2019 South Point 400

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 1.5 mi 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.

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 1200 acre 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.

First practice
Clint Bowyer was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 30.327 seconds and a speed of 178.059 mph.

Final practice
Kurt Busch was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 30.461 seconds and a speed of 177.276 mph.

Qualifying
Clint Bowyer scored the pole for the race with a time of 30.180 and a speed of 178.926 mph.

Stage results
Stage One Laps: 80

Stage Two Laps: 80

Final stage results
Stage Three Laps: 107

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: Reporter 1: What happened there with the #53, there late? Kyle Busch: #52, get it right. Don´t know. Reporter 1: And how´d that impact your car? Kyle Busch: Killed it. Reporter 1: What did you think... were you happy that you were able to come back after the early damage to your (car)? Kyle Busch: Nope. Reporter 1: What happened there at the beginning of the race? Kyle Busch: I´m just here so I don´t get fined. Reporter 2: How about the heat? How did it... Kyle Busch: Felt great. Reporter 2: You felt fine out there the whole time? Reporter 1: Based on since you´re doing to a place where you won last time, last year, Richmond... Kyle Busch: Nope, can´t pass there. Reporter 1: Do you feel OK about your chances overall at Homestead? Kyle Busch: Don´t care. Reporter 3: Does it help any at all that you had the bonus points coming in here, coming out of this race? Kyle Busch: Just here so I don´t get fined. Reporter 1: Do you feel like if you were able to get a top 10... (Kyle Busch´s PR manager walks up to Kyle Busch and talks to Busch) Kyle Busch: I´m answering the dumbest fucking questions over and over again. Am I good? 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: 142.555 mph

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.

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.

Standings after the race

 * Manufacturers' Championship standings
 * Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.