Matt Kenseth, Kyle Larson among eliminated drivers as Martin Truex Jr. wins again
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Highlights of Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400, the final race of the second round of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, at Kansas Speedway:
WINNER: Martin Truex Jr. was already safely into the Round of 8 of the 2017 playoffs, but his No. 78 Toyota was better than everyone else Sunday. Truex overcame a restart penalty early in the race and the death of one of his crew members on Saturday to win the second-round elimination race. Truex becomes the first driver to sweep both Kansas races since they began running twice at the track in 2011. The victory was the fourth in a row for Truex on a mile-and-a-half track and his seventh overall this season.
MORE: Jim Watson, crew member for Martin Truex Jr., dies at 55
"I can't say enough about all these guys on this Furniture Row (team). Really proud of them," Truex said. "We raced with a heavy heart today after losing Jim (Watson) last night. Want to send condolences to the family. He was a heck of a guy and a great worker.
"Excited to get another one here this week. It's really Furniture Row's home track. We got the one in the spring after so many heartbreaks, and it didn't look like it was going to happen today but we just persevered."
PHOTOS: MARTIN TRUEX JR. THROUGH THE YEARS
ELIMINATED: Former champion Matt Kenseth was one of four drivers eliminated Sunday in what may be his last season racing in the Cup Series. Kenseth, who began his full-time Cup career in 2000, will be replaced at Joe Gibbs Racing next season and does not have a ride next season Chip Ganassi Racing teammates Kyle Larson and Jamie McMurray were also eliminated. Larson's day ended early when his No. 42 Chevrolet blew an engine, while McMurray was caught up in a multicar crash in stage 3. Roush Fenway Racing driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who also crashed Sunday, did not advance, either.
END OF THE ROAD: Four drivers see title hopes dashed at Kansas
LARSON: Title hopes go up in smoke after blown engin
MORE: Careless mistake that crushed Kenseth's title hopes
CRUSHED: Kenseth was disqualified from the race with 70 laps to go when his No. 20 Toyota team was penalized for having more than six crew members over the wall while on the caution clock. Kenseth, the 2003 series champion, was in contention to advance to the third round, but was caught up in a multi-car wreck triggered by the No. 77 Furniture Row Racing Toyota of Erik Jones on Lap 197.
Jones is replacing Kenseth in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota next season. Teams are allowed six men to repair a car on pit road following a crash, but once the seventh crew member was over the wall, Kenseth was black flagged, ending his chances at advancing. A seventh member is allowed on pit road to assist the driver, but crew chief Jason Ratcliff said the sixth and seventh men each were carrying a tire.
JOHNSON SPINS OUT: Defending champion Jimmie Johnson, on the edge to reach the Round of 8, spun out with 80 laps remaining, putting his chances to advance in peril. Johnson lost control of his No. 48 Chevrolet, his right quarterpanel struck the wall and he went spinning across the infield grass before going to pit road for repairs. Six laps later, Johnson lost control and hit the wall again and slid down the race track in a plume of smoke, causing another caution.
STENHOUSE STRUGGLES: Stenhouse Jr., who was 11th in the standings and 22 points behind the cutoff line, cut a tire on the 174th lap and hit the wall. Stenhouse was in a must-win situation to advance to the third round.
STAGE TWO: Denny Hamlin, who began the race in fifth place, 21 points ahead of the cutoff line, won the second stage and picked up 10 valuable playoff points. He was followed by Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Kenseth, Kyle Busch, non-playoff driver Jones, Jamie McMurray, Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott and Johnson. Keselowski, who is already assured of advancing to the Round of 8 after winning at Talladega last week, and Hamlin were penalized for speeding through pit road and sent to the back of the field.
STAGE ONE: Kyle Busch, who entered the race ninth in the standings and seven points below the cutoff line to advance to the Round of 8, picked up 10 valuable points by winning the first stage. Busch led 39 laps for his 14th stage win of the season. Contending playoff drivers constituted the top nine finishers in the stage. Behind Busch were Harvick, Blaney, Kenseth, Hamlin, Johnson, Elliott, McMurray and Martin Truex Jr. Kasey Kahne was 10th.
ENGINE ISSUES: Kyle Larson, who entered the race third in the standings and 29 points ahead of the cutoff line, pulled into pit road with a blown engine on the 66th lap and fell to 37th place during the first stage, crippling his chance to advance to the third round. Larson won four races this season, tied for second-most in the series.
TRUEX PENALIZED: When the race resumed following a competition caution at 30 laps, pole-sitter and race leader Truex was penalized for a re-start violation — going inside the white line — and was sent to the back of the field. It appeared Harvick, who was running second, also dipped inside the line behind Truex but was not penalized because he wasn’t in the front row.
SENT TO THE BACK: Blaney, who had qualified third, started at the rear of the field after his time was disallowed. NASCAR determined the package tray on Blaney’s No. 21 Ford did not maintain its original shape. Blaney entered the elimination race in the seventh position, two points head of the cutoff.
TRUEX TEAM IN MOURINING: Truex's No. 78 Furniture Row Toyota carried a decal with the initials of James Watson, a crew member who died of a heart attack on Saturday night.
PHOTOS: 2017 NASCAR CUP SERIES RACE WINNERS
HOLLYWOOD CASINO 400 RESULTS
Saturday from the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway (starting position in parentheses):
1. (1) Martin Truex Jr, Toyota, 267 laps, 0 rating, 43 points.
2. (15) Kurt Busch, Ford, 267, 0, 35.
3. (40) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 267, 0, 44.
4. (14) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 267, 0, 39.
5. (4) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 267, 0, 50.
6. (20) Chris Buescher, Chevrolet, 267, 0, 31.
7. (19) Dale Earnhardt Jr, Chevrolet, 267, 0, 30.
8. (2) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 267, 0, 47.
9. (25) Aric Almirola, Ford, 267, 0, 28.
10. (7) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 267, 0, 43.
11. (12) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 267, 0, 32.
12. (23) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 267, 0, 25.
13. (10) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 267, 0, 32.
14. (11) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 267, 0, 23.
15. (21) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 267, 0, 22.
16. (29) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 267, 0, 21.
17. (27) David Ragan, Ford, 267, 0, 20.
18. (16) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 267, 0, 19.
19. (9) Clint Bowyer, Ford, 267, 0, 18.
20. (28) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 267, 0, 17.
21. (17) Joey Logano, Ford, 267, 0, 16.
22. (30) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 267, 0, 15.
23. (31) Landon Cassill, Ford, 265, 0, 14.
24. (35) Cole Whitt, Chevrolet, 263, 0, 13.
25. (37) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 263, 0, 12.
26. (38) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Chevrolet, 261, 0, 11.
27. (34) Corey Lajoie, Toyota, 261, 0, 10.
28. (33) Gray Gaulding, Chevrolet, 259, 0, 9.
29. (24) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Ford, accident, 256, 0, 8.
30. (36) BJ McLeod, Chevrolet, 254, 0, 0.
31. (32) Brett Moffitt, Toyota, 238, 0, 0.
32. (26) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, accident, 232, 0, 5.
33. (18) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, accident, 203, 0, 4.
34. (8) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, accident, 198, 0, 13.
35. (6) Erik Jones, Toyota, accident, 197, 0, 8.
36. (5) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, accident, 197, 0, 1.
37. (3) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, accident, 197, 0, 10.
38. (22) Danica Patrick, Ford, accident, 197, 0, 1.
39. (13) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, engine, 73, 0, 1.
40. (39) Derrike Cope, Chevrolet, handling, 35, 0, 1.
———
Race Statistics
Average Speed of Race Winner: 125.193 mph.
Time of Race: 3 hours, 11 minutes, 57 seconds.
Margin of Victory: 2.284 seconds.
Caution Flags: 10 for 49 laps.
Lead Changes: 14 among 7 drivers.
Lap Leaders: M.Truex 1-34; Ky.Busch 35-47; B.Keselowski 48-50; R.Blaney 51-53; Ky.Busch 54-81; K.Harvick 82; Ky.Busch 83-128; J.McMurray 129; B.Keselowski 130-144; Ky.Busch 145-156; K.Harvick 157; D.Hamlin 158-162; K.Harvick 163-197; Ky.Busch 198-210; M.Truex 211-267
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): Ky.Busch, 5 times for 107 laps; M.Truex, 2 times for 89 laps; K.Harvick, 3 times for 34 laps; B.Keselowski, 2 times for 16 laps; D.Hamlin, 1 time for 4 laps; R.Blaney, 1 time for 2 laps; J.McMurray, 1 time for 0 laps.
Wins: M.Truex, 7; Ky.Busch, 4; K.Larson, 4; J.Johnson, 3; B.Keselowski, 3; D.Hamlin, 2; R.Stenhouse, 2; R.Blaney, 1; Ku.Busch, 1; A.Dillon, 1; K.Harvick, 1; K.Kahne, 1; J.Logano, 1; R.Newman, 1.
Top 16 in Points: 1. M.Truex, 4069; 2. Ky.Busch, 4042; 3. B.Keselowski, 4026; 4. K.Harvick, 4017; 5. J.Johnson, 4017; 6. D.Hamlin, 4014; 7. R.Blaney, 4009; 8. C.Elliott, 4006; 9. K.Larson, 2236; 10. M.Kenseth, 2184; 11. J.McMurray, 2138; 12. K.Kahne, 2126; 13. Ku.Busch, 2124; 14. A.Dillon, 2122; 15. R.Stenhouse, 2119; 16. R.Newman, 2107.