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).