Stage 2 recap
Joey Logano scored the Stage 2 victory at North Wilkesboro Speedway in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race (TNT Sports, truTV, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Denny Hamlin was second ahead of Chase Briscoe, Bubba Wallace and Shane van Gisbergen, who nabbed points in both stages Sunday night. Carson Hocevar, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney, Todd Gilliland and Daniel Suárez concluded the top 10.
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RELATED: Live leaderboard | At-track photos: North Wilkesboro
Two mid-stage incidents shook up the running order and trapped multiple contenders one lap down.
A Lap 183 caution altered the event when Alex Bowman dove across Tyler Reddick’s nose exiting Turn 2, sending both cars into a spin. Bowman was attempting to pit but was running in the outermost lane with Reddick to his left. The incident occurred in the midst of green-flag pit stops, trapping multiple drivers like Chase Elliott, William Byron, Chris Buescher, Austin Cindric and Christopher Bell two laps down at the time of caution before taking advantage of the wave-around rule, earning one lap back.
At the time of the Lap 193 restart, just 15 cars remained on the lead lap.
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Shortly thereafter, Bell got loose entering Turn 3 while racing with Josh Berry, sliding high into Berry’s left rear. Berry spun and smacked the SAFER barrier in Turns 3 and 4 on Lap 199, breaking left-side suspension parts that sent the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford to the garage for repairs.
MORE: Stage 2 results
Logano has led over 160 laps, his most since the 2022 season finale in which he won the Cup Series championship. Among the drivers who were trapped one lap down were Hendrick Motorsports teammates Elliott, Kyle Larson and Byron as well as Reddick and Bell.
Stage 1 recap
Ty Gibbs eked out a Stage 1 victory over Shane van Gisbergen in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
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Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin and Carson Hocevar completed the top five after 80 laps at the historic 0.625-mile short track. Christopher Bell, Chase Elliott, Chase Briscoe, Austin Cindric and William Byron rounded out the top 10.
RELATED: Stage 1 results | Watch Gibbs clinch Stage 1 win
The yellow flag waved for the first time on Lap 40 when contact between Zane Smith and John Hunter Nemechek sent Nemechek for a spin through Turn 2. Hamlin was the only driver who stayed out under that caution period midway through the first stage. Kyle Larson and Connor Zilisch made contact on pit road, however, during those stops on Lap 45. Larson was leaving his stall after a two-tire stop and exited just in front of Zilisch, whose left-front fender slammed Larson’s right-front wheel. Both continued without apparent issue, but Larson only mustered a 34th-place finish at the conclusion of Stage 1.
Ross Chastain started from the rear due to multiple inspection failures on Saturday and had to serve a pass-through penalty at the start of the race, losing a lap early. However, the Trackhouse Racing driver received the free pass when the yellow waved to end Stage 1 and started Stage 2 back on the lead lap.
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Gibbs won the race off pit road during the stage break but incurred a penalty for speeding on pit road, sending him to the rear of the field for the restart to start Stage 2.
This story will be updated.
