Kyle Busch clear of wreckage to win in Martinsville
By
Speedcafe.com
Monday 30th October, 2017 - 12:27pm
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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