Who’s up, who’s down after a Quaker State 400 thriller at Kentucky Speedway
Who’s up and who’s down after the 10th running of the Quaker State 400 yielded another scintillating finish at Kentucky Speedway:
Checkered flag: Cole Custer. A rookie winning a NASCAR Cup Series race in only his 20th career start would have been impressive under any circumstance.
Custer, however, won the 2020 Quaker State 400 Presented by Walmart in astounding fashion.
His four-wide pass of Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr. and Ryan Blaney on the final lap for the win was something you never see anywhere other than a restrictor-plate track.
For a rookie to even try that move in that situation took steel, uh, guts.
Black flag: Kyle Busch. If the defending Cup Series champion was going to turn around what has been a lackluster season, Sparta was a prime place for that to happen.
In the first nine Cup races at Kentucky Speedway, no one led more laps (549) nor had a better average finish (4.7) than Kyle Busch. Over that span, Busch won the Quaker State 400 twice, came in second twice and never finished lower than 12th.
However, this year, other than leading the race’s first nine laps from the pole, Busch was a Quaker State 400 non-factor.
After fighting a balky car — and expressing ample frustration about it over his team radio — Busch finished 21st.
Busch remains winless in 2020 and now sits 11th in the season points standings.
Checkered flag: Martin Truex Jr. The two-time Quaker State 400 champion lost his bid for a third Cup win at Kentucky in agonizing fashion while settling for second place.
Not only was Truex Jr. victimized by Cole Custer’s last-lap pass, the driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota had lousy late-race luck on back-to-back cautions.
Twice, Truex Jr. was inches out of first place when the yellow flag waved. That meant he had to restart second in a race where starting first — and getting to pick the outside lane on the restart — was golden.
Still, Truex Jr. came to Sparta with only two top-five finishes to show for 2020. That he had a car that looked like the best in the field for much of Sunday was a forward step for the 19 team.
Black flag: Denny Hamlin/Chris Gabehart. Since Louisville product Gabehart became Hamlin’s crew chief before the 2019 season, the duo have combined to win a whopping 10 Cup races.
Gabehart, a 1999 St. Xavier High School grad, would relish a Cup victory at Kentucky Speedway.
But the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was never a contender Sunday and finished 12th.
Checkered flag(s): The sons of auto racing executives. Kentucky Speedway was very good in 2020 to motorsports offspring.
Driver Ty Gibbs, 17, won Saturday’s ARCA race. He is the grandson of legendary NFL coach and current NASCAR team owner Joe Gibbs.
Austin Cindric, 21, swept the back-to-back Xfinity Series races, winning Thursday night and Friday night. He is the son of Team Penske President Tim Cindric.
Cole Custer, 22, winner of Sunday’s Cup Series race, is the son of Stewart-Haas Racing President Joe Custer.
The second-generation NASCAR star started eighth in the Quaker State 400, but finished 23rd without leading a lap.
Kentucky Speedway remains the only current Cup Series track where Elliott has never led.
Checkered flag: Kentucky Speedway parting gifts. Over the past six years, four iconic NASCAR drivers — Jeff Gordon (2015), Tony Stewart (2016), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2017) and Jimmie Johnson (this year) — have engaged in farewell-tour seasons before retiring.
For racetrack promoters, the exodus of mega-stars has ratcheted up the pressure to find appropriate ways to say goodbye.
In that quest, Kentucky Speedway’s administration has shown a deft touch.
Gordon received specially labeled bottles of Kentucky bourbon.
Stewart had the Kentucky Speedway restart zone renamed in his honor.
For Earnhardt Jr., the Speedway presented the Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, — an institution that has special meaning to Junior — with a Crosley jukebox similar to the one that goes to the Quaker State 400 winner.
This year, the Speedway renamed one of its main roads “Jimmie Johnson Blvd.” in honor of the seven-time Cup Series champion.
Kentucky Speedway has proven good at good-bye.
Black flag: Kevin Harvick. Depending on how you measure it, Kentucky Speedway is the only current Cup Series track on which Harvick has never won.
(Harvick has won at Charlotte Motor Speedway, but not on the ROVAL there. Do you count that as one track or two?).
Only two laps separated Cup Series points leader Harvick from victory in Sparta on Sunday.
Instead of that elusive win, however, the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford ended up fourth after the wild, two-lap scramble that ended the race.
If Harvick, 44, never wins at Kentucky, how many times do you think he will replay Sunday’s final two laps in his mind?
Results
NASCAR Cup Series Quaker State 400
At Kentucky Speedway, Sparta
(Start position in parentheses)
1. (29) Cole Custer, Ford, 267 laps, 48 points.
2. (9) Martin Truex Jr, Toyota, 267, 42.
3. (10) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 267, 43.
4. (3) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 267, 38.
5. (7) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 267, 35.
6. (11) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 267, 46.
7. (34) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 267, 30.
8. (4) Aric Almirola, Ford, 267, 39.
9. (6) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 267, 38.
10. (24) Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, 267, 27.
11. (21) William Byron, Chevrolet, 267, 26.
12. (12) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 267, 25.
13. (19) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 267, 28.
14. (15) Clint Bowyer, Ford, 267, 25.
15. (2) Joey Logano, Ford, 267, 37.
16. (33) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 267, 21.
17. (23) Ryan Newman, Ford, 267, 20.
18. (20) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 267, 22.
19. (5) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 267, 27.
20. (13) Chris Buescher, Ford, 267, 17.
21. (1) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 267, 16.
22. (16) Erik Jones, Toyota, 267, 16.
23. (8) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 267, 23.
24. (30) Michael McDowell, Ford, 267, 13.
25. (17) Matt Kenseth, Chevrolet, 267, 12.
26. (37) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, 267, 11.
27. (18) Bubba Wallace, Chevrolet, 265, 10.
28. (27) Corey Lajoie, Ford, 264, 9.
29. (14) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Chevrolet, 264, 8.
30. (36) JJ Yeley, Ford, 260, 0.
31. (31) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 259, 6.
32. (26) Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, 257, 0.
33. (25) Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, 257, 0.
34. (35) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 257, 0.
35. (28) Quin Houff, Chevrolet, 255, 2.
36. (22) John H. Nemechek, Ford, accident, 248, 1.
37. (38) Timmy Hill, Toyota, electrical, 170, 0.
38. (32) Ryan Preece, Chevrolet, transmission, 159, 1.
Average speed of race winner: 133.638 mph. Time of race: 2 hours, 59 minutes, 49 seconds. Margin of victory: .271 seconds. Caution flags: 8 for 42 laps. Lead changes: 13 among 9 drivers. Lap leaders: Ky. Busch 0-9; A. Almirola 10-137; R. Blaney 138-149; M. DiBenedetto 150; B. Keselowski 151-180; M. Truex 181-219; B. Keselowski 220-223; C. Custer 224-227; W. Byron 228-231; M. Truex 232-248; R. Blaney 249-254; K. Harvick 255-265; M. Truex 266; C. Custer 267. Leaders summary (Driver, Times led, Laps led): A. Almirola, 1 time for 128 laps; M. Truex, 3 times for 57 laps; B. Keselowski, 2 times for 34 laps; R. Blaney, 2 times for 18 laps; K. Harvick, 1 time for 11 laps; Ky. Busch, 1 time for 9 laps; C. Custer, 2 times for 5 laps; W. Byron, 1 time for 4 laps; M. DiBenedetto, 1 time for 1 lap. Wins: K. Harvick, 4; D. Hamlin, 4; B. Keselowski, 2; J. Logano, 2; R. Blaney, 1; C. Elliott, 1; M. Truex, 1; A. Bowman, 1; C. Custer, 1. Top 16 in points: 1. K. Harvick, 675; 2. B. Keselowski, 587; 3. R. Blaney, 580; 4. C. Elliott, 575; 5. J. Logano, 564; 6. D. Hamlin, 553; 7. M. Truex, 543; 8. A. Almirola, 504; 9. A. Bowman, 498; 10. Ku. Busch, 492; 11. Ky. Busch, 477; 12. M. DiBenedetto, 456; 13. C. Bowyer, 435; 14. W. Byron, 418; 15. J. Johnson, 412; 16. A. Dillon, 388.
This story was originally published July 13, 2020 at 2:17 PM.
