Logano rises to the fore in Stage 2 at Vegas

Joey Logano rose to the fore and claimed the win in stage 2 at the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The driver of the No. 22 Pennzoil Ford Mustang started the second stage in fourth after the field pitted under the stage break while his Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski brought the field down for the green flag by virtue of a two-tire stop. Stage 1 winner Kevin Harvick spun his tyres during his stop and restart third.

Logano rises to the fore in Stage 2 at Vegas

Joey Logano rose to the fore and claimed the win in stage 2 at the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The driver of the No. 22 Pennzoil Ford Mustang started the second stage in fourth after the field pitted under the stage break while his Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski brought the field down for the green flag by virtue of a two-tire stop. Stage 1 winner Kevin Harvick spun his tyres during his stop and restart third.

Logano prevailed over Keselowski on lap 97 with the aid of four fresh tyres with Kyle Busch trailing close behind.

The defending Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion fought tooth and nail with Busch for the next 23 laps. Logano initially held the upper hand until Lap 120 when Busch drafted off the lapped car of Austin Dillon and took the lead.

A slew of cars then made their green flag pitstops and Logano followed suit on Lap 123.

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Busch pitted on Lap 129 but was given a speeding penalty for entering pit road too fast. The drive-through penalty which dropped him to 24th, one lap down.

That gave the lead over to William Byron with Kurt Busch in tow. Banking on a caution flag to trap the majority of the field one lap down, the Hendrick Motorsports sophomore led the next 22 laps before stopping for fuel only on lap 130.

Kurt Busch pitted soon after, which moved Logano back into the lead ahead of stage 1 winner Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex, Jr. and Brad Keselowski.

Harvick closed the gap as Logano encountered lapped traffic, but Logano took the win a half a second ahead of Harvick.

Truex, Jr ended third with Keselowski and Hamlin completing the top five. Also gathering stage points were Chase Elliott in sixth, Aric Almirola in seventh, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. in eighth, Alex Bowman in ninth and Jimmie Johnson in tenth.

Kyle Busch managed to unlap himself under green and ended the stage in 19th place.

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