The 19th race of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season is now behind us. Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 saw a thrilling finish between the Busch brothers with Kurt Busch narrowly topping his little brother Kyle Busch in the closest finish in the races’ history.

Here’s the top topics to look back on.

Thrilling Finish Overshadowed Ho-Hum Race, Why Final Caution Gave Fans A Treat

What does a side-by-side finish do for a race? It makes it among the most thrilling of the year. It also hides the fact that Saturday night’s race was less than exciting for a majority of it. See, with the tire fall off being so minimal, we’ll get to that in a minute, the race quickly became a strategy play.

While it was exciting for us to watch in the press box, it had to be confusing for the fans outside. Who was on what strategy? Who was doing what?

Plus, the leaders struggled to pass the lapped cars as clean air meant so much. That’s a problem when the quicker cars can’t pass the slower backmarkers. But, the reason that they couldn’t was because their cars didn’t handle right when following another car. They’d stall out.

The race was going to play out like that. Joey Logano checked out and was heading to a victory by 2+ seconds. Then, Bubba Wallace’s tire went down and he spun causing the seventh and final caution.

That gave us a finish for the ages. Because of that, we were treated to a thrilling finish, the best ever at the Kentucky Speedway and one that we will talk about for the rest of the year.

While I don’t necessarily like end of the race cautions as I’d like to see them play out naturally, this one overshadowed what was going to be a ho-hum race.

Kyle Leaves Kurt Behind In Kentucky

Kurt Busch may have left Kyle Busch behind on the race track in his victory over his little brother on Saturday night, but it was the little brother who got the last laugh. Kurt, was supposed to carpool with Kyle back home to North Carolina following the Quaker State 400 on his plane. But, with how Kurt won and had media obligations after by virtue of his first victory in the last 30 races and Kyle being ho-hum about finishing runner-up to his big brother, he left early.

Yes, Kyle Busch boarded his plane and left Kentucky to head back home to North Carolina while Kurt was still celebrating his win.

“I haven’t seen him yet, but I was supposed to fly home with him, and now I’m looking for a plane ride,” Kurt said on if he’s talked to Kyle yet following their late race duel. ” So that’s Kyle.  (Laughter.)  He won’t even wait.  We shared a plane ride earlier this year.  I think it was Phoenix where he won, and I had to sit there and wait for him to do his little Victory Lane thing.  It’ll be fine.  We’re going over to his house tomorrow actually for a little get-together on a Sunday off, and I’m going to plop the trophy down right on his kitchen counter.”

Logano Left Fuming Over Final Restart

Joey Logano was well on his way to winning Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 at the Kentucky Speedway. The Team Penske driver passed Kyle Busch on track on Lap 248 and when Daniel Suarez gave up the lead to pit for his final stop one lap later, the lead of the race was Logano’s with a handful of laps remaining in regulation.

Logano, checked out. He had the quickest car of the race at that point despite not leading a lap prior. He’d lead the next 19 circuits and hold a 2+ second lead before the seventh and final caution came out on Lap 263 for Darrell Wallace Jr. losing a tire with five laps-to-go.

That forced a NASCAR overtime and what would be a wild restart. Logano, still had the most speed and track position. Instead, the field jumped him as not only did Logano lose the win, he fell out of the top five too.

“The caution came out at the wrong time,” said a disappointed Logano. “It happens. You try to think through your notebook on how to have a good restart. I thought I was going to have a decent one but I got stopped on the left rear there when Kyle (Busch) got into me. That is what it is. That stopped all my momentum. (Kurt Busch) had a huge run and I didn’t have anywhere to go. I couldn’t block them all. I tried to stop (Kyle Busch) on his right rear by side-drafting. I saw (Kurt Busch) coming and felt like if I could get in front of him that we were so low at the time if I blocked (Kurt Busch) he would just go to the middle and pass me. I felt like I couldn’t stop (Kurt Busch). I was in a bad spot. Once I got stopped on the left rear on the restart I was a sitting duck and they just went by me on both sides.

Logano, finished seventh in his No. 22 Ford for his third straight top 10 on the 1.5-mile track but goes a fourth straight year without a top five. It was also his third race in the last four weeks that he failed to score a top five.

“We were in a perfect position when the caution came out. I did what I could to clear (Kyle Busch) before Turn 1. I got a decent launch but he stopped my momentum. … I just didn’t do a good enough job. We had the fastest car and we didn’t win. That’s the takeaway.”

Now, he’s letting Kyle Busch back in the hunt for the overall points lead which is critical for those 15 additional playoff points.

Playoff Points

Speaking of points, the playoff bubble drivers didn’t score many stage points. That’s why the end of the race was so key. Heading into the weekend, Ryan Newman led Daniel Suarez by three points and Erik Jones by 13 at the midway mark of the year for the 16th and final playoff position.

As we leave Kentucky, the points race was tightened even more.

Clint Bowyer gained some points himself and is 10 points up on the bubble. But, he gained some company too with a sixth place finish in his No. 14 Ford. Jimmie Johnson lost nearly 30 points on his end as he’s only 10 points up himself following a Turn 2 crash that left him with a sub 20th place effort again in Kentucky.

Erik Jones finished third in his No. 20 Toyota to move from the outside looking in to the final playoff spot now (+2). Bowyer, moves up to a tie for 14th himself while Jones is now to the good.

But, Ryan Newman scored another top 10 and while he went from three points up to two points down, he’s not going to go anywhere any time soon.

Suarez, had a crazy night where they went on the wrong strategy on their stop in Stage 1 in taking four tires instead of two and gave up points. In the second stage, they had to pit with an unscheduled stop but Suarez was speeding on pit road too. He fell to 33rd, -3 laps. Somehow, he made all three laps up and finished eighth and is now just four points back.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. scored stage points in the first stage and finished 12th. He’s still 46 points out.

As we sit here now, Johnson fell to the danger zone as it’s a five horse races for the final three spots.

Tires Lead To Varying Pit Strategies

Speaking on points, the tires led to some varying strategies on Saturday night which made or broke stage points. See, this race was all about track position. It didn’t matter how much speed you had, clean air was going to gain you more speed than horsepower.

So, in order to get clean air, you needed good pit stops and to spend as little amount of time on pit lane as you could. As a result, teams varied two tires or four tires or even fuel only.

Kurt Busch took fuel only on his stop in the first stage and ended up winning the stage overall despite not taking any tires. He would take four tires to start the second stage but could only get back up to seventh in that stage.

It showed that it didn’t matter how many tires you took, they were going to hold up through the length of a stint. So, take four tires once but make sure you did so at the right time so you can take two tires or even none on the last stop.

It looked like a two tire stop was the way to go in the end. Clint Bowyer and Kurt Busch were 1-2 heading into the final pit sequence but each took four tires. Their competition took only two tires, or some with none, and leap frogged them in the running order. If the final caution doesn’t come out, neither finish in the top five while the top five would have been 2 tires, 2 tires, no tires, four tires, no tires respectively.

Instead, a caution did fly and it allowed Busch with four tires to charge up to the lead.

But, this race showed that tires were a non factor which made pit strategy the biggest key to Saturday night’s race.

Chevrolet Wins 3rd Straight On Year, 1st In Kentucky

Here’s an odd stat, since NBC Sports has taken over the NASCAR coverage on the final weekend of June, Chevrolet hasn’t lost a race in NASCAR’s premiere series. Alex Bowman won in his No. 88 Chevrolet on June 30 at the Chicagoland Speedway. Justin Haley won the rain shortened Coke Zero Sugar 400 in his No. 77 Chevrolet on July 7. Now, Kurt Busch reaches victory lane in his No. 1 Chevrolet in July 13’s Quaker State 400.

It was Chevy’s first win of their career in the Cup Series at Kentucky as well as their first three race win streak since 2015. What’s amazing is that they had just one win all year and now they’ve won the last three in-a-row, all since NBC Sports took over.

What’s even more amazing is, three different Chevy teams have won too.

Championship Worthy Drivers Win At Kentucky

Here’s another odd stat, with Kurt Busch’s win on Saturday night in Kentucky, he keeps the streak going that every race winner has won a season championship too.

Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr., Matt Kenseth and now Busch have all won at the Kentucky Speedway. All have won a Cup title in the course of their respective careers too.

Hamlin, Suarez Rebound From Pit Penalties To Top 10 Finishes

Denny Hamlin and Daniel Suarez had cars capable of finishing in the top 10 on Saturday night. While they both did, their nights were very interesting to get there in the end.

A few weeks ago, Hamlin was critical of NASCAR for being called for an uncontrolled tire penalty at the Chicagoland Speedway. Hamlin, says that while the rulebook is correct in that call on him, it’s a rule that needs changed.

See, Hamlin’s Goodyear tire was sitting idle. It wasn’t outside of his pit box. The problem was, it was barely out of reach of one of his crewmembers which resulted in a penalty that left him with a 15th place finish.

Last weekend in Daytona he was involved in that Lap 118 Big One and finished 26th. Hamlin, headed to the Kentucky Speedway just wanting some luck. He finished 16th in last year’s race and 15th in 2016. He had two top 10 finishes in his last six Kentucky starts too – albeit both in the top five.

But, Hamlin hasn’t scored a top five finish since Sonoma, his only top five in the last nine races. His best finish since his Texas win in early April has been fifth (three times) heading into Saturday night’s Quaker State 400.

Well, he earned another fifth place finish in his No. 11 Toyota on Saturday, his sixth of 2019. While he certainly would like to finish better than fifth, he’s just glad to have one this weekend.

See, Hamlin had yet another uncontrolled tire penalty in the second stage. That dropped him from the top 10 to 22nd, one lap down. The Virginia native would rebound to a fifth place finish in the race, which was good for where it could have been.

He took fuel only on his final stop and it paid dividends for his 11th top 10 result of the season. Now, Hamlin heads to New Hampshire where he had seven straight top 15 finishes.

“We definitely had a fast car – a car that was fast enough to run up there with those guys, but obviously going to the back of the pack there with 80 (laps) to go was detrimental to try to win the race,” Hamlin said on his fifth place finish on Saturday night. “We had to make a call with no tires there and we didn’t gain track position. We had worse tires than everyone around us and still was able to come up to fifth, so pretty happy with that effort. We have fast cars every week. As long as we have a clean race, we have chances to win and we just can’t have the penalties that we have and wrecks that we’ve had. It’s just a combination of things where we’re really, really close.”

Suarez had high hopes for Saturday night’s Quaker State 400. He had earned his second career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series pole on Friday evening and was third and eighth quickest respectively in practice this weekend at the Kentucky Speedway as well.

Suarez, said that he just wanted to win again.

He had a shot too in his No. 41 Ford.

Suarez, led the first 49 laps of the race before pitting under the first caution of the night. But, that’s where his race changed for the worse. See, Suarez’ crew played it safe and took four tires. Unfortunately, most others took either no tires or two.

That dropped Suarez from first back to 14th. He gave stage points away by that decision as they finished 14th in Stage 1. Then, in the second stage, Suarez was brought down pit road early to get off strategy and score points at the end. That was a costly move too as Suarez was speeding on pit road which made him have to come back down again as a result.

The Stewart-Haas Racing driver said that there were too many tire marks on the pit road at entry which caused him to not see the pit commitment line. Nevertheless, he fell three laps down to 33rd. He made up two laps by the end of the stage to 29th.

When the closing laps came, Suarez cycled to the lead on Lap 246 and went fuel only to get track position. He would remain in the top 10 the rest of the way and rebounded to an eighth place finish overall. It was his third top 10 finish in the last six races as he’s now four points behind the cutoff spot for the playoffs.

“It was an eventful night for sure,” said Suarez. “We just had a fast race car but we got a bit tight. I feel like we made the car better but we never got the track position back. We had a tire going down and then I was speeding coming to pit road because I was wheel hopping because of the tire. It was one problem after another. We were fast enough to overcome that but not enough to get a better finish. I feel like the good thing is that we have the speed we just have to keep working to have a cleaner day and keep working to try to keep that speed the whole race.”

Suarez, said that it is an empty feeling leaving Kentucky without any stage points despite starting on the pole but does feel happy to leave with a top 10 at the end of the day.

“It is. I feel like the first stage the call that we made on four tires instead of two tires kind of messed us up a little bit. That is part of it. We made our bed on that. There was one caution after another and we couldn’t recover. After that we had the flat tire. It was just bad decisions and a little bad luck but we were able to overcome with a decent finish.”

He lost just one point overall. That’s not bad with how his night was at one point in the race.

Hendrick Motorsports Struggles

Hendrick Motorsports showed up to the Chicagoland Speedway with a ton of speed. See, they knew that they had something for the June 30 race up in Joliet. It paid off too.

Alex Bowman won his first career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race while all four drivers finished in the top 11 in the Camping World 400. After seeing William Byron and Jimmie Johnson finish 2-3 in last Sunday’s rain marred Coke Zero Sugar 400 at the Daytona International Speedway, could the entire HMS camp keep this new found momentum going for Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 at the Kentucky Speedway?

While they haven’t had that much success before on the 1.5-mile track, they did have a ton of success on the last 1.5-mile track on the season only two weeks ago. Unfortunately though, Chicago didn’t lead to Kentucky success.

None of the four drivers were in contention all night.

Chase Elliott brought out the first caution of the night when he had a tire go down on Lap 46. He rallied back to finish 15th in the first stage but was only 17th in the second one. He’d finish a team best 15th in his No. 9 Chevrolet for his fifth straight finish outside of the top 10. That comes after five straight weeks of a top five finish including a win at Talladega. The Georgia native has just one top 10 finish in four Kentucky tries.

Then, the sixth caution of the night came out for Jimmie Johnson. After scoring two straight top five finishes on the year, Johnson crashed out on Lap 179 in Turn 2 and came home 30th. It was Johnson’s fourth straight year that he didn’t finish in the top 10 at Kentucky as he’s now 0-for-9 in his career at the Kentucky Speedway. This is one of three tracks that he still hasn’t won at during his career. He was only 21st and 14th respectively in the two stages and finishes.

Bowman, was a non factor all night as he was 26th and 27th respectively in the two stages and could only finish 17th. He was 39th in last year’s race.

Their best option was William Byron who was 12th and 14th respectively in the two stages and brought his No. 24 Chevrolet home 18th. He was in the hunt at the start of the final stage but was hit with a restart violation in a controversial restart to where he blamed Aric Almirola for pushing him. Nevertheless, he failed to score a top 10.