The 2019 South Point 400 was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on September 15, 2019, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas. Contested over 267 laps on the asphalt intermediate speedway, it was the 27th race of the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, first race of the Playoffs, and the first race of the Round of 16.
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 complex of multiple tracks for motorsports racing. The complex is owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., which is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Entry list (i) denotes driver who are ineligible for series driver points. (R) denotes rookie driver.
Driver Team Manufacturer 00 Landon Cassill (i) StarCom Racing Chevrolet 1 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 6 Ryan Newman Roush Fenway Racing Ford 8 Daniel Hemric (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 13 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 15 Ross Chastain (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 20 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 21 Paul Menard Wood Brothers Racing Ford 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27 Joe Nemechek (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 32 Corey LaJoie Go Fas Racing Ford 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 36 Matt Tifft (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 37 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 38 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 41 Daniel Suárez Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 43 Bubba Wallace Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet 47 Ryan Preece (R) JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 51 B. J. McLeod (i) Petty Ware Racing Ford 52 Garrett Smithley (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford 53 J. J. Yeley (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford 66 Joey Gase (i) MBM Motorsports Toyota 77 Reed Sorenson Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 88 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 95 Matt DiBenedetto Leavine Family Racing ToyotaOfficial entry list
Practice
First practice Clint Bowyer was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 30.327 seconds and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 30.327 178.059 2 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 30.470 177.223 3 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 30.483 177.148Official first practice results
Final practice Kurt Busch was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 30.461 seconds and a speed of .
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 1 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 30.461 177.276 2 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 30.546 176.783 3 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 30.626 176.321Official final practice results
Qualifying Clint Bowyer scored the pole for the race with a time of 30.180 and a speed of .
Qualifying results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 114 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 30.180 241 Daniel Suárez Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 30.189 34 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 30.206 410 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 30.252 51 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 30.318 68 Daniel Hemric (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 30.366 73 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 30.454 89 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 30.463 948 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 30.488 1034 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 30.490 1138 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 30.527 1217 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 30.531 1311 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 30.539 1424 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 30.567 1542 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 30.590 1647 Ryan Preece (R) JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 30.615 176 Ryan Newman Roush Fenway Racing Ford 30.618 182 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 30.619 1988 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 30.620 2018 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 30.633 2121 Paul Menard Wood Brothers Racing Ford 30.672 2222 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 30.674 2312 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 30.706 2419 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 30.721 2595 Matt DiBenedetto Leavine Family Racing Toyota 30.726 2620 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 30.740 2713 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet 30.742 2837 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 30.774 2936 Matt Tifft (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 30.808 3000 Landon Cassill (i) StarCom Racing Chevrolet 30.839 3143 Bubba Wallace Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet 30.893 3215 Ross Chastain (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 31.027 3332 Corey LaJoie Go Fas Racing Ford 31.081 3452 Garrett Smithley (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford 31.411 3551 B. J. McLeod (i) Petty Ware Racing Ford 31.413 3653 J. J. Yeley (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford 31.538 3777 Reed Sorenson Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 31.572 3827 Joe Nemechek (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 32.070 3966 Joey Gase (i) MBM Motorsports Toyota 32.086Official qualifying results
Race
Stage results
Stage One Laps: 80
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Points1 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 102 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 93 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 84 41 Daniel Suárez Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 75 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 66 1 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 57 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 48 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 39 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 210 20 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 1Official stage one results
Stage Two Laps: 80
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Points1 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 102 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 93 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 84 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 75 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 66 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 57 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 48 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 39 1 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 210 88 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 1Official stage two results
Final stage results
Stage Three Laps: 107
Pos Grid Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points1 24 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 267 532 3 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 267 513 18 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 267 344 8 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 267 395 23 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 267 356 19 88 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 267 327 14 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 267 398 15 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 267 399 22 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 267 4710 17 6 Ryan Newman Roush Fenway Racing Ford 267 2711 9 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 267 2612 7 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 267 3113 4 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 267 3214 21 21 Paul Menard Wood Brothers Racing Ford 267 2315 13 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 267 2616 27 13 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet 267 2117 6 8 Daniel Hemric (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 267 2018 28 37 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 266 1919 20 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 266 1820 2 41 Daniel Suárez Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 266 2421 25 95 Matt DiBenedetto Leavine Family Racing Toyota 266 1622 11 38 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 266 1523 31 43 Bubba Wallace Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet 266 1424 10 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 266 1325 1 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 266 1226 12 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 265 1127 16 47 Ryan Preece (R) JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 265 1028 33 32 Corey LaJoie Go Fas Racing Ford 265 929 30 00 Landon Cassill (i) StarCom Racing Chevrolet 265 030 29 36 Matt Tifft (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 264 731 32 15 Ross Chastain (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 262 032 36 53 J. J. Yeley (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford 260 033 35 51 B. J. McLeod (i) Petty Ware Racing Ford 259 034 38 27 Joe Nemechek (i) Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 257 035 34 52 Garrett Smithley (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford 255 036 26 20 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 254 237 37 77 Reed Sorenson Spire Motorsports Toyota 250 138 39 66 Joey Gase (i) MBM Motorsports Toyota 249 039 5 1 Kurt Busch Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 187 8Official race results
Kyle Busch/Garrett Smithley incident Late in the race, Kyle Busch was battling for position with William Byron when #52 Honest Abe Roofing driver Garrett Smithley, who was laps down, couldn't move down to get out of the way of the lead lap cars. Kyle Busch also didn't have enough time to move down, and Busch would hit Smithley in the rear. Busch would have major front end damage, saying "think the nose is knocked in. Fucking destroyed". Busch would go on to finish 19th, and Smithley 35th, 12 laps down.
Busch was noticeably frustrated during post race interviews, saying:
On Monday, September 16, Smithley would defend his actions on Twitter, tweeting ¨Held my line... 2 cars got around.¨ Fans were split on the issue- some saying Smithley should have gotten out of the way, while others saying Busch should have moved his line earlier. On the same day, Smithley would post an announcement on Twitter, defending his racing career up to that point and saying that he wasn't mad at Busch. Busch would criticize the skill of lapped car drivers, saying “We’re at the top echelon of motorsports, and we’ve got guys who have never won Late Model races running on the racetrack. It’s pathetic. They don’t know where to go. What else do you do?¨ On September 20, Smithley would tweet ¨Even when I don’t do anything @KyleBusch blames me. Went outta my way to give him room tonight. Think he might have thought I was in a different car. 🤷🏼♂️¨. As of now, nothing more has been said, but the question of skill needed in NASCAR has remained, recently brought up by Quin Houff´s incident with Matt Dibenedetto at the 2020 O'Reilly Auto Parts 500.
Race statistics Lead changes: 24 among 14 different drivers Cautions/Laps: 4 for 22 Red flags: 0 Time of race: 2 hours, 48 minutes and 34 seconds Average speed:
Media
Television NBC Sports called the race on the television side. Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt Jr. had the call in the booth for the race. Dave Burns, Parker Kligerman, Marty Snider and Kelli Stavast reported from pit lane during the race.
NBCSNBooth announcersPit reporters Lap-by-lap: Rick AllenColor-commentator: Jeff BurtonColor-commentator: Steve LetarteColor-commentator: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dave BurnsParker KligermanMarty SniderKelli Stavast
Radio PRN covered the radio call for the race which was also simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Doug Rice and Mark Garrow called the race in 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, Brett McMillan, Wendy Venturini, and Heather DeBeaux worked pit road for the radio side.
PRN Booth announcersTurn announcersPit reporters Lead announcer: Doug RiceAnnouncer: Mark Garrow Turns 1 & 2: Rob AlbrightTurns 3 & 4: Pat Patterson Brad GillieBrett McMillanWendy VenturiniHeather DeBeaux
Standings after the race