Kyle Busch had a dominating victory today in New Hampshire Motor Speedway advancing himself in the playoffs into the Round of 12 of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.
Busch held the pole position, won Stage 2 and he led the race for 187 laps while collecting his third season victory in 2017 in dominating fashion.
The No. 18 racing car did have a challenge at one point in the race during Stage 2 when he escaped a crash with Matt Kenseth as both drivers narrowly avoided what would have been a major setback for their racing teams.
Meanwhile, Martin Truex Jr. in the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota led the race early on when he powered the lead away from Busch on Lap 40 on his way to winning Stage 1, which was is 19th stage victory of the 2017 season.
Truex Jr. who was well positioned to win Stage 2 ran into trouble when a wreck occurred impacting his opportunity to sweep both stages. He was leading the race when suddenly a incident involving eight racing vehicles including a bunch of Monster Energy Cup Series Playoff drivers wrecked on the backstretch.
The drivers involved were Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick, Austin Dillon, Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin, Danica Patrick, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeffrey Earnhardt.
The wreck occurred when Kevin Harvick and Austin Dillon ran into each other coming off of Turn 2. Kurt Busch then slammed into his teammate Harvick damaging the side of the racing vehicle knocking him for a loop.
Truex Jr. went into a spin trying to avoid the wreck, however, he was unable to continue with heavy left rear damage almost ending his day of racing. Both Harvick and Busch had to drop out of the race as they sustained major damage and could not continue.
Later in the race Kasey Kahne experienced mechanical trouble with 38 laps remaining in the race. Kahne stopped in Turn 4 bringing out the days fourth caution flag. This incident allowed Truex Jr. to adjust strategy, he took two tires to get back up to the front of the pack. This bold move allowed Truex Jr. the winner last week in Chicagoland to rally finishing in fifth place.
Kyle Larson finished in second place, Matt Kenseth third and Brad Keseloswki in fourth position followed by Truex.
Next week the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series Playoff moves to Dover International Speedway for the “Apache Warrior 400” starting on Sunday October 1st at 2:00 pm eastern time. NASCAR fans can follow all the action on NBCSN, MRN, or Streaming on NBC Sports.
