The Round of 8 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs began on Sunday afternoon at Texas Motor Speedway’s Autotrader EchoPark 500. The “Choose Cone Rule” was back for this race. Kevin Harvick won the pole by a metric qualifying system with Joey Logano starting second. Five drivers began the race at the back Chad Finchum, Garrett Smithley (unapproved adjustments), Timmy Hill, Martin Truex Jr., and Daniel Suarez (inspection failures). Martin Truex Jr. had his spoiler confiscated before the race and lost 20-points, and his crew chief sent home. There was mist coming down but not enough to delay the race this time.
Who will secure their #Championship4 spot in the Lone Star State? We're about to find out. The green flag is out at @TXMotorSpeedway on NBCSN and streaming at https://t.co/BHXvTwrLoC! pic.twitter.com/zjhDNl3eIu — NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 25, 2020
The race began on Sunday, five laps in, Chris Buescher got into the wall at turn two to bring out the first caution with heavy damage to the car’s right rear. No one went to pit road during the caution. Harvick chose the inside lane with Brad Keselowski outside for the restart on lap nine. Harvick continued to lead at lap 22 when JJ Yeley crashed at the outside wall of turn two to bring out the second caution with damage to the back of the car. His day was done, and would finish in last place.
JJ Yeley is out of his car after this nasty hit at Texas. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/V33k9O30AC — Matt Mayer (@MatthewMayerCBS) October 25, 2020
During the caution, everyone went to pit road, either taking fuel only or two tires. Harvick and Bowman were the first cars off of pit road. Harvick chose the inside lane with Bowman outside for the restart on lap 28. A lap in, Harvick pounded the outside wall off of turn two. Drivers and spotters reported the track was wet, and the rain was falling. Harvick dropped to the 22nd position as Bowman became the new leader. Harvick went to pit road to change right-side tires and fix the damage. Drivers, spotters, and crew chiefs continued to report rain out on the race track before NASCAR threw out the caution on lap 44 for rain.
JJ Yeley is out of his car after this nasty hit at Texas. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/V33k9O30AC — Matt Mayer (@MatthewMayerCBS) October 25, 2020
During the caution, everyone went to pit road, either taking fuel only or getting four tires. Clint Bowyer and Jimmie Johnson were the first two cars off of pit road taking fuel only. Shortly after pit stops were complete, the cars went back to pit road, and the red flag displayed. Track Crews were trying to dry the track; however, just before 9 pm, the race was postponed till Monday morning. After numerous attempts to restart the race on Tuesday, the race was postponed again to Wednesday afternoon. Finally, after a couple of days of mist and rain, the race resumed under caution. During the caution, Kevin Harvick went to pit road to fix the damage from Sunday. The race resumed with Clint Bowyer choosing the inside lane and Jimmie Johnson outside for the restart on lap 57.
BACK. TO. RACING! We're FINALLY green at @TXMotorSpeedway! 📺: NBCSN 📱: https://t.co/BHXvTwrLoC pic.twitter.com/iV092szlTz — NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 28, 2020
The restart lasted just five laps before Matt Kenseth got loose. He then got hit in the back by Hamlin, and then he hit Bubba Wallace to bring out the caution for the fourth time. Both Kenseth and Wallace were done for the day, finishing 38th and 39th. During the caution, Hamlin went to pit road to fix the damage on his front grill. Bowyer chose the outside lane with Truex Jr. inside for the restart on lap 69. The restarted last just six laps before the sixth caution came out for debris.
During the caution, no one went to pit road. Bowyer chose the outside lane with Truex Jr. inside for the restart on lap 82. Bowyer threw a block on Truex Jr. with two laps to go in stage one. Bowyer led the last 23 laps to win stage one.
Big Block Bowyer!@ClintBowyer runs @MartinTruex_Jr down to the apron on the backstretch to defend his position! pic.twitter.com/tpzGt0gknb — NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 28, 2020
During the caution, Alex Bowman was the first driver off pit road, taking only fuel, followed by Christopher Bell taking two tires, and Clint Bowyer. Bell went back to pit road because he thought he had a flat tire. Bowman chose the inside with Bowyer outside to start stage two on lap 112.
Bowman led 22 laps before being passed by Ryan Blaney for first place. A lap later, Joey Gase was hit by both William Byron and Christopher Bell before hitting the turn two wall to bring out the caution for the sixth time. During the caution, Blaney took fuel to remain in first, followed by Truex Jr., Austin Dillon, and Clint Bowyer. Blaney chose the inside lane with Martin Truex Jr. outside for the restart on lap 139. Sixteen laps into the restart, Martin Truex Jr. passed Blaney on the inside lane to take the lead.
New leader: EM-TEE-JAY@MartinTruex_Jr | @TXMotorSpeedway pic.twitter.com/VycaD5oOuo — NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 28, 2020
With fifteen laps to go in stage two, teams began to make scheduled pit stops. Truex went to pit road on lap 198, leaving Kyle Busch, the new leader. Busch went in at lap 201 while Matt DiBenedetto took over the lead. Once the scheduled stops were done, Martin Truex Jr. resumed the lead. He was leading when all of a sudden, his car lost speed, and Kyle Busch was back in front and led the last six laps to win stage two.
Could @MartinTruex_Jr have run out of fuel here? The No. 19 experienced a sudden loss of speed at @TXMotorSpeedway. pic.twitter.com/oLWSdDtrCG — NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 28, 2020
During the caution, some drivers went to pit road with Martin Truex Jr. exiting first with fuel only stop. He was followed by Alex Bowman, William Byron, and Ryan Blaney. Kyle Busch chose the inside lane with Clint Bowyer outside to the final stage on lap 217. Busch and Bowyer were side-by-side for a couple of laps before Busch took the lead.
Door-to-door racing on the restart, but @KyleBusch is able to defend his position. The final stage at @TXMotorSpeedway is underway! 📺: NBCSN 📱: https://t.co/BHXvTwrLoC pic.twitter.com/JoEVRR4t7t — NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 28, 2020
Busch led 50 laps before making his last scheduled pit stop of the day. Clint Bowyer remained on the track going with a strategy of hoping for a caution. Unfortunately for him, he ran out of fuel with 24 laps to go. Kyle Busch resumed the lead; however, he was in fuel-saving mode with Martin Truex Jr. baring down on him. Busch would lead the last 24 laps to win his first race of the season by .468 seconds over Martin Truex Jr.
HE SAVED ENOUGH FUEL! Kyle Busch WINS for the first time in 2020! Credit One Lap to Go presented by @CreditOneBank. pic.twitter.com/3NO34jfyox — #NASCARPlayoffs on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) October 29, 2020
The rest of the top ten finishers were Christopher Bell third, Ryan Blaney fourth, Alex Bowman fifth, Brad Keselowski sixth, Kurt Busch seventh, Matt DiBenedetto eighth, Denny Hamlin ninth, and Joey Logano tenth. There were eight cautions for 47 laps and 23 lead changes.
With one race left in the Round of 8 playoffs, Joey Logano is locked in with a win last week. Kevin Harvick is second (+42), Denny Hamlin third (+27), and Brad Keselowski fourth (+25). The four drivers on the outside looking in are Alex Bowman fifth (-25), Chase Elliott sixth (-25), Martin Truex Jr. seventh (-36), and Kurt Busch eighth (-81).
The last race of the Round of 8 playoffs will be this Sunday, November 1st, from Martinsville Speedway in the Xfinity 500 at noon on NBC.
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