Keselowski wins Stage 1 after pit road incident jumbles running order

After Jeffrey Earnhardt plowed into the water barrels at the entrance of pit road to ignite the first caution of the day at Dover International Speedway, Keselowski capitalized on his track position and held on for the first stage win in the Apache Warrior 400. 

Kyle Busch was .962-seconds behind in second followed by Martin Truex Jr., Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Danica Patrick, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Kevin Harvick, David Ragan and Denny Hamlin. 

Keselowski led 31 laps. 

Truex led the field to green and shot out to a five-car lead over Kenseth before completing the first lap.  After seven circuits, Truex held a one-second advantage over Kenseth followed by Kyle Busch, Larson, Suarez, Earnhardt, Hamlin, Harvick, Newman and Kurt Busch. 

Larson passed Kyle Busch for third after 11 laps — and Suarez followed on the next circuit. Earnhardt moved up to fifth after 15 laps. Kyle Busch dropped to sixth followed by Harvick, Hamlin, Kurt Busch and Newman. Larson passed Kenseth for second.

Twenty laps in, Larson closed to within .682-seconds of Truex. Kenseth continued third followed by Suarez and Earnhardt. Harvick, Kyle Busch, Hamlin, Kurt Busch and Chase Elliott rounded out the top 10. Earnhardt passed Suarez for fourth on Lap 23. 

Larson took the lead from Truex coming off of Turn 2 on Lap 25. Harvick moved up to the top five on Lap 27. Earnhardt took third from Kenseth on Lap 28. Harvick closed in and passed Kenseth on the next lap. 

Larson extended his advantage of nearly a second over Truex on Lap 33. After the first 40 laps, Larson had led 14 laps. Truex was second followed by Earnhardt, Harvick and Hamlin. Elliott, Kesenth, Suarez, Kyle Busch and Kurt Busch completed the top 10. Thirty cars remained on the lead lap. Johnson passed Kurt Busch for 10th on Lap 46.

The top 10 remained the same after 50 laps but Newman passed Kurt Busch for 11th. Keselowski and Bowyer followed to knock Busch to 14th. Truex was closing in on Larson over the next 10 laps. 

Truex finally regained the lead on Lap 60. Larson had led 35 laps. Harvick moved passed Earnhardt for third on the next circuit. Elliott ran fifth followed by Hamlin, Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Johnson and Suarez. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., the last of the playoff contenders, ran 23rd with 26 cars on the lead lap. 

With 50 laps remaining in the stage, Truex’s lead was a half-second over Harvick, who passed Larson for second. Earnhardt, Elliott, Hamlin, Kenseth, Johnson, Kyle Busch and Suarez rounded out the top 10.

“Need the front to turn better,” Harvick told the crew with 40 laps remaining. 

Truex lapped Stenhouse on Lap 81. Kahne pitted from 13th on Lap 82. Blaney, Suarez and Earnhardt followed on Lap 83. Truex pit on Lap 84 with Newman, Harvick, Larson, Kenseth, Johnson, Clint Bowyer, Austin Dillon and Kurt Busch. Elliott, Hamlin, Joey Logano, McMurray, Erik Jones and Paul Menard pitted on Lap 85. 

The first caution was triggered on Lap 86 when Jeffrey Earnhardt spun out coming to pit road and hit the water barrels at the entrance to pit road. Only five cars remained on the lead lap as most of the drivers had pitted just before the wreck. Kyle Busch was in the lead followed by Keselowski — and Stenhouse, who recovered to third coming from a lap down. 

Danica Patrick and David Ragan were the only other cars on the lead lap. Truex, who led 47 of the first 87 laps, ran sixth, one lap down followed by Harvick, Larson, McDowell, Elliott, Earnhardt, Landon Cassill, Hamlin, Kenseth, Kahne, Suarez, Johnson, Bowyer, Newman and McMurray. Jones (21st), Logano, Austin Dillon, Aric Almirola, Kurt Busch and Ryan Blaney were two laps down. 

NASCAR called the red flag at 36:46 into the race to replace the water barrels. 

“Those stage points are huge, so we’ll give it all we got,” Stenhouse said over the radio. “These cars are a handful out here.”

The yellow flag was displayed after 15minutes and nine-seconds, with 313 laps remaining.

After the top-five cars pitted, Keselowski came off pit road first followed by Kyle Busch, Stenhouse, Patrick and Ragan.

“That screwed up everything,” said Harvick, who was running second prior to the pit stops and caution.  

On Lap 90, the cars behind the leaders took the wave around to return to the lead lap. Eighteen cars returned to the lead lap along with 19th-place Jones who was the lucky dog. Austin Dillon, Blaney and Kurt Busch remained one-lap down. 

The race returned to green on Lap  91. Keselowski held the point but Keselowski cruised past Ragan and Patrick for fourth. With five laps remaining in the stage, Keselowski led followed by Busch, Stenhouse, Truex, Patrick, Ragan, Larson, Elliott, Harvick and Earnhardt. Hamlin passed Earnhardt two laps later. Truex took third from Stenhouse on Lap 99.

Elliott passed Ragan for seventh on Lap 105. Harvick made the move on the No. 38 for eighth on Lap 107. With 10 laps remaining in the stage, Keselowski held a .928-second lead over Busch. Truex, Stenhouse, Patrick, Larson, Elliott, Harvick, Ragan and Hamlin rounded out the top 10.