2020 Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 explained

Type:	CUST
Description:	Race 34 of 36 in the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series
Race Name:	Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500
Details Ref:	^[1] ^[2] ^[3] ^[4] ^[5] ^[6]
Fulldate:	October 25 & 28, 2020
Year:	2020
Location:	Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas
Course Mi:	1.5
Course Km:	2.4
Distance Laps:	334
Distance Mi:	501
Distance Km:	801.6
Avg:	135.263mph
Pole Driver:	Kevin Harvick
Pole Team:	Stewart-Haas Racing
Grid From Prev Perf:	yes
Most Driver:	Kyle Busch
Most Team:	Joe Gibbs Racing
Most Laps:	90
Car:	18
First Driver:	Kyle Busch
First Team:	Joe Gibbs Racing
Network:	NBCSN
Announcers:	Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Radio:	PRN
Booth Ann:	Doug Rice and Mark Garrow
Turn Ann:	Rob Albright (1 & 2) and Pat Patterson (3 & 4)

The 2020 Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 was a NASCAR Cup Series race that was held on October 25, 2020 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. Contested over 334 laps on the 1.5 mile (2.4 km) intermediate quad-oval, it was the 34th race of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season, the eighth race of the Playoffs, and second race of the Round of 8. Rain forced the race to be stopped after 52 laps, and the race was re-commenced on Wednesday, October 28.

Report

Background

Texas Motor Speedway is a speedway located in the northernmost portion of the U.S. city of Fort Worth, Texas – the portion located in Denton County, Texas. The track measures 1.5miles around and is banked 24 degrees in the turns, and is of the oval design, where the front straightaway juts outward slightly. The track layout is similar to Atlanta Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway (formerly Lowe's Motor Speedway). The track is owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., the same company that owns Atlanta and Charlotte Motor Speedway, as well as the short-track Bristol Motor Speedway.

Entry list

(R) denotes rookie driver.
(i) denotes driver who are ineligible for series driver points.

	Driver	Manufacturer
00	Quin Houff (R)	Chevrolet
1		Chevrolet
2		Ford
3		Chevrolet
4		Ford
6		Ford
7	Josh Bilicki (i)	Chevrolet
8	Tyler Reddick (R)	Chevrolet
9		Chevrolet
10		Ford
11		Toyota
12		Ford
13		Chevrolet
14		Ford
15	Brennan Poole (R)	Chevrolet
17		Ford
18		Toyota
19		Toyota
20		Toyota
21		Ford
22		Ford
24		Chevrolet
27	J. J. Yeley (i)	Chevrolet
32		Ford
34		Ford
37		Chevrolet
38	John Hunter Nemechek (R)	Ford
41	Cole Custer (R)	Ford
42		Chevrolet
43		Chevrolet
47		Chevrolet
48		Chevrolet
49	Chad Finchum (i)	Toyota
51	Joey Gase (i)	Ford
53	Garrett Smithley (i)	Ford
66	Timmy Hill (i)	Toyota
77		Chevrolet
88		Chevrolet
95	Christopher Bell (R)	Toyota
96		Toyota
Official entry list

Qualifying

Kevin Harvick was awarded the pole for the race as determined by competition-based formula.

Starting Lineup

Pos		Driver	Manufacturer
1	4		Ford
2	22		Ford
3	2		Ford
4	9		Chevrolet
5	88		Chevrolet
6	19		Toyota
7	11		Toyota
8	1		Chevrolet
9	18		Toyota
10	12		Ford
11	24		Chevrolet
12	3		Chevrolet
13	10		Ford
14	21		Ford
15	95	Christopher Bell (R)	Toyota
16	41	Cole Custer (R)	Ford
17	20		Toyota
18	43		Chevrolet
19	17		Ford
20	8	Tyler Reddick (R)	Chevrolet
21	14		Ford
22	47		Chevrolet
23	34		Ford
24	38	John Hunter Nemechek (R)	Ford
25	6		Ford
26	48		Chevrolet
27	13		Chevrolet
28	32		Ford
29	37		Chevrolet
30	96		Toyota
31	15	Brennan Poole (R)	Chevrolet
32	42		Chevrolet
33	27	J. J. Yeley (i)	Chevrolet
34	00	Quin Houff (R)	Chevrolet
35	77		Chevrolet
36	66	Timmy Hill (i)	Toyota
37	7	Josh Bilicki (i)	Chevrolet
38	53	Garrett Smithley (i)	Ford
39	51	Joey Gase (i)	Ford
40	49	Chad Finchum (i)	Toyota
Official starting lineup

Race

Stage Results

Stage OneLaps: 105

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	14	Clint Bowyer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	10
2	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	9
3	20	Erik Jones	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	8
4	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	7
5	48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	6
6	24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	5
7	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	4
8	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	3
9	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	2
10	21	Matt DiBenedetto	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	1
Official stage one results

Stage TwoLaps: 105

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	10
2	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	9
3	88	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	8
4	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	7
5	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	6
6	95	Christopher Bell (R)	Leavine Family Racing	Toyota	5
7	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	4
8	14	Clint Bowyer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	3
9	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	2
10	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	1
Official stage two results

Final Stage Results

Stage ThreeLaps: 124

Pos	Grid		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Points
1	9	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	334	50
2	6	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	334	53
3	15	95	Christopher Bell (R)	Leavine Family Racing	Toyota	334	39
4	10	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	334	46
5	5	88	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	334	40
6	3	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	334	38
7	8	1	Kurt Busch	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	334	30
8	14	21	Matt DiBenedetto	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	334	30
9	7	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	334	28
10	2	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	334	30
11	12	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	334	32
12	22	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	334	27
13	11	24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	334	29
14	16	41	Cole Custer (R)	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	334	23
15	19	8	Tyler Reddick (R)	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	334	22
16	1	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	333	22
17	21	14	Clint Bowyer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	333	33
18	29	37	Ryan Preece	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	333	19
19	25	6	Ryan Newman	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	333	18
20	4	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	333	21
21	17	20	Erik Jones	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	333	24
22	24	38	John Hunter Nemechek (R)	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	332	15
23	13	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	332	14
24	27	13	Ty Dillon	Germain Racing	Chevrolet	332	13
25	28	32	Corey LaJoie	Go Fas Racing	Ford	331	12
26	23	34	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	331	11
27	30	96	Daniel Suárez	Gaunt Brothers Racing	Toyota	328	10
28	31	15	Brennan Poole (R)	Premium Motorsports	Chevrolet	328	9
29	37	7	Josh Bilicki (i)	Tommy Baldwin Racing	Chevrolet	326	0
30	36	66	Timmy Hill (i)	MBM Motorsports	Toyota	325	0
31	38	53	Garrett Smithley (i)	Rick Ware Racing	Ford	325	0
32	35	77	Reed Sorenson	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	321	5
33	34	00	Quin Houff (R)	StarCom Racing	Chevrolet	316	4
34	20	17	Chris Buescher	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	310	3
35	40	49	Chad Finchum (i)	MBM Motorsports	Toyota	310	0
36	26	48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	279	7
37	39	51	Joey Gase (i)	Petty Ware Racing	Ford	184	0
38	18	43	Bubba Wallace	Richard Petty Motorsports	Chevrolet	59	1
39	32	42	Matt Kenseth	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	59	1
40	33	27	J. J. Yeley (i)	Rick Ware Racing	Chevrolet	20	0
Official race results

Race statistics

Lead changes: 23 among 11 different drivers
Cautions/Laps: 8 for 47
Red flags: 1 for 72 hours, 28 minutes and 34 seconds
Time of race: 3 hours, 42 minutes and 14 seconds
Average speed: 135.263mph

Media

Television

NBC Sports covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, Two–time Texas winner Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and 2000 Texas winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. called the action from the booth on Sunday. Allen, Burton and Letarte called the action from the booth on Wednesday. Dave Burns, Parker Kligerman and Kelli Stavast handled the pit road duties on Sunday, Kligerman and Marty Snider handled the pit road duties on Wednesday.

Radio

PRN covered their final 2020 broadcast, which was also simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Doug Rice & Mark Garrow covered the action for PRN when the field raced down the front straightaway. Rob Albright covered the action for PRN from a platform outside of Turns 1 & 2, & Pat Patterson covered the action from a platform outside of Turns 3 & 4 for PRN. Brad Gillie, Brett McMillan and Wendy Venturini had the call from pit lane for PRN.

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
	1	Kevin Harvick	4,137
	2	Denny Hamlin	4,122 (–15)
	3	Brad Keselowski	4,120 (–17)
3	4	Martin Truex Jr.	4,104 (–33)
1	5	Alex Bowman	4,095 (–42)
2	6	Chase Elliott	4,095 (–42)
2	7	Joey Logano	4,094 (–43)
	8	Kurt Busch	4,039 (–98)
	9	Kyle Busch	2,270 (–1,867)
1	10	Ryan Blaney	2,251 (–1,986)
1	11	Austin Dillon	2,244 (–1,893)
	12	William Byron	2,213 (–1,924)
1	13	Clint Bowyer	2,199 (–1,938)
1	14	Matt DiBenedetto	2,190 (–1,947)
2	15	Aric Almirola	2,181 (–1,956)
	16	Cole Custer	2,169 (–1,968)
Official driver's standings

Manufacturers' Championship standings

Pos	Manufacturer	Points
1	Ford	1,259
2	Toyota	1,197 (–62)
3	Chevrolet	1,152 (–107)

Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.

Notes and References

Web site: 2020 schedule . Jayski.com. . September 3, 2020. January 17, 2020.
Web site: Texas Motor Speedway. NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC.. September 3, 2020. January 3, 2013. October 30, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151030043513/http://www.nascar.com/en_us/nascar-tracks/texas-motor-speedway.html. dead.
Web site: Entry List. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. October 16, 2020. October 16, 2020.
Web site: Starting Lineup. NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC.. October 21, 2020. October 21, 2020.
Web site: Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 Results. NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC.. October 28, 2020. October 28, 2020.
Web site: Points standings. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. October 28, 2020. October 28, 2020.