Denny Hamlin inherits Stage 2 win as the leaders pit early

However, the stop did not go well for Stage 1 winner Allmendinger, who was fifth off pit road. It was Brad Keselowski, Chase Elliott, Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Larson.

The race resumed on Lap 30/110, but just a few laps later, the caution flag was needed once more when Allmendinger found more trouble.

The No. 47 missed a shift, blowing the engine. He came to a stop at the exit of Turn 1, emerging from the car dejected and heartbroken. “I haven’t missed a shift on a road course in ten years … I let everybody down,” he later told FS1.

Jamie McMurray also encountered problems, forced behind the wall with no oil pressure.

The remainder of the stage went caution-free, but not without incident. Brad Keselowski ended up dropping all four wheels off the track at Turn 9, sliding sideways in the process. Darrell Wallace Jr. also went for a spin in the hairpin and Daniel Suarez needed all the track to pull his car out of a four-wheel slide in Turn 7.

As was the case in Stage 1, Harvick, Truex and Clint Bowyer gave up a potential stage win in favor of better track position for the final stage.

It was Denny Hamlin who then inherited the lead and claimed the Stage 2 win over Elliott, Johnson, Keselowski, Ryan Blaney, Aric Almirola, Alex Bowman, Michael McDowell, Chris Buescher and Ryan Newman.