Kyle Busch wins incident-free Stage 1

Busch, who started from the pole, led 33 of 50 laps in the Pocono 400, en route to the Stage 1 win. Busch beat Kevin Harvick to the line by 1.964-seconds.

“It’s definitely way hotter, so you’re seeing a big spike in fall off and cars being slower,” said Kyle Busch.

Brad Keselowski, Kyle Larson, Jimmie Johnson, Chase Elliott, Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth, Jamie McMurray and Austin Dillon rounded out the top 10.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Martin Truex Jr. started from the rear of the field for changing engines. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. dropped to the back for unapproved body modifications.

Kyle Busch led the first 17 laps prior to his pit stop.

Joey Logano was the first driver with issues. On Lap 5, he pitted with a shredded left rear tire and dropped to 39th.

Ryan Blaney was the first driver to pit on Lap 13, he was running second. However, Blaney had a loose wheel and had to return to the pits on Lap 17. He finished 19th in the first stage.

Erik Jones took the lead after Busch pitted on Lap 17. During the first round of pit stops, Ryan Newman and Darrell Wallace Jr., were both busted for speeding. Wallace returned on Lap 22 and exceeded the limit again and received a second drive-thru penalty. He dropped

By Lap 30, every driver except Jones and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. had pitted. Stenhouse came to the pits on Lap 32.

Jones finally pit on Lap 35 after leading 17 laps. Kyle Busch retook the lead. Harvick was second followed by Keselowski, Kurt Busch, Larson, Matt Kenseth, Johnson, Elliott, McMurray, Logano, Austin Dillon, Clint Bowyer, Kasey Kahne, Daniel Suarez and Denny Hamlin. Truex recovered to 16th after coming from behind complaining about debris on his grille on Lap 10.

With 10 to go, Busch’s lead over Harvick was 4.5-seconds. Twenty-seven cars remained on the lead lap. Logano, who pitted early with a tire issue, returned to pit road with nine laps remaining in the first segment. He finished the segment in 28th.

Elliott’s 18 positions were the most gained over the first stage.