Kurt Busch has won NASCAR’s Saturday night race at the Bristol Motor Speedway to book his place in the series’ play-offs.
Busch moved into the lead at the restart on lap 478, moving by Clint Bowyer following a spin for Brad Keselowski.
Bowyer chose the outside lane at the restart, with Busch able to get the jump and seize the lead as the field headed down the back stretch.
Another restart saw Bowyer demoted behind Kyle Larson just 10 laps later, though even he couldn’t keep pace with Busch out front.
The victory confirmed Busch’s position in NASCAR’s post-season, while Larson, Keselowski, and Ryan Blaney were also confirmed as a result of insurmountable points totals.
Kyle Busch had a remarkable race following a wreck on Lap 2, and was running inside the Top 5 in the closing stages of the race before a cut tyre dropped him back down the order.
Having worked his way back onto the lead lap, contact with Martin Truex saw the second placed runner spin on the front straight, suffering extensive damage in the process.
Busch then had his own spin with 19 laps to run after contact with Chris Buescher which left him with a damaged tyre.
Earlier, the opening stage went to Blaney, with Joey Logano heading the field as the chequered flag came out for the second stage.
Logano ended the race fourth, one back from Chase Elliott, with Eric Jones, Bowyer, Blaney, Alex Bowman, Jimmie Johnson, and Kevin Harvick completing the top 10.
Results: Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race, Bristol Motor Speedway
| Pos | Num | Driver | Make | Laps | Led | Status |
| 1 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Ford | 500 | 24 | Running |
| 2 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 500 | 17 | Running |
| 3 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Chevrolet | 500 | 112 | Running |
| 4 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 500 | 95 | Running |
| 5 | 20 | Erik Jones | Toyota | 500 | 0 | Running |
| 6 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Ford | 500 | 120 | Running |
| 7 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 500 | 121 | Running |
| 8 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Chevrolet | 500 | 0 | Running |
| 9 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 500 | 0 | Running |
| 10 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Ford | 500 | 8 | Running |
| 11 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | 500 | 0 | Running |
| 12 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 500 | 1 | Running |
| 13 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 500 | 0 | Running |
| 14 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 500 | 0 | Running |
| 15 | 95 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 500 | 0 | Running |
| 16 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 499 | 0 | Running |
| 17 | 38 | David Ragan | Ford | 499 | 0 | Running |
| 18 | 19 | Daniel Suarez | Toyota | 499 | 0 | Running |
| 19 | 37 | Chris Buescher | Chevrolet | 499 | 0 | Running |
| 20 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 497 | 0 | Running |
| 21 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Chevrolet | 496 | 0 | Running |
| 22 | 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | Ford | 496 | 0 | Running |
| 23 | 24 | William Byron | Chevrolet | 496 | 0 | Running |
| 24 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jnr | Ford | 495 | 0 | Running |
| 25 | 00 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet | 493 | 0 | Running |
| 26 | 15 | Ross Chastain | Chevrolet | 492 | 0 | Running |
| 27 | 23 | Blake Jones | Toyota | 485 | 0 | Running |
| 28 | 66 | Timmy Hill | Toyota | 481 | 0 | Running |
| 29 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 435 | 0 | Running |
| 30 | 78 | Martin Truex Jnr | Toyota | 431 | 0 | Crash |
| 31 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 428 | 2 | Running |
| 32 | 7 | JJ Yeley | Chevrolet | 423 | 0 | Crash |
| 33 | 51 | Reed Sorenson | Chevrolet | 338 | 0 | Crash |
| 34 | 72 | Corey LaJoie | Chevrolet | 234 | 0 | Electrical |
| 35 | 96 | Jesse Little | Toyota | 59 | 0 | Crash |
| 36 | 21 | Paul Menard | Ford | 28 | 0 | Crash |
| 37 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Ford | 10 | 0 | Crash |
| 38 | 43 | Bubba Wallace | Chevrolet | 3 | 0 | Crash |
| 39 | 47 | AJ Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 1 | 0 | Crash |
| 40 | 99 | Gray Gaulding | Chevrolet | 1 | 0 | Crash |
Standings
| Pos | Driver | Pts | Gap | Starts | Wins | Playoff pts |
| 1 | Kyle Busch | 1003 | 24 | 6 | 35 | |
| 2 | Kevin Harvick | 960 | -43 | 24 | 7 | 40 |
| 3 | Martin Truex Jnr | 849 | -154 | 24 | 4 | 27 |
| 4 | Kurt Busch | 796 | -207 | 24 | 1 | 7 |
| 5 | Clint Bowyer | 776 | -227 | 24 | 2 | 10 |
| 6 | Joey Logano | 768 | -235 | 24 | 1 | 8 |
| 7 | Ryan Blaney | 733 | -270 | 24 | 0 | 5 |
| 8 | Brad Keselowski | 730 | -273 | 24 | 0 | 4 |
| 9 | Kyle Larson | 729 | -274 | 24 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | Denny Hamlin | 707 | -296 | 24 | 0 | 2 |
| 11 | Chase Elliott | 697 | -306 | 24 | 1 | 8 |
| 12 | Aric Almirola | 658 | -345 | 24 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 | Erik Jones | 635 | -368 | 24 | 1 | 5 |
| 14 | Jimmie Johnson | 604 | -399 | 24 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | Alex Bowman | 572 | -431 | 24 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | Ricky Stenhouse Jnr | 493 | -510 | 24 | 0 | 2 |
| 17 | Ryan Newman | 481 | -522 | 24 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | Daniel Suarez | 479 | -524 | 24 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | Austin Dillon | 475 | -528 | 24 | 1 | 5 |
| 20 | Paul Menard | 473 | -530 | 24 | 0 | 1 |
| 21 | William Byron | 442 | -561 | 24 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | Jamie McMurray | 434 | -569 | 24 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | Chris Buescher | 380 | -623 | 24 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | AJ Allmendinger | 376 | -627 | 24 | 0 | 1 |
| 25 | David Ragan | 349 | -654 | 24 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | Bubba Wallace | 346 | -657 | 24 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | Kasey Kahne | 345 | -658 | 24 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | Michael McDowell | 344 | -659 | 24 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | Ty Dillon | 310 | -693 | 24 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | Matt DiBenedetto | 266 | -737 | 24 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | Trevor Bayne | 214 | -789 | 16 | 0 | 0 |
| 32 | Landon Cassill | 123 | -880 | 17 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | Gray Gaulding | 118 | -885 | 19 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | Matt Kenseth | 117 | -886 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| 35 | Cole Whitt | 90 | -913 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 36 | DJ Kennington | 82 | -921 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | Corey LaJoie | 79 | -924 | 14 | 0 | 0 |
| 38 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | 70 | -933 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| 39 | Reed Sorenson | 45 | -958 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 40 | Harrison Rhodes | 23 | -980 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 41 | Blake Jones | 21 | -982 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 42 | Kyle Weatherman | 16 | -987 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 43 | Mark Thompson | 15 | -988 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 44 | Chris Cook | 6 | -997 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 45 | Tomy Drissi | 5 | -998 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 46 | Derrike Cope | 4 | -999 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 47 | Danica Patrick | 2 | -1001 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 48 | Cody Ware | 1 | -1002 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 49 | Brendan Gaughan | 0 | -1003 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 50 | Justin Marks | 0 | -1003 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 51 | David Gilliland | 0 | -1003 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 52 | Ray Black Jnr | 0 | -1003 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 53 | Ross Chastain | 0 | -1003 | 22 | 0 | 0 |
| 54 | JJ Yeley | 0 | -1003 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 55 | Parker Kligerman | 0 | -1003 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 56 | Timothy Peters | 0 | -1003 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 57 | Cole Custer | 0 | -1003 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 58 | Joey Gase | 0 | -1003 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 59 | Timmy Hill | 0 | -1003 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
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