Kyle Busch clear of wreckage to win in Martinsville

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