Kevin Harvick earned his series-leading fifth win of the season in dramatic fashion on Saturday night, passing Martin Truex Jr. with two laps to go en route to his 42nd career checkered flag.

Harvick led 79 laps on the day after starting on the pole. The win is his third career at Kansas, tying him with Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon for most all-time at the track. 

The race was relatively clean until late in the Final Stage when mayhem ensued. First it was Daniel Suarez and Alex Bowman colliding for the first natural caution of the day. After that, stage winners Ryan Blaney and Kyle Larson connected and knocked each other out of contention. Finally just laps later it was William Byron who got loose and wrecked the field.

Here's a look at all three wrecks in succession:

Matt Kenseth made his return to NASCAR in the No. 6 for Roush Fenway Racing on Saturday night but was caught up in the final wreck caused by Byron. Kenseth was running in the mid-20s off the lead lap most of the race before heading to the garage.

KC Masterpiece 400 at Kansas results

  1. Kevin Harvick
  2. Martin Truex Jr.
  3. Joey Logano
  4. Kyle Larson
  5. Denny Hamlin
  6. Paul Menard
  7. Erik Jones
  8. Kurt Busch
  9. Aric Almirola
  10. Kyle Busch
  11. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
  12. Chase Elliott
  13. David Ragan
  14. Brad Keselowski
  15. Clint Bowyer
  16. AJ Allmendinger
  17. Austin Dillon
  18. Alex Bowman
  19. Jimmie Johnson
  20. Michael McDowell
  21. Kasey Kahne
  22. Matt DiBenedetto
  23. Darrell Wallace Jr.
  24. Corey LaJoie
  25. Landon Cassill
  26. Ross Chastain
  27. Reed Sorenson
  28. Daniel Suarez
  29. Gray Gaulding
  30. Ryan Newman
  31. Jamie McMurray
  32. Timmy Hill
  33. William Byron
  34. Chris Buescher
  35. BJ McLeod
  36. Matt Kenseth
  37. Ryan Blaney
  38. Ty Dillon

Unofficial Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings

POSITIONDRIVERCAR #POINTSBEHINDWINS

1.

Kyle Busch

18

503

LEADER

3

2.

Joey Logano

22

491

-12

1

3.

Kevin Harvick

4

484

-19

5

4.

Brad Keselowski

2

396

-107

0

5.

Kurt Busch

41

393

-110

0

6.

Clint Bowyer

14

386

-117

1

7.

Denny Hamlin

11

380

-123

0

8.

Martin Truex Jr.

78

376

-127

1

9.

Ryan Blaney

12

365

-138

0

10.

Kyle Larson

42

356

-147

0

11.

Aric Almirola

10

342

-161

0

12.

Jimmie Johnson

48

286

-217

0

13.

Erik Jones

20

285

-218

0

14.

Alex Bowman

88

271

-232

0

15.

Chase Elliott

9

266

-237

0

16.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

17

265

-238

0



CUTOFF


17.

Austin Dillon

3

241

-262

1

18.

Paul Menard

21

240

-263

0

19.

William Byron

24

229

-274

0

20.

Ryan Newman

31

225

-278

0

Stage 1: Blaney holds off Harvick for stage win

Kevin Harvick started from the pole and got out to an early lead. Kyle Larson started from the rear of the field after spinning in practice but wasted no time racing to the front. The No. 42 climbed inside the top 10 before 20 laps were even completed. Clint Bowyer also climbed inside the top 15 from the rear before the competition caution came out after Lap 30.

While Bowyer and Larson made their moves up through the field, Matt Kenseth remained stagnant in his return to auto racing. Harvick put Kenseth a lap down right before the competition yellow, but fortunately for the No. 6 team they were awarded the free pass for being the first car a lap down.

William Byron won the race off pit road after taking two tires but had to drop to the rear of the field due to a tire violation. Ryan Blaney assumed the lead over Harvick, who lost position after struggling to get out of his pit box.

As Blaney continued to cruise in the lead, seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson was forced pit under green with less than 20 to go in the stage due to a loose wheel. That put the three-time Kansas winner, Johnson, a lap down. Johnson was able to avoid going one lap down as the eventual stage winner Blaney battled Harvick on the final lap.

Stage 1 results

  1. Ryan Blaney (10 points plus 1 playoff point)
  2. Kevin Harvick (9 points)
  3. Brad Keselowski (8 points)
  4. Joey Logano (7 points)
  5. Kyle Larson (6 points)
  6. Aric Almirola (5 points)
  7. Denny Hamlin (4 points)
  8. Kyle Busch (3 points)
  9. Kurt Busch (2 points)
  10. Clint Bowyer (1 point)

Stage 2: Larson claims the top spot

Harvick won the race off pit road to reclaim the lead at the start of Stage 2. Behind him, Logano and Larson battled for third place with Larson taking the spot. 

About 30 laps into the stage, Keselowski was forced to bring his car down pit road with reports of a loose wheel. Unfortunately for Keselowski, he had to come back down pit road again for another loose wheel just a few laps later. Denny Hamlin got scheduled green flag stops going halfway through the second stage. The rest of the field, including the leader Harvick, made their way down pit road shortly after.

Harvick cycled back to the lead but not for long as it was Larson making the pass for the top spot with less than 30 to go in the stage. 

Larson continued on as the race leader with Harvick in his rearview. The No. 42 built nearly a two-second lead before taking the green-and-white checkered flag at the end of Stage 2.

Stage 2 results:

  1. Kyle Larson (10 points plus 1 playoff point)
  2. Kevin Harvick (9 points)
  3. Ryan Blaney (8 points)
  4. Kyle Busch (7 points)
  5. Joey Logano (6 points)
  6. Aric Almirola (5 points)
  7. Kurt Busch (4 points)
  8. Clint Bowyer (3 points)
  9. Erik Jones (2 points)
  10. Martin Truex Jr. (1 point)

Final Stage: Late cautions spice things up

Larson led the field to green to begin the Final Stage and held the top spot on the restart. The No. 42 absolutely dominated before leading the field down pit road under green with less than 60 to go in the race. 

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. attempted to make things interesting by staying out longer than everyone else before pitting from the lead with 42 to go. Larson reassumed the lead after Stenhouse came in for tires and fuel.

Just when we thought Larson would drive on easily for a win, Daniel Suarez got loose, hit the wall and brought out the first natural caution of the day. Alex Bowman was also involved.

On the restart, Blaney pushed Larson as Harvick was on the outside but the No. 12 got loose and fell back. Larson lost his push, allowing Harvick to take the lead with a little over 20 to go in the race. Harvick looked like he was going to go on and win the race then Blaney and Larson got tangled up and brought out the caution. The wreck sent Blaney to the garage and knocked Larson out of contention.

Thought it was over? Think again. This time on the restart William Byron got loose, took out Clint Bowyer and actually landed on top of Ryan Newman's car before going up in flames. Byron was able to climb out of the car under his own power. The wreck was so messy that the red flag had to be issued for track cleanup. Matt Kenseth, Jamie McMurray, Ty Dillon and Chris Buescher were also involved.

Truex took the lead on the restart but couldn't hold off Harvick who drove on to collect his series-leading fifth win of the season.

Miss any of the action? Catch up with our live blog to relive highlights, analysis and more from Saturday's race under the lights at Kansas.