Truex wins incident-free second stage at Richmond

The No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota held a three-second lead over Matt Kenseth and held the point for the last 47 laps en route to the Stage 2 win in the Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond Raceway.

Erik Jones was third followed by Joey Logano, Brad Keseowski, Kyle Larson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman and Kyle Busch.

Ryan Newman stayed out between stages following a penalty on his last pit stop. He led the field to green on Lap 108 — but was passed by Kyle Busch on the restart. Larson moved up to second followed by Logano, Truex, Elliott, Harvick and Jones. Newman dropped to ninth and Earnhardt rounded out the top 10.

Larson took the lead from Kyle Busch on Lap 110. After the first 10 laps, Larson extended his advantage to a second over the No. 18 Toyota with Kenseth third. Truex, Logano, Elliott, Jones, Harvick, Earnhardt and McMurray rounded out the top 10 with Newman dropping to 11th.

Kyle Busch closed to within two-car lengths of Larson by Lap 127. He looked to the inside of the No. 42 Chevy in Turn 1 on the next circuit. Busch completed the pass out of Turn 2 on Lap 130. The battle enabled Kenseth to catch Larson. He passed the No. 42 on the inside entering Turn 2 on Lap 132 for second. Truex held onto fourth followed by Logano, Elliott, Jones, Harvick, Earnhardt and Kurt Busch. Newman remained 11th with Keselowski, McMurray, Johnson and Hamlin completing the top 15.

Truex passed Larson for third on Lap 137. Logano, Elliott, Jones, Earnhardt, Kurt Busch and Keselowski completed the top 10.

“Way too tight and sideways on exit,” said Harvick, who dropped from ninth on the restart to 12th.

Keselowski passed Kurt Busch for ninth on Lap 145. Three laps later, Truex moved by Kenseth for second-place and set his sights on Kyle Busch.

Halfway through the segment, Truex had closed to within .321-seconds of Busch. Kenseth, Larson, Logano, Elliott, Jones, Earnhardt, Keselowski and Kurt Busch rounded out the top 10.

Truex caught Busch on the backstretch and made the move on the inside on Lap 154 coming to the line for the lead. Busch had led 23 laps on the run before relinquishing the point. Keselowski passed Earnhardt fro eighth on Lap 158 as Jones worked the low line to catch Elliott for sixth.

“Go get the 22,” the No. 77 team told Jones.

Kenseth moved past Busch for second-place on Lap 161. Larson held onto fourth followed by Logano, Jones, Elliott, Keselowski, Earnhardt and Kurt Busch. Keselowski advanced to seventh on Lap 164, dropping Elliott to eighth. With Jones in traffic, Keselowski was able to close in on the No. 77 car’s bumper. Four-seconds separated the top seven cars with 30 laps remaining in the stage.

Keselowski went to work on the outside of Jones with 25 laps to go in the segment. Truex’s lead was 1.4-seconds over Kenseth with Kyle Busch, Larson, Logano, Jones, Keselowski, Earnhardt, Kurt Busch and Chase Elliott completing the top 10. Larson passed Busch for third on the next lap. Busch lost another spot to Logano on Lap 179.

Truex extended his advantage to two-seconds over Kenseth with 20 laps to decide the stage. Larson, Logano, Jones, Busch, Keselowski, Earnhardt, Kurt Busch and Elliott rounded out the top 10.

Jones passed Larson on Lap 187 to give Toyota the trifecta. Logano ran fifth followed by his Penske teammate Keselowski, Earnhardt, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch and Newman.

With 10 laps to go, Truex’s lead was 2.2-seconds over Kenseth. Logano passed Larson for fourth. Keselowski remained sixth followed by Earnhardt, Kurt and Kyle Busch and Newman. Keselowski moved into the top-five on Lap 196. Danica Patrick passed Elliott for 11th.