Kyle Busch passed Chase Elliott on the last lap to take his 42nd career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win, and his 4th this season.  Elliott was 1.6 seconds ahead of Busch with 10 laps to go before Busch was able to close in on Elliott, due to Elliott getting stuck in lap traffic.  When Elliott was interviewed after the race, he said, “I’m just so disappointed in myself. Golly, I couldn’t have had it any easier.  It ran green from the stage break all the way to the end. And, I gave it away. I appreciate my team and their efforts today. The pit stops were great and they kept us in the ballgame. I didn’t.” When Busch was asked about the end of the race, he said, “That was everything I had. I got to the top, rim-riding and got by the No. 24.  We definitely made a lot of gains on this car and got it a lot better. This was a hard-fought one. I knew Chase is hungry, he’s been trying a couple years to get his first Cup win. I saw that carrot out there and was getting it.”

The Round of 12 was set, with Austin Dillon, Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch, and Kasey Kahne being eliminated from the playoffs.  When Dillon was asked about being eliminated from the playoffs, he said, “Well, I put it back on myself in Chicago.  I got a speeding penalty there where we were going to get stage points and a top-10 run and that just kind of crushed our points situation.”  Dillon won the Coca-Cola 600 in May to get his first career win in the famed No.3 car.  He is the only driver to win in the No. 3 since Dale Earnhardt got his final win at Talladega in 2000.

Here are the point standings entering Charlotte to begin the Round of 12:

Driver                                           Pts

Martin Truex Jr.                        3,059

Kyle Busch                                  3,041

Kyle Larson                                3,034

Brad Keselowski                       3,020

Jimmie Johnson                        3,017

Kevin Harvick                            3,015

Denny Hamlin                           3,013

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.                  3,010

__________________________ CUT LINE

Ryan Blaney                                3,008

Chase Elliott                               3,006

Matt Kenseth                              3,005

Jamie McMurray                       3,003