2020 South Point 400 Explained

Type:	CUST
Description:	Race 30 of 36 in the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series
Race Name:	South Point 400
Details Ref:	^[1] ^[2] ^[3] ^[4] ^[5] ^[6]
Year:	2020
Location:	Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas
Course Mi:	1.5
Course Km:	2.4
Distance Laps:	268
Distance Mi:	402
Distance Km:	643.2
Scheduled Laps:	267
Scheduled Mi:	400.5
Scheduled Km:	640.8
Avg:	131.42mph
Pole Driver:	Kevin Harvick
Pole Team:	Stewart-Haas Racing
Grid From Prev Perf:	yes
Most Driver:	Denny Hamlin
Most Team:	Joe Gibbs Racing
Most Laps:	121
Car:	1
First Driver:	Kurt Busch
First Team:	Chip Ganassi Racing
Network:	NBCSN
Announcers:	Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte, Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Charlotte) and Brad Daugherty (Las Vegas)
Ratings:	1.15 (1.97 million)
Radio:	PRN
Booth Ann:	Doug Rice and Mark Garrow
Turn Ann:	Rob Albright (1 & 2) and Pat Patterson (3 & 4)

The 2020 South Point 400 was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on September 27, 2020, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas. Contested over 268 laps—extended from 267 laps due to an overtime finish, on the 1.5miles asphalt intermediate speedway, it was the 30th race of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season, the fourth race of the Playoffs, and the first race of the Round of 12.

Report

Background

Las Vegas Motor Speedway, located in Clark County, Nevada outside the Las Vegas city limits and about 15 miles northeast of the Las Vegas Strip, is a 1200acres complex of multiple tracks for motorsports racing. The complex is owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., which is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.

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

Race

Stage Results

Stage OneLaps: 80

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	10
2	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	9
3	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	8
4	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	7
5	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	6
6	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	5
7	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	4
8	88	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	3
9	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	2
10	14	Clint Bowyer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	1
Official stage one results

Stage TwoLaps: 80

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	10
2	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	9
3	88	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	8
4	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	7
5	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	6
6	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	5
7	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	4
8	21	Matt DiBenedetto	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	3
9	14	Clint Bowyer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	2
10	24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	1
Official stage two results

Final Stage Results

Stage ThreeLaps: 107

Pos	Grid		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Points
1	9	1	Kurt Busch	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	268	40
2	19	21	Matt DiBenedetto	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	268	38
3	10	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	268	53
4	11	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	268	42
5	8	88	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	268	43
6	2	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	268	39
7	15	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	268	40
8	13	20	Erik Jones	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	268	29
9	16	17	Chris Buescher	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	268	28
10	1	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	268	37
11	18	48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	268	26
12	6	14	Clint Bowyer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	268	28
13	12	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	268	24
14	5	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	268	32
15	27	6	Ryan Newman	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	268	22
16	22	41	Cole Custer (R)	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	268	21
17	4	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	268	20
18	20	42	Matt Kenseth	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	268	19
19	21	37	Ryan Preece	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	268	18
20	25	38	John Hunter Nemechek (R)	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	268	17
21	17	34	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	268	16
22	3	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	268	32
23	33	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	268	14
24	26	95	Christopher Bell (R)	Leavine Family Racing	Chevrolet	268	13
25	28	24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	268	13
26	24	13	Ty Dillon	Germain Racing	Chevrolet	267	11
27	31	32	Corey LaJoie	Go Fas Racing	Ford	267	10
28	23	43	Bubba Wallace	Richard Petty Motorsports	Chevrolet	266	9
29	29	96	Daniel Suárez	Gaunt Brothers Racing	Toyota	265	8
30	35	15	Brennan Poole (R)	Premium Motorsports	Chevrolet	265	7
31	30	27	Gray Gaulding (i)	Rick Ware Racing	Ford	262	0
32	7	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	261	15
33	37	77	J. J. Yeley (i)	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	261	0
34	32	00	Quin Houff (R)	StarCom Racing	Chevrolet	259	3
35	34	51	Joey Gase (i)	Petty Ware Racing	Ford	256	0
36	38	53	Josh Bilicki (i)	Rick Ware Racing	Ford	227	0
37	36	66	Timmy Hill (i)	MBM Motorsports	Toyota	160	0
38	14	8	Tyler Reddick (R)	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	157	1
39	39	49	Chad Finchum (i)	MBM Motorsports	Toyota	19	0
Official race results

Race statistics

Lead changes: 20 among 11 different drivers
Cautions/Laps: 7 for 36
Red flags: 0
Time of race: 3 hours, 3 minutes and 32 seconds
Average speed: 131.42mph

Media

Television

NBC Sports covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt Jr. called the action from the booth at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Brad Daugherty called the action on site. Marty Snider and Kelli Stavast handled the pit road duties on site, and Dave Burns handled pit road duties from Charlotte Motor Speedway during the race.

Radio

PRN had the radio call for the race, which will also simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Doug Rice and Mark Garrow called the race from the booth when the field raced through the tri-oval. Rob Albright called the race from a billboard in turn 2 when the field raced through turns 1 and 2 & Pat Patterson called the race from a billboard outside of turn 3 when the field raced through turns 3 and 4. Brad Gillie and Brett McMillan handled the duties on pit lane.

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
	1	Kevin Harvick	3,104
	2	Denny Hamlin	3,101 (–3)
	3	Brad Keselowski	3,059 (–45)
2	4	Martin Truex Jr.	3,058 (–46)
1	5	Joey Logano	3,054 (–50)
1	6	Chase Elliott	3,053 (–51)
	7	Alex Bowman	3,052 (–52)
2	8	Kyle Busch	3,043 (–61)
3	9	Kurt Busch	3,041 (–63)
1	10	Clint Bowyer	3,032 (–72)
2	11	Aric Almirola	3,025 (–79)
4	12	Austin Dillon	3,020 (–84)
2	13	Ryan Blaney	2,098 (–1,006)
2	14	Matt DiBenedetto	2,092 (–1,012)
2	15	Cole Custer	2,088 (–1,016)
2	16	William Byron	2,075 (–1,029)
Official driver's standings

Manufacturers' Championship standings

Pos	Manufacturer	Points
1	Ford	1,119
2	Toyota	1,051 (–68)
3	Chevrolet	1,012 (–107)

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

Notes and References

Web site: 2020 schedule . Jayski.com. . August 16, 2020. January 17, 2020.
Web site: Las Vegas Motor Speedway. NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC.. August 16, 2020. January 3, 2013. April 28, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170428042515/http://www.nascar.com/en_us/nascar-tracks/las-vegas-motor-speedway.html. dead.
Web site: Entry List. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. September 21, 2020. September 21, 2020.
Web site: Starting Lineup. NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC.. September 23, 2020. September 23, 2020.
Web site: South Point 400 Results. NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC.. September 27, 2020. September 27, 2020.
Web site: Points standings. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. September 27, 2020. September 27, 2020.