See Also: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
This is the final of a five-part series recapping the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.
Brad Keselowski opened the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs with his third consecutive win of the season in the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Keselowski survived a wild race to score the 500th victory for Team Penske and move on to the second round. He held off Kyle Larson in a shootout to the checkered flag to score his 27th career Cup win.
Disaster struck for two playoff drivers just before the end of the second stage when Kevin Harvick blew a right-front tire leaving Erik Jones no place to go but into the rear end of the Stewart-Haas Racing driver’s Ford. Both drivers were eliminated from the race due to the damage.
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Race Story and Results | Photos
Kyle Busch came from the rear of the field to score his sixth win at Richmond Raceway in the Federated Auto Parts 400.
Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. followed Busch across the finish line marking the first time all season the “Big 3” swept the first three finishing positions.
Busch had to start at the rear of the field for unapproved adjustments after qualifying. But he was still able to fight his way to the front and led 92 laps on his way to his seventh win of the season and 50th career Cup win.
Busch had to battle Brad Keselowski, who was trying for a fourth straight win, in a late duel before finally getting ahead and then holding off Harvick.
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Race Story and Results | Photos
Ryan Blaney got by a spinning Martin Truex Jr. and Jimmie Johnson in the final turn to win the Bank of America ROVAL 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Johnson locked up the rears and spun and made contact with race leader Truex Jr. as the duo navigated the final chicane heading to the checkered flag. They both spun wildly allowing Blaney to race by and take his first checkered flag of the season.
Kyle Larson and Aric Almirola made the playoffs cut thanks to a tiebreaker. The duo was tied with Jimmie Johnson but by virtue of better finishes in the second round Larson and Almirola advanced.
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Race Story and Results | Photos
Chase Elliott held off Denny Hamlin in an overtime finish to win the Gander Outdoors 400 at Dover International Speedway, which advances him to the Round of 8.
Elliott came back from an early race uncontrolled tire penalty on lap 122 to score his second win of the season and of his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career.
Kevin Harvick (finished sixth) dominated the race winning the first two stages, but a broken valve stem on a late pit stop changing tires cost him the top spot when he had to come back to pit road. Both Kyle Busch (finished eighth) and Martin Truex Jr. (finished 15th) were also penalized for pit road speeding penalties.
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Race Story and Results | Photos
Aric Almirola returned to Victory Lane for the first time since 2014 when he took the checkered flag in the 1000Bulbs.com 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.
Almirola sped by his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Kurt Busch, who ran out of fuel, to take the top spot on in the final turn. A crash broke out on the overtime last lap but the track remained green and Almirola was able to stay ahead to the finish line.
Busch led a race-high 108 laps.
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Race Story and Results | Photos
Chase Elliott captured his third career win and second in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs in the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway.
Elliott took advantage of a late race pit road speeding penalty by Kevin Harvick and led the last 44 laps to score the win.
Elliott continued his second half of the season hot streak and was in position to take advantage of the opportunity Harvick left open.
Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, Erik Jones and Martin Truex Jr. rounded out the top five.
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Race Story and Results | Photos
Joey Logano won the First Data 500 at Martinsville Speedway after making contact with Martin Truex Jr. coming to the checkered flag to punch his ticket to the Championship 4.
The duo battled side-by-side over the final 10 laps before the final race to the finish that saw Truex Jr. go sideways while Logano drove away to the win.
Not surprisingly Truex Jr. was none too pleased with the turn of events.
“That’s short track racing but what comes around, goes around,” Truex Jr. said. “I’m not letting him. I’m going to win the championship.
Denny Hamlin was able to slip by to finish second with Truex Jr., Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski rounding out the top five.
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Race Story and Results | Photos
Race 2 of the Round of 8 was the AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. As he had so many times in 2018, Kevin Harvick dominated – winning Stages 1 and 2, and rolled to his eighth victory of the season.
Following the race, NASCAR inspectors discovered that the spoiler on Harvick’s car had been illegally modified. His team was stripped of all the playoff benefits of the victory.
Race Story and Results | Photos
Kyle Busch captured his eighth win of the season in the Can-Am 500 at ISM Raceway and was one of the Championship 4 that competed for the title the next weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Busch, who locked his spot up to run for the championship on points during the race, led 117 laps en route to the checkered flag.
Busch joined Joey Logano, who won at Martinsville, Martin Truex Jr. and Kevin Harvick as the title contenders.
Harvick rebounded from a lap 73 flat tire from the lead to get his 11th straight top-six finish at ISM.
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Race Story and Results | Photos
Joey Logano captured his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship with a victory in the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Logano made a late pass of Martin Truex Jr. and led the final 12 laps en route to his 21st career win and to become the 33rd driver to win the Cup Championship.
Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch followed Logano across the finish line as the Championship 4 swept the first four spots. Brad Keselowski rounded out the top five.
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