Kyle Busch has edged Kevin Harvick to victory in the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race win this year after three runner-up finishes already.
The driver of the #18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota had four separate spells in the race lead, including at the end of Stage 2, and moved his way back to the front after dropping a bunch of places at the start of the final stage.
Kyle Busch then held his nerve with the luckless Harvick well and truly in his mirrors to take out the race by 0.300s.
Harvick dominated Stage 1 but lost the lead in the pit stops which preceded Stage 2.
He regained first position on Lap 117 only to lose eight positions under a Caution period pit stop which followed shortly after when a stray lugnut caused his jack to get stuck.
Harvick lost a lap when he pitted reporting a loose wheel on the #4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford on Lap 137, but clawed his way back to second position with 55 laps to run.
Click here to find out how.
But for another pit stop cycle, that was where the three-time race winner of the season to date remained until the chequered flag on Lap 334.
Jamie McMurray (#1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet) and Erik Jones (#20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota) both achieved season-high results in third and fourth respectively.
Ryan Blaney overcame a drive-through for an uncontrolled tyre in the pits and an unscheduled pit stop for a loose wheel to bring the #12 Team Penske Ford home in fifth.
He was followed by team-mate Joey Logano (#22 Ford), pole-sitter Kurt Busch (#41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford), Darrell Wallace Jnr (#43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet), and Clint Bowyer (#14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford).
William Byron (#24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet) was a career-best 10th.
A seven-car crash, caused when Denny Hamlin (#11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota) stepped sideways and tagged Aric Almirola (#10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford) on Lap 177, also accounted for Brad Keselowski (#2 Team Penske Ford) and Jimmie Johnson (#48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet).
Defending series champion Martin Truex Jnr went out on Lap 80 when a right-front tyre failure caused his #78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota to slap the wall.
Kyle Busch’s win extends his series lead ahead of Round 8, the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, this coming weekend (April 13-15 local time).
Race highlights
Results: O’Reilly Auto Parts 500, Texas Motor Speedway
| Pos | Num | Driver | Make | Laps | Led | Status |
| 1 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 334 | 116 | Running |
| 2 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Ford | 334 | 87 | Running |
| 3 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 334 | 0 | Running |
| 4 | 20 | Erik Jones | Toyota | 334 | 64 | Running |
| 5 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 334 | 0 | Running |
| 6 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 334 | 0 | Running |
| 7 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Ford | 334 | 40 | Running |
| 8 | 43 | Darrell Wallace Jnr | Chevrolet | 334 | 0 | Running |
| 9 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Ford | 334 | 0 | Running |
| 10 | 24 | William Byron | Chevrolet | 334 | 1 | Running |
| 11 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Chevrolet | 333 | 4 | Running |
| 12 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | 333 | 0 | Running |
| 13 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Chevrolet | 332 | 0 | Running |
| 14 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Ford | 332 | 0 | Running |
| 15 | 37 | Chris Buescher | Chevrolet | 331 | 0 | Running |
| 16 | 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | Ford | 329 | 0 | Running |
| 17 | 95 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 328 | 0 | Running |
| 18 | 15 | Ross Chastain | Chevrolet | 325 | 0 | Running |
| 19 | 72 | Cole Whitt | Chevrolet | 324 | 0 | Running |
| 20 | 23 | Gray Gaulding | Toyota | 322 | 0 | Running |
| 21 | 00 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet | 321 | 0 | Running |
| 22 | 51 | Harrison Rhodes | Chevrolet | 319 | 0 | Running |
| 23 | 38 | David Ragan | Ford | 317 | 0 | Running |
| 24 | 47 | AJ Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 316 | 0 | Engine |
| 25 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jnr | Ford | 315 | 10 | Suspension |
| 26 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 304 | 0 | Running |
| 27 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 303 | 0 | Crash |
| 28 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Chevrolet | 294 | 0 | Running |
| 29 | 19 | Daniel Suarez | Toyota | 290 | 0 | Running |
| 30 | 21 | Paul Menard | Ford | 215 | 0 | Crash |
| 31 | 55 | Reed Sorenson | Chevrolet | 209 | 0 | Overheating |
| 32 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 178 | 0 | Crash |
| 33 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 178 | 0 | Crash |
| 34 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 177 | 12 | Crash |
| 35 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 175 | 0 | Crash |
| 36 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 126 | 0 | Crash |
| 37 | 78 | Martin Truex Jnr | Toyota | 80 | 0 | Crash |
Standings Updated*
| Pos | Driver | Pts | Gap | Starts | Wins | Pl’off pts |
| 1 | Kyle Busch | 316 | 7 | 1 | 7 | |
| 2 | Joey Logano | 278 | -38 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Ryan Blaney | 265 | -51 | 7 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | Kevin Harvick | 257 | -59 | 7 | 3 | 12 |
| 5 | Martin Truex Jnr | 250 | -66 | 7 | 1 | 7 |
| 6 | Clint Bowyer | 249 | -67 | 7 | 1 | 5 |
| 7 | Brad Keselowski | 237 | -79 | 7 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | Kurt Busch | 224 | -92 | 7 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | Denny Hamlin | 222 | -94 | 7 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | Kyle Larson | 202 | -114 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | Erik Jones | 193 | -123 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | Aric Almirola | 177 | -139 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | Austin Dillon | 159 | -157 | 7 | 1 | 5 |
| 14 | Alex Bowman | 154 | -162 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | Paul Menard | 146 | -170 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | Ryan Newman | 145 | -171 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | William Byron | 135 | -181 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | Chase Elliott | 128 | -188 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | Darrell Wallace Jnr | 126 | -190 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | AJ Allmendinger | 123 | -193 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | Jimmie Johnson | 123 | -193 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | Ricky Stenhouse Jnr | 123 | -193 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | Jamie McMurray | 122 | -194 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | Chris Buescher | 118 | -198 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | Michael McDowell | 114 | -202 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | Daniel Suarez | 108 | -208 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | Kasey Kahne | 98 | -218 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | Trevor Bayne | 97 | -219 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | David Ragan | 92 | -224 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | Ty Dillon | 86 | -230 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | Matt DiBenedetto | 75 | -241 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 32 | Cole Whitt | 55 | -261 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | Gray Gaulding | 48 | -268 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | 28 | -288 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 35 | DJ Kennington | 28 | -288 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 36 | Harrison Rhodes | 21 | -295 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | Landon Cassill | 17 | -299 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 38 | Mark Thompson | 15 | -301 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 39 | Brendan Gaughan | 9 | -307 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 40 | Reed Sorenson | 9 | -307 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 41 | Danica Patrick | 2 | -314 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 42 | Corey LaJoie | 2 | -314 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 43 | Justin Marks | 0 | -316 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 44 | David Gilliland | 0 | -316 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 45 | Ross Chastain | 0 | -316 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 46 | Cole Custer | 0 | -316 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 47 | JJ Yeley | 0 | -316 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 48 | Joey Gase | 0 | -316 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 49 | Timmy Hill | 0 | -316 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
* Car #9 (Chase Elliott) penalised 20pts for technical breach
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