowyer to take third and Brad Keselowski, who won the first two stages of the First Data 500, fourth.

Keselowski, however, might have won the race given that he held a relatively comfortable 1.7s lead with eight laps to go.

However, Joey Logano spun due to a cut tyre, caused by contact with Busch, leading to a Caution.

The incident proved costly, as Elliott took the lead on the restart with Hamlin following past, before those two came together a lap later.

Hamlin was ultimately seventh, behind Kevin Harvick and Trevor Bayne.

Of the other playoff contenders, Blaney finished eighth, Jimmie Johnson 12th, and Elliott down in 27th.

Truex Jr. retains his series lead as Kyle Busch secured his place in the season-ending Championship 4.

The second race of the Round of 8 is the AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on Monday 6 November (AEDT).

VIDEO: Hamlin takes out Elliott

VIDEO: Race-winning pass

Results: First Data 500, Martinsville Speedway

Pos Num Driver Make Laps Laps led Status Pts
1 1 Kyle Busch Toyota 505 184 Running 58
2 2 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 505 0 Running 48
3 3 Clint Bowyer Ford 505 0 Running 36
4 4 Brad Keselowski Ford 505 108 Running 53
5 5 Kevin Harvick Ford 505 0 Running 36
6 6 Trevor Bayne Ford 505 0 Running 31
7 7 Denny Hamlin Toyota 505 7 Running 31
8 8 Ryan Blaney Ford 505 0 Running 38
9 9 Matt Kenseth Toyota 505 0 Running 31
10 10 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 505 0 Running 27
11 11 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 505 0 Running 26
12 12 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 505 24 Running 33
13 13 Austin Dillon Chevrolet 505 0 Running 26
14 14 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 505 0 Running 23
15 15 Daniel Suarez Toyota 505 0 Running 22
16 16 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 505 0 Running 24
17 17 Danica Patrick Ford 505 0 Running 20
18 18 Aric Almirola Ford 505 0 Running 19
19 19 Michael McDowell Chevrolet 505 0 Running 18
20 20 Paul Menard Chevrolet 505 0 Running 17
21 21 Chris Buescher Chevrolet 505 0 Running 16
22 22 Kurt Busch Ford 505 0 Running 15
23 23 Landon Cassill Ford 505 0 Running 14
24 24 Joey Logano Ford 504 59 Running 29
25 25 Cole Whitt Chevrolet 504 0 Running 12
26 26 Erik Jones Toyota 504 0 Running 11
27 27 Chase Elliott Chevrolet 504 123 Running 21
28 28 David Ragan Ford 503 0 Running 9
29 29 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 503 0 Running 8
30 30 Ty Dillon Chevrolet 501 0 Running 7
31 31 Gray Gaulding Toyota 501 0 Running 6
32 32 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 500 0 Running 5
33 33 Corey LaJoie Toyota 500 0 Running 4
34 34 Hermie Sadler Chevrolet 494 0 Running 3
35 35 Kyle Weatherman Chevrolet 488 0 Running 2
36 36 Carl Long Chevrolet 444 0 Crash 0
37 37 Kyle Larson Chevrolet 300 0 Crash 1
38 38 Jeffrey Earnhardt Chevrolet 274 0 Rear gear 1
39 39 Matt DiBenedetto Ford 187 0 Electrical 1
40 40 A.J. Allmendinger Chevrolet 94 0 Crash 1

Standings

Pos Driver Pts Gap Wins Starts Top 5s Top 10s Poles
1 Martin Truex Jr. 4117 7 33 16 23 3
2 Kyle Busch 4100 -17 5 33 13 20 8
3 Brad Keselowski 4079 -38 3 33 14 19 2
4 Kevin Harvick 4053 -64 1 33 11 20 4
5 Jimmie Johnson 4050 -67 3 33 4 11 0
6 Ryan Blaney 4047 -70 1 33 4 13 1
7 Denny Hamlin 4045 -72 2 33 14 20 1
8 Chase Elliott 4027 -90 0 33 10 18 1
9 Kyle Larson 2237 -1880 4 33 14 19 3
10 Matt Kenseth 2215 -1902 0 33 8 15 2
11 Kasey Kahne 2150 -1967 1 33 3 6 0
12 Austin Dillon 2148 -1969 1 33 3 4 0
13 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 2146 -1971 2 33 4 8 1
14 Jamie McMurray 2146 -1971 0 33 3 16 0
15 Kurt Busch 2139 -1978 1 33 6 14 0
16 Ryan Newman 2130 -1987 1 33 7 12 0
17 Joey Logano 839 -3278 1 33 10 15 2
18 Clint Bowyer 829 -3288 0 33 6 13 0
19 Erik Jones 768 -3349 0 33 4 12 1
20 Daniel Suarez 731 -3386 0 33 1 12 0
21 Trevor Bayne 632 -3485 0 33 2 6 0
22 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 627 -3490 0 33 1 7 2
23 Paul Menard 574 -3543 0 33 2 3 0
24 Ty Dillon 543 -3574 0 33 0 0 0
25 Chris Buescher 531 -3586 0 33 0 4 0
26 Michael McDowell 498 -3619 0 33 1 1 0
27 Danica Patrick 478 -3639 0 33 0 1 0
28 A.J. Allmendinger 473 -3644 0 33 1 5 0
29 Aric Almirola 433 -3684 0 26 3 5 0
30 David Ragan 416 -3701 0 33 0 3 0
31 Landon Cassill 344 -3773 0 33 0 0 0
32 Matt DiBenedetto 334 -3783 0 33 0 2 0
33 Cole Whitt 304 -3813 0 33 0 0 0
34 Corey LaJoie 216 -3901 0 29 0 0 0
35 Gray Gaulding 163 -3954 0 26 0 1 0
36 Reed Sorenson 142 -3975 0 26 0 0 0
37 Jeffrey Earnhardt 128 -3989 0 31 0 0 0
38 Derrike Cope 37 -4080 0 14 0 0 0
39 Michael Waltrip 29 -4088 0 1 0 1 0
40 Billy Johnson 15 -4102 0 1 0 0 0
41 Boris Said 15 -4102 0 2 0 0 0
42 Gary Klutt 6 -4111 0 1 0 0 0
43 D.J. Kennington 6 -4111 0 3 0 0 0
44 Cody Ware 6 -4111 0 5 0 0 0
45 Alon Day 5 -4112 0 1 0 0 0
46 Stephen Leicht 5 -4112 0 1 0 0 0
47 Kevin O’Connell 4 -4113 0 1 0 0 0
48 Tommy Regan 3 -4114 0 1 0 0 0
49 Hermie Sadler 3 -4114 0 1 0 0 0
50 Kyle Weatherman 2 -4115 0 1 0 0 0
51 Timmy Hill 0 -4117 0 15 0 0 0
52 B.J. McLeod 0 -4117 0 8 0 0 0
53 Brett Moffitt 0 -4117 0 7 0 0 0
54 Joey Gase 0 -4117 0 6 0 0 0
55 Ryan Sieg 0 -4117 0 5 0 0 0
56 Brendan Gaughan 0 -4117 0 4 0 1 0
57 Darrell Wallace Jr. 0 -4117 0 4 0 0 0
58 J.J. Yeley 0 -4117 0 4 0 0 0
59 Elliott Sadler 0 -4117 0 3 0 0 0
60 Carl Long 0 -4117 0 3 0 0 0
61 Regan Smith 0 -4117 0 2 0 0 0
62 Ross Chastain 0 -4117 0 2 0 0 0
63 Josh Bilicki 0 -4117 0 2 0 0 0
64 Mark Thompson 0 -4117 0 1 0 0 0
65 Ray Black Jr. 0 -4117 0 1 0 0 0
66 Justin Marks 0 -4117 0 1 0 0 0

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