The 2018 Winston Cup Series: Busch's three-peat

Kyle Busch celebrates after winning the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond, his third straight victory.

     After Kevin Harvick's three straight wins to get the 2018 season going, Kyle Busch gave us a three-peat of his own. Starting 32nd in the Toyota Owners 400, Busch quickly plowed through the field, and after running well most of the race, surged to lead the final laps. Busch survived three late restarts to win his third race of 2018, and his fifth career win at Richmond, tying him with Dale Earnhardt. Busch now extends his 'classic' point lead to 35, as we complete the first fourth of the season.

Kyle Busch leads the pack during the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond.

     Busch's win almost came as a surprise, after what was mostly a wide-open race at Richmond. After Martin Truex Jr. led the opening laps from the pole, the race was mainly dominated by Kurt Busch, Joey Logano, and Clint Bowyer. But a late caution allowed Busch to take the lead on pit road, and proved to be the difference. It only serves as a reminder of the #18 car's dominance so far this year. Make that seven straight top-3 finishes for Kyle Busch.
     Truex posed a decent challenge to Busch, but lost several positions on his final pit stop, finishing 14th. He wasn't alone; Kurt Busch, after leading 98 laps, faded and eventually finished 11th, while Clint Bowyer wound up 9th... Finishing behind Kyle Busch were Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Logano, and Harvick... William Byron and Aric Almirola, two drivers with good runs throughout the race, wound up 12th and 17th... In his first Cup series start, Daniel Hemric finished 32nd, 3 laps down...

     After 9 of 36 races, Kyle Busch has taken a substantial 'classic' point lead over the field. He leads Logano by 35, Bowyer by 49, and Hamlin by 64 points. Kevin Harvick climbs to 5th overall, while Ryan Blaney drops back to 7th, with a poor finish at Richmond. Just outside the top-10, Brad Keselowski sits 11th, followed by Eric Jones, and Austin Dillon... Jimmie Johnson has made slight progress, up to 16th, while Chase Elliott sits in 24th place (although his 2nd at Richmond was an improvement). Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has also had a slow start, tied for 22nd in points with AJ Allmendinger.
     Up next, the Cup series switches things up and heads to Talladega. Looking at last year's races, especially the fall race, it's clearly a wild card on the schedule. Only 14 cars were running at the end of last fall's Alabama 500, after multiple crashes. A safe Fantasy live pick, crashes aside, is Brad Keselowski. With Dale Jr.'s retirement, he leads active drivers with 5 wins at the track. But it's also a good week to pick some lower key drivers, who may not be involved in "the big one" (Gray Gaulding finished 9th last year).

The 2018 Winston Cup Series: Busch wins rain-delayed race at Bristol

Kyle Busch celebrates after winning the Food City 500. It was his 7th Cup win at Bristol.

     Kyle Busch powered past Kyle Larson in the closing laps of Monday's Food City 500 at Bristol. Busch used the bump and run to get by the #42, going on to win his 7th career Cup race at the track. Larson settled for 2nd, followed by Jimmie Johnson, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Alex Bowman, with his first career top-5. The race was delayed by rain Sunday afternoon, after only 204 laps, setting up a Monday finish. Larson appeared to have the race won, before a late caution when Brad Keselowski blew a left front tire... This set up a 22-lap sprint, and Busch's chance at catching Larson. It's Busch's 45th career Cup win, 16th on the all-time list.

Kyle Larson, Brad Keselowski, and Kyle Busch in action during the Food City 500.

     Other drivers to run well included Darrell Wallace Jr., leading six laps before fading and finishing 16th... Clint Bowyer notched his 3rd straight top-10, coming home 8th... Ryan Blaney ran well early, before being taken out in a six-car wreck on lap 118, finishing 35th... And driving for startup StarCom Racing, Landon Cassill piloted the #00 car to 20th place.

     Here's a look at the updated 'classic' standings after 8 races. Kyle Busch extends his point lead, after back-to-back wins. With 300 points, Busch leads Joey Logano by 29 points, and Clint Bowyer by 38 (I have to note, Bowyer's start to the season has been pretty impressive). Kevin Harvick improves to 6th place, while Martin Truex Jr. drops to 7th. You'll notice that the top-6 is entirely made up of Joe Gibbs, Stewart Haas, and Team Penske cars... Alex Bowman is Hendrick's best showing, cracking back into the top-10... But Busch's start is the most impressive. Aside from a rough Daytona 500 where he placed 25th, Busch then finished 7th at Atlanta, before finishing the last six races inside the top-3.

Ryan Blaney (12) and Harrison Rhodes (51) crash on lap 118 of the Food City 500. Blaney was leading, when caught up in a six-car accident

     Thanks to the weather, the Cup teams have a short turnaround ahead of Saturday night's race at Richmond. Several active drivers have multiple wins here, including both Busch brothers, Jimmie Johnson, and Denny Hamlin. One notable storyline: Daniel Hemric will make his Cup series debut at Richmond, driving the #8 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing. It's the first time the #8 car will race in Cup since Dale Earnhardt Jr. drove it in 2007. Hemric is 27, and in 40 Xfinity series starts, he has 21 top-10's. Watch for him to have a nice debut...

The 2018 Winston Cup Series: Kyle Busch back on top

Kyle Busch leads Kevin Harvick on his way to winning at Texas, his third victory at the track.

     While very brief, Kyle Busch ended any 'slump' speculation Sunday, winning the O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. Busch has been one of 2018's hottest drivers so far, with four-straight finishes of 2nd or 3rd heading into the race... He led 116 of 334 laps at Texas, for his first win of the season. Kevin Harvick finished 2nd, followed by Jamie McMurray in 3rd, and Erik Jones in 4th. The race concluded with a battle between Busch and Harvick, with Harvick unable to reel in the #18. With the win, and the misfortune of several drivers, Busch now sits atop an 18-point lead only 7 races in...

Brad Keselowski (2), Denny Hamlin (11), and Jimmie Johnson (48) are involved in a 7-car crash on lap 179. The three drivers finished 33rd, 34th, and 35th.

     The race was marred by several crashes involving high-profile drivers. In Stage 1, Martin Truex Jr. was running 2nd, when he cut a tire and crashed coming off of turn 4... On lap 128, Kyle Larson suffered a hard crash in turn 2 after cutting a tire. He was running 4th at the time... A 7-car melee ensued at the start of Stage 3, when Denny Hamlin got loose and triggered a wreck involving himself, Aric Almirola, Brad Keselowski, and Jimmie Johnson. The crash took all four drivers out of the race... And with 31 laps to go, Ryan Newman cut down a tire on the frontstretch and slapped the outside wall...

Kyle Larson exits his car after a hard crash in the O'Reilly Auto Parts 500.

     This opened the door for several other drivers to have good finishes. Darrell Wallace Jr. brought home an 8th for Richard Petty Motorsports, and William Byron got his first top-10 of the year, finishing 10th... Ty Dillon finished a solid 13th, and Matt DiBenedetto finished 16th... Ross Chastain, Cole Whitt, and Gray Gaulding all finished inside the top-20... and Landon Cassill drove StarCom Racing's #00 to a 21st place finish.

     Taking a look at the classic point standings after 7 races, Busch now holds an 18-point lead over Joey Logano, and 21 over Ryan Blaney. Clint Bowyer, after another strong run, moves up to 4th place... Truex Jr. dropped from 1st to 5th, after finishing dead last at Texas... Kevin Harvick re-enters the top-10, along with Erik Jones... 
     Up next, the Cup series visits Bristol for the second short track race of the year. Kyle Busch has an excellent chance at posting back-to-back wins; he won Bristol's night race last August... Kyle leads among active drivers there, with 6 Bristol wins. His brother Kurt is in 2nd among actives, with 5 wins, but none since 2006... Johnson, Harvick, Keselowski, and Logano have all won at Bristol twice in their careers...