The first race of the 2020 NASCAR Playoffs came to an end with Kevin Harvick leading the way.
Although, it wasn’t how we thought it would come.
Harvick was in third-place, trailing the leaders by four seconds with 16 laps to go.
Martin Truex Jr. was charging hard on Chase Elliott – who had held the lead for the past 40 or so laps.
Truex Jr. finally set up the race-winning pass on the No. 9 team by going into the first turn on the inside line.
However, Elliott uncharacteristically got misconstrued, and both drivers ended up going into the wall.
BOTH OF THEM HIT THE WALL!
The finish, NOW on NBCSN! #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/YbhJNu9izN
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) September 7, 2020
Truex Jr. would pit with a flat tire later on. It wouldn’t be as bad for Elliott, but the fan favorite did give up the lead to Harvick and Austin Dillon – who chased from second place.
Harvick would end up holding on, and Dillon would fail to be factor for the win, although he still finished second.
Elliott and Truex Jr. ended up finishing in 20th and 22nd at the end of the night – starting off the playoffs with less than ideal finishes to their nights.
William Byron earned a third straight top five, though, after failing to record one before the second race before the postseason started.
Now, Byron has recorded three-straight top fives and has a bunch of momentum going into the rest of the postseason.
The NASCAR Cup Series will return on Saturday night for the second edition of the first round of the 2020 Playoffs at Richmond Raceway. The race is scheduled to begin at at 6:30 p.m. CT and will be televised on NBCSN.
| 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Grid | |||||
| After 1 of 3 First Round Races | |||||
| Position | Driver | Wins | Points | Cutoff | |
| 1 | Kevin Harvick | 8 | 2106 | x | |
| 2 | Denny Hamlin | 6 | 2087 | +54 | |
| 3 | Joey Logano | 2 | 2060 | +27 | |
| 4 | Brad Keselowski | 3 | 2055 | +22 | |
| 5 | Alex Bowman | 1 | 2052 | +19 | |
| 6 | Martin Truex Jr. | 1 | 2049 | +16 | |
| 7 | Chase Elliott | 2 | 2045 | +12 | |
| 8 | Austin Dillon | 1 | 2043 | +10 | |
| 9 | William Byron | 1 | 2042 | +9 | |
| 10 | Kyle Busch | 0 | 2040 | +7 | |
| 11 | Kurt Busch | 0 | 2037 | +4 | |
| 12 | Aric Almirola | 0 | 2033 | +0 | |
| Playoff Cutoff | |||||
| 13 | Clint Bowyer | 0 | 2033 | -0 | |
| 14 | Cole Custer ® | 1 | 2030 | -3 | |
| 15 | Ryan Blaney | 1 | 2016 | -17 | |
| 16 | Matt DiBenedetto | 0 | 2016 | -17 | |
NASCAR Darlington Southern 500 Results
Playoff Race 1
1. Kevin Harvick
2. Austin Dillon
3. Joey Logano
4. Erik Jones
5. William Byron
6. Alex Bowman
7. Kyle Busch
8. Kurt Busch
9. Aric Almirola
10. Clint Bowyer
11. Brad Keselowski
12. Cole Custer
13. Denny Hamlin
14. Matt Kenseth
15. Ryan Newman
16. Michael McDowell
17. Ryan Preece
18. Jimmie Johnson
19. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
20. Chase Elliott
21. Matt DiBenedetto
22. Martin Truex Jr.
23. Tyler Reddick
24. Ryan Blaney
25. Daniel Suarez
26. Chris Buescher
27. Ty Dillon
28. Brennan Poole
29. Ross Chastain
30. J.J. Yeley
31. Quin Houff
32. Josh Bilicki
33. Joey Gase
34. Christopher Bell
35. Timmy Hill
36. John Hunter Nemechek
37. Corey LaJoie
38. Bubba Wallace
39. James Davison