Kurt Busch could not have planned a better start to the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.
Busch outlasted the rest of the field in an overtime sprint to clinch the victory in Sunday's South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the first of three races before the playoff field is trimmed from 12 to eight. Next up are races at Talladega Superspeedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway, but Busch already clinched his spot in the next round with the win.
There was some drama when William Byron spun out with seven laps left to help create overtime, but Busch was up for the challenge.
Entering Sunday's race, Kevin Harvick led the playoff field in points followed, in order, by Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr., Alex Bowman, Austin Dillon, Aric Almirola, Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer and Kurt Busch.
Logano and Keselowski figured to be two of the most competitive racers in Las Vegas seeing as how the former finished in the top 10 in his last nine races in Sin City. The latter finished in the top 10 in his previous 10 races at the track with three wins in that span. Only Jimmie Johnson (four) has more victories in Las Vegas.
However, Keselowski struggled right out of the gates, falling behind the rest of the playoff field in the first stage.
It appeared as if Elliott were going to cruise to a stage win in the opening portion of the race, but Busch won a race off pit road before Hamlin passed him on a restart. Hamlin rode that all the way to a win in a first stage that saw Logano block Elliott in a head-turning move:
There was plenty of drama in the second stage.
Logano took the lead on a restart, but he and Kyle Busch contacted each other. Logano went to pit road and fell multiple laps back, while Busch fell because of an issue on pit road. It wasn't the first time there was an issue between Logano and Busch, and Hamlin took advantage and took the lead.
Elliott then passed Hamlin, clinching his eighth stage win of the season.
There was trouble in the third stage for Dillon, who fell well off the lead lap with steering issues.
However, it was a key caution late in the race that appeared to set the stage for Kurt Busch. He was the only playoff driver on the lead lap when the caution came out, and he took the lead on the restart with Matt DiBenedetto chasing.
That momentum faded when Byron spun out with seven laps to go, setting up another caution and critical restart.
That led to overtime, but Busch could not be topped.
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