Ryan Blaney took the lead from Stage 1 winner Kyle Larson during a pit cycle on Lap 37 of the Bank of America Roval 400 and held on for 14 laps to win Stage 2 on Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
RELATED: Stage 2 results | Follow Final Stage
It was Blaney's sixth stage win of the season.
Jimmie Johnson finished Stage 2 in second, while Kurt Busch -- looking for his second win of the season -- was third. Joey Logano and Clint Bowyer rounded out the top five.
The stage was free of cautions, perhaps with drivers aiming for long-term pit-cycle positioning over focusing on passing cars, and setting up what should be a particularly intense and jumbled Final Stage.
With five laps to go, however, playoff driver Aric Almirola scraped the wall trying to avoid the No. 24 of William Byron, who had a tire going down. Almirola then had an uncontrolled tire penalty during his trip to pit road.
Martin Truex Jr. and Brad Keselowski both spun coming through the chicane with two laps to go in the stage. The No. 2 of Keselowski sustained a tire rub. They placed 11th and 12th, respectively.
Among the 16 playoff drivers, Almirola was the lowest-running in the stage at 36th.
| Finish |
Driver |
Team |
Race Points |
| 1 |
Ryan Blaney |
Team Penske |
10 |
| 2 |
Jimmie Johnson |
Hendrick Motorsports |
9 |
| 3 |
Kurt Busch |
Stewart-Haas Racing |
8 |
| 4 |
Joey Logano |
Team Penske |
7 |
| 5 |
Clint Bowyer |
Stewart-Haas Racing |
6 |
| 6 |
Chase Elliott |
Hendrick Motorsports |
5 |
| 7 |
Austin Dillon |
Richard Childress Racing |
4 |
| 8 |
Alex Bowman |
Hendrick Motorsports |
3 |
| 9 |
Kyle Larson |
Chip Ganassi Racing |
2 |
| 10 |
Daniel Hemric |
Richard Childress Racing |
1 |
Stage 1
Kyle Larson took the lead from polesitter Kurt Busch on Lap 7 of the Bank of America Roval 400 and held on for 19 laps to win Stage 1 on Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
RELATED: Stage 1 results
It was Larson's fourth stage win of the season.
Busch led six laps and finished Stage 1 in second, while Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Clint Bowyer -- in danger of missing the Round of 12 cut -- was third. Road course ace Martin Truex Jr. and Watkins Glen International winner Chase Elliott rounded out the top five.
In need of a win to advance to the Round of 12, Denny Hamlin ran into an issue early when he came to pit road for an unscheduled stop on Lap 6 with a hood issue. He finished the stage in 19th.
The first caution of the day came out on Lap 13 when the No. 51 of Stanton Barrett came into Turn 1 a little too hot, slamming into the wall and taking significant damage. The incident ended his race for a 40th-place finish in his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series result since 2006.
Among the 16 playoff drivers, Aric Almirola was the lowest-running in the stage at 34th.
| Finish |
Driver |
Team |
Race Points |
| 1 |
Kyle Larson |
Chip Ganassi Racing |
10 |
| 2 |
Kurt Busch |
Stewart-Haas Racing |
9 |
| 3 |
Clint Bowyer |
Stewart-Haas Racing |
8 |
| 4 |
Martin Truex Jr. |
Furniture Row Racing |
7 |
| 5 |
Chase Elliott |
Hendrick Motorsports |
6 |
| 6 |
Jimmie Johnson |
Hendrick Motorsports |
5 |
| 7 |
Kyle Busch |
Joe Gibbs Racing |
4 |
| 8 |
AJ Allmendinger |
JTG Daugherty Racing |
3 |
| 9 |
Alex Bowman |
Hendrick Motorsports |
2 |
| 10 |
Ryan Blaney |
Team Penske |
1 |