Kyle Busch had an uncharacteristically poor starting spot for Saturday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond, but he ended the night right where he did the past two races — in victory lane.
Busch survived a trio of late cautions that bunched the field in the final two-dozen laps, pulling away in overtime to win his third-straight NASCAR Cup race in the Toyota Owners 400. It's his 46th career victory and fifth win at Richmond.
This didn't seem like it would be Busch's night. After a terrible qualifying run, he started the race 32nd. He'd never won a race qualifying lower than 30th.
TOYOTA OWNERS 400: SN's live blog of the race
How did he do it?
"You've just got to work, man," Busch told Fox Sports afterward.
Busch wasted no time advancing through the field, moving into the top 10 early in the first stage.
Joey Logano won the first two stages in a race that was remarkably caution-free until the final laps. But there were three cautions in the final two-dozen laps.
After a late round of pit stops during a caution, Busch emerged in the lead when the race restarted with 22 laps to go. After another caution a few laps later, the leaders came down pit road again, and Busch once again left the pits in the lead.
"The pit crew tonight won this race for us tonight," Busch said. "They got us off pit road first twice (late)."
After yet another caution forced overtime, Busch restarted in the lead, followed by Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, Kevin Harvick and Logano. Busch immediately pulled away, leaving everyone else running for second.
"It's definitely cool that we've won three in a row," Busch said.
Wins the race ✔️
— Richmond Raceway (@RichmondRaceway) April 22, 2018
Takes a bow ✔️
Celebrates with the fans ✔️ @KyleBusch , everyone 🙌🏁 #ToyotaOwners400 pic.twitter.com/LgfhcVSsua
Elliott made a nice move in overtime to finish second, his eighth career runner-up finish. He's still seeking his first NASCAR Cup victory.
"We have a lot of work to do, I still feel like, to get the car where we need it," Elliott told Fox Sports.
Pole-sitter and defending series champion Martin Truex Jr. had trouble on the pit stop before overtime and finished 14th.
NASCAR at Richmond results: Toyota Owners 400
Finish, starting position (in parentheses), car maker, laps completed.
1. (32) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 402.
2. (2) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 402.
3. (4) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 402.
4. (3) Joey Logano, Ford, 402.
5. (10) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 402.
6. (17) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 402.
7. (5) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 402.
8. (28) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 402.
9. (16) Clint Bowyer, Ford, 402.
10. (26) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, 402.
11. (6) Kurt Busch, Ford, 402.
12. (9) William Byron #, Chevrolet, 402.
13. (7) Erik Jones, Toyota, 402.
14. (1) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 402.
15. (23) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 402.
16. (27) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 402.
17. (25) Aric Almirola, Ford, 402.
18. (11) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 402.
19. (8) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 402.
20. (31) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 402.
21. (21) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 402.
22. (13) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 402.
23. (12) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 402.
24. (20) Paul Menard, Ford, 401.
25. (18) Darrell Wallace Jr. #, Chevrolet, 401.
26. (19) Chris Buescher, Chevrolet, 401.
27. (33) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 401.
28. (30) Ross Chastain(i), Chevrolet, 401.
29. (29) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 400.
30. (35) Cole Whitt, Chevrolet, 400.
31. (24) Michael McDowell, Ford, 400.
32. (22) * Daniel Hemric(i), Chevrolet, 399.
33. (15) David Ragan, Ford, 399.
34. (36) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 397.
35. (34) Gray Gaulding, Toyota, 393.
36. (38) Harrison Rhodes, Chevrolet, 386.
37. (14) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, Accident, 368.
38. (37) * Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, Electrical, 188.
Average speed of race winner: 96.215 mph.
Time of race: 3 hours, 8 minutes, 1 second. Margin of victory: 0.511 seconds.
Caution flags: Six for 46 laps.
Lead changes: 16 among seven drivers.
Lap leaders: M. Truex Jr. 1-38; J. Logano 39-111; Kurt Busch 112-169; C. Bowyer 170-192; J. Logano 193-211; Kurt Busch 212-251; C. Bowyer 252-272; Kyle Busch 273; D. Hamlin 274-276; M. Truex Jr. 277-323; K. Harvick 324-331; C. Bowyer 332; D. Hamlin 333-335; M. Truex Jr. 336-370; Kyle Busch 371-390; M. Truex Jr. 391; Kyle Busch 392-402.
Leaders summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): M. Truex Jr. four times for 121 laps; Kurt Busch two times for 98 laps; J. Logano two times for 92 laps; C. Bowyer three times for 45 laps; Kyle Busch three times for 32 laps; K. Harvick one time for eight laps; D. Hamlin two times for six laps.
Stage 1 Top 10: 22,10,41,24,14,18,9,3,78,4
Stage 2 Top 10: 22,14,10,41,24,18,31,2,78,4
# — Rookie.
* — Racing for a non-charter team.
(i) — Ineligible to earn Cup Series points.
Material from the NASCAR Wire Service was used in this report.