Kyle Busch won his second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship after taking down the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida.
Busch, who also won in 2015, made the Championship 4 for the second straight season. He took fourth last year but emerged as the champion in 2019 after holding off Martin Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin.
The 34-year-old drives for Joe Gibbs Racing, which also employs Truex, Hamlin and Erik Jones. Truex won the championship in 2017 and finished second this year. Hamlin took fourth, and Jones rounded out the playoff field.
NASCAR on NBC provided more details:
Here's a look at the final Monster Energy Cup Series standings, with a focus on the 16 playoff competitors.
2019 Monster Energy Cup Series Standings (Top 16)
1. Kyle Busch
2. Martin Truex Jr.
3. Kevin Harvick
4. Denny Hamlin
5. Joey Logano
6. Ryan Blaney
7. Kyle Larson
8. Brad Keselowski
9. Clint Bowyer
10. Chase Elliott
11. William Byron
12. Alex Bowman
13. Kurt Busch
14. Aric Almirola
15. Ryan Newman
16. Erik Jones
Standings via NASCAR.com
Busch Caps Excellent Year
Busch's win at Homestead capped off an excellent year with five wins, including three in his first eight races. Back-to-back wins at the TicketGuardian 500 and Auto Club 400 got his season off to a great start, and he also took down the Food City 500 and Pocono 400.
Busch earned five second-place finishes, including one at the Daytona 500.
The playoff season didn't start particularly well for Busch, as he finished 19th at the South Point 400. Two races later, he took 37th at the Bank of America Royal 400.
But Busch was largely excellent from that point forward, finishing in the top seven in five of his last seven races. A second-place result at the Bluegreen Vacations 500 preceded the Homestead win.
As NASCAR on NBC pointed out, the 2019 championship win featured some eerie similarities to the 2015 one:
In the end, Busch emerged as the season's best driver, leading to a few spirited celebrations:
The 2020 NASCAR season will begin with the Daytona 500 on February 16.
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