The day’s final caution flew with 32 to go, after A.J. Allmendinger spun off the exit of turn four and sent the leaders scrambling down pit road, ending Kurt Busch’s chances to gamble on fuel mileage.
However, the elder Busch brother was still able to chase Truex in the final laps after restarting at the front of the field, settling for second in the end but notching his best finish since winning the Daytona 500 in February, 2.284 seconds adrift of Truex.
Ryan Blaney came home third after starting at the rear of the field, advancing the Wood Brothers to the third round of the playoffs and notching his best finish since winning at Pocono in June to lock himself into the playoffs.
“We started off in the back and was able to make some good ground early,” said Blaney, whose qualifying time was disallowed on Friday. “We were able to run up through there and made good adjustments throughout the day … which got us in a spot to be up toward the front towards the end and advance. It was a solid day for our team. We overcame a lot coming from the back and they should be proud of that.”
“We ran strong enough all day that we should have been in with where we ran. I am really proud of my team for the effort and we will move on to the next round and Martinsville.”
Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin completed the top five.
Chris Buescher snuck out a surprising sixth-place finish for JTG-Daugherty Racing, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. following in seventh for the second-consecutive week. Kevin Harvick, Aric Almirola and Kyle Busch filled out the top 10 at the finish.
Meanwhile, despite both of his spins and a day of utter chaos, Jimmie Johnson survived Kansas and was the final driver to advance into the Round of 8, rebounding to an 11th-place finish.
Johnson ended up nine points clear of Kyle Larson, who blew a motor on lap 77 and free-fell from third in points (29 ahead of the cutoff) to ultimately end up on the outside looking in.
“The car was extremely loose. We fought the balance throughout the day and the car would swing so hard. We were trying for short run speed to free the car up and we just got too far with it and I spun out twice,” said Johnson. “Thankfully I didn’t hit anything too hard. When things really changed was down the back straightaway in that wreck. Somehow, I went through there at a high rate of speed and missed everybody. I don’t know how, but I made it.”
“It was just a roller-coaster ride that we were on. We were just trying to keep the car on the track and keep it going. The No. 42 (Larson) had problems. That big crash on the back … it all shows you can just never give up in this sport. That’s one thing that this team has always prided themselves on and I’m very thankful for that.”
Along with Larson, Kenseth, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Jamie McMurray were also eliminated from the playoffs on Sunday.
The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series kicks off the third round of the playoffs on Oct. 29, with the running of the First Data 500 at Martinsville Speedway.
Full race results can be viewed on the next page…
