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...