It has been an abysmal follow up season to Kyle Busch’s second NASCAR Cup Series championship, but Thursday at Kansas Speedway in the Super Start Batteries 400 Busch finally broke through and won Stage 1 of the race.
This marks Busch’s first Playoff Point accrued this season.
Joey logano took the early lead in the race from polesitter Kevin Harvick, but on a pit stop under the competition caution at lap 25, Logano was issued an uncontrolled tire penalty.
This handed the lead to Martin Truex Jr., but Truex was passed by Busch on the subsequent restart and the driver of the No. 18 never looked back. Busch would lead the final 50 laps of the Stage.
Denny Hamlin ended Stage 1 in second, while Truex was third.
Team Penske teammates Ryan Blaney and Brad Keselowski were fourth and fifth.
Rookie Tyler Reddick has been the man on the move. After starting 24th, he was the fastest car on the track in the late portions of the Stage and he moved to sixth by the time the green and white checkered flag waved for Stage 1.
Harvick, Aric Almirola, Alex Bowman and Erik Jones rounded out the top-10 finishers in Stage 1.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. had an electrical fire break out in his No. 47 machine, which forced him to park on lap 58. JTG Daugherty Racing has now had the last place finisher in each of the last four races (teammate Ryan Preece finished last in the previous three races).
Stage and Playoff Points Awarded in Stage 1:
| Finish | Driver | Stage Points | Playoff Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kyle Busch | 10 | 1 |
| 2 | Denny Hamlin | 9 | 0 |
| 3 | Martin Truex Jr. | 8 | 0 |
| 4 | Ryan Blaney | 7 | 0 |
| 5 | Brad Keselowski | 6 | 0 |
| 6 | Tyler Reddick | 5 | 0 |
| 7 | Kevin Harvick | 4 | 0 |
| 8 | Aric Almirola | 3 | 0 |
| 9 | Alex Bowman | 2 | 0 |
| 10 | Erik Jones | 1 | 0 |
