Throughout the 2024 NASCAR season, Ken Martin, director of historical content for the sanctioning body, will offer his suggestions on which historical races fans should watch from the NASCAR Classics library in preparation for each upcoming race weekend.
Martin has worked exclusively for NASCAR since 2008 but has been involved with the sport since 1982, overseeing various projects. He has worked in the broadcast booth for hundreds of races, assisting the broadcast team with different tasks. This includes calculating the “points as they run” for the historic 1992 finale, the Hooters 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
The following suggestions are Ken’s picks to watch before this Sunday’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).
The 2018 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs kicked off with a chaotic race at Las Vegas as the playoff field was split between having great days and struggles.
Erik Jones put his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota on pole for the race as all 16 of the playoff drivers qualified in the top 18 positions; Jamie McMurray (12th) and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (14th) were the only non-playoff drivers to be in the top 18.
Jones and fellow playoff driver Kevin Harvick saw their chance at a great run go out the window on the 147th lap. Harvick blew a tire, and Jones was caught up in the accident, ending the day for both drivers. Harvick had entered the playoffs after winning seven of the first 26 races in 2018. He left Las Vegas third in points, but Jones wasn’t as lucky. His last-place finish left him 15th in points, 19 points behind the elimination line.
Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin were two drivers who also saw their days end with a DNF following an incident. Elliott finished 36th, and Hamlin finished 32nd.
As the race progressed, the strongest car of the day seemed to be the strongest car in the series at the time: Brad Keselowski’s No. 2 Ford. He finished off the regular season with wins at Darlington Raceway and Indianapolis Motor Speedway while leading a handful of times at Las Vegas before a handful of late cautions set the field up for an overtime finish.
Playoff drivers Jimmie Johnson and Alex Bowman each had tire issues late in the race following a restart for a hard crash involving Stenhouse Jr.
Keselowski stayed out front throughout those incidents — as well as another multi-car incident that brought out the red flag — to capture his third consecutive Cup Series victory.
Playoff drivers finished in the top seven spots in the field, while half of the playoff field finished 19th or worse.
It seemed all too familiar that the Las Vegas playoff race would come down to another thrilling overtime finish. But this time, it was somewhat of a surprise winner.
Hometown driver Kurt Busch always dreamed of winning at the speedway, but luck was never on his side. He had been Cup racing since 2000 but had yet to find Victory Lane at the track, seldom cracking the top 10.
As one of 12 drivers remaining who were chasing the title, he was on the championship hunt, so it would mean just a little bit more if he was able to finally capture that elusive victory at a track where he had always chased the glory.
Busch entered the race sitting 12th in points, one spot behind his brother Kyle. Luckily for Kurt, sixth through 12th in the standings were only separated by 15 points, giving him all the chances in the world to advance to the next round.
Denny Hamlin seemed to have the strongest car of the day, leading a race-high 121 laps, but a late caution flag shuffled the field after drivers came into the pits. The caution flag flew again late, setting up an overtime finish, but Busch was able to hold off the already-eliminated Matt DiBenedetto to take the checkered flag.
An overly emotional Busch took pride in his victory after the race, especially knowing how he was safely into the next round with the two unknown races at Talladega Superspeedway and the Charlotte Motor Roval coming up.
Hamlin came home third, while a handful of other playoff drivers in Martin Truex Jr., Alex Bowman and Kyle followed DiBenedetto for third through sixth. Austin Dillon was the lone playoff driver to finish lower than 22nd as he came home 32nd, putting him a hefty amount of points back of the elimination line with two races left.
The 2022 South Point 400 was the first race in which the playoff drivers had the opportunity to punch their ticket to Phoenix Raceway for a chance at the championship as the eight remaining playoff drivers looked to be the one driver remaining to hoist the trophy.
The race kicked off in historic fashion as Mark Martin paced the field in the No. 6 machine he won with at the speedway’s inaugural race in 1998. Who would be the next driver to finish his day in Victory Lane at the track?
Emotions were high as the 36-car field battled for the victory, even between a pair of drivers who were not still in the hunt for the championship.
Bubba Wallace captured the first stage victory, but things quickly went sour after contact with Kyle Larson. The two drivers received extensive damage in the incident, which ended with Wallace shoving Larson in the infield after confronting him about the incident.
The two drivers were credited with a 35th (Larson) and 36th-place finish (Wallace). Christopher Bell, another playoff driver, received damage in the accident and also was unable to continue, ending the race in 34th.
Ryan Blaney, who captured the second stage victory of the day, saw his chance at a strong run end after spinning, relegating him to a 28th-place finish.
At the end of the day, the battle for the victory came down to two playoff drivers, as Joey Logano passed Ross Chastain with three laps remaining to capture his third career victory at the track and, more importantly, punch his ticket to Phoenix for a chance to race for another title.
Chastain, Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin found themselves inside the top four with two races remaining before Phoenix.
Hamlin held a six-point advantage over William Byron, who held a small advantage over Chase Briscoe and Blaney. Bell’s troubles left him with a larger gap as he left the track 23 points back of Hamlin.
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