Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race Stage Two Recap
Stage two began with a bang as pole-sitter Erik Jones won the race off pit road beating out Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson.
Jones used the clean air to his advantage raving to his team, even at the dirty and compact Bristol Motor Speedway. However, Jones was unable to run the high line and on lap 198 saw Kyle Busch overtook the №77. Lap 202’s caution on Ricky Stenhouse Jr. opened the door to make the necessary adjustments to counter Busch.
Tire issues and near misses plagued Stage two as Martin Truex Jr. and AJ Allmendinger fell victim and each cut a tire. NASCAR did not throw the caution, nearly causing a blunder on the back stretch. In its wake, Coca-Cola 600 winner Austin Dillon and Jeffrey Earnhardt collected each other in turn four on lap 231. Pit strategy played out as Jimmie Johnson took P2 and Matt Kenseth took P1 with 12 to go. Kenseth’s huge gamble paid off to collect his third stage win of the season.
STAGE 2 RESULTS:
Kenseth, 20
Johnson, 48
Harvick, 4
Newman, 31
Jones, 77
Larson, 42
Hamlin, 11
Busch, 18
Menard, 27
Bowyer, 14
