Kyle Busch won his fifth race of the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season on a blazing hot day at Chicagoland Speedway, but not before one of the more exciting final laps in recent memory.
If all you do is look at the final results from the 2018 Overton’s 400 at Chicagoland Speedway, you’ll assume it was business as usual for the current NASCAR Cup Series season. Kyle Busch prevailed once again, adding another win to the tally of the Big 3 that includes Kevin Harvick (who finished third) and Martin Truex Jr. (who came home fourth). Nothing to see here, right?
Well, not exactly. That win didn’t come before other drivers, including Harvick’s teammates Clint Bowyer and Aric Almirola, spent time looking like they had the fastest cars. Once they faded due to bad luck or self-inflicted issues, it was Kyle Larson who had the hot rod late, driving the high line as he is wont to do.
Larson caught up with Kyle Busch on the final lap, and what transpired was one of the more memorable last laps in years. Bumping, banging and an attempted slide job all played their parts, but when the smoke cleared, it was Busch taking the checkered flag.
So yes, the Big 3 technically have an even higher percentage of this season’s wins: 13 out of the 17 races. But if what you wanted to see was a glimmer of hope that other drivers in the garage could run with them at their best, you got it on Sunday. It might be too late for Larson to make it a Big 4 with just nine regular season races remaining, but after that wild ending, that’s at least a discussion worth having.
2018 Overton’s 400 finishing order from Chicagoland Speedway
- Kyle Busch
- Kyle Larson
- Kevin Harvick (Stage 2 winner)
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Clint Bowyer
- Erik Jones
- Denny Hamlin
- Joey Logano
- Brad Keselowski
- Alex Bowman
- Daniel Suarez
- Jamie McMurray
- Paul Menard
- Jimmie Johnson
- Ryan Newman
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- Kurt Busch
- Ryan Blaney
- Chase Elliott
- William Byron
- Michael McDowell
- Chris Buescher
- Bubba Wallace
- AJ Allmendinger
- Aric Almirola (Stage 1 winner)
- Trevor Bayne
- Kasey Kahne
- Ty Dillon
- Matt DiBenedetto
- Ross Chastain
- Gray Gaulding
- Reed Sorensen
- Kyle Weatherman
- Corey LaJoie
- B.J. McLeod
- Landon Cassill
- Austin Dillon
- David Ragan
- Timmy Hill