Kyle Busch takes Stage 2 win at Phoenix
Kyle Busch’s denomination of Stage 2 at ISM Raceway near Phoenix was secured when a caution was displayed with two of 75 laps to go.
The stage never returned to green following Alex Bowman’s wreck in Turn 2.
Busch led every lap of the stage and held a nearly 3-second lead over Clint Bowyer when the caution was displayed. Kevin Harvick finished third, Martin Truex Jr. was fourth and Denny Hamlin completed the top-five.
Also collecting stage points were Ryan Newman, Jimmie Johnson, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott and Kurt Busch.
During the break between Stages 1 and 2, Kyle Busch elected to remain on the track while most of the lead-lap cars decided to pit.
On the restart on Lap 84, Busch led the way followed by Harvick, Hamlin and Bowyer. Ty Dillon was the first car off pit road among those who pit.
With 55 laps remaining in the second stage, Kyle Busch held about a 1 second lead over Bowyer. They were followed by Harvick and Truex.
Kyle Busch built up a 1.7-second lead over Bowyer with 40 laps to go in the stage. Harvick remained in third.
On Lap 116, Kyle Busch put Brad Keselowski two laps down. Keselowski had spun and tagged the wall in the first stage.
With 25 laps to go, Kyle Busch had expanded his lead over Bowyer to more than 3.6 seconds. There were 21 cars on the lead lap.
On Lap 140, Busch made slight contact with the inside lapped car of Daniel Suarez as he went three-wide with William Byron, who was on the outside.
With five laps left in the stage, Kyle Busch still maintained about a 3 second lead over Bowyer. Harvick ran third, Truex fourth and Hamlin completed the top-five.
On Lap 148, Bowman spun and hit the Turn 2 wall which brought out a caution. It appeared the race would not return to green before the completion of the stage.
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