Martin Truex Jr. passes Alex Bowman on final lap for Stage 2 win at Dover

Martin Truex Jr. overtook Alex Bowman on the final lap to win Stage 2 on Monday at Dover International Speedway. It was a battle between cars that started the race at the back of the pack after multiple failures in pre-race inspection. For Truex it was his first stage win of the season, and it denied Bowman of his first career stage win.

Kevin Harvick, Chase Elliott and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top five in Stage 2. For Elliott, it was the second straight stage in which he could not hold on for the win, but he led a race-high 142 laps through the opening stanzas.

RELATED: Stage 2 results

Bowman was a man on the move throughout Stage 2, using a bump-and-run maneuver to get past Kyle Larson and into fourth place early in the session. Bowman later passed Harvick for third place and overtook teammate Elliott for the lead with 17 laps to go.

Joey Logano and William Byron were the only drivers who pitted during the break between Stage 1 and Stage 2. Logano started Stage 2 in 24th place while Byron was 25th. They finished the stage 14th and 15th, respectively.

STAGE 1

Polesitter Chase Elliott was cruising out front until a couple of late cautions changed everything in Stage 1. That allowed Joey Logano to win the stage in a one-lap shootout following a caution on Lap 115 when the No. 77 Chevrolet of Quin Houff hit the wall in Turn 2.

Logano had taken the lead from Elliott during an earlier caution when his team opted for two tires instead of the customary four. Logano then beat Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski off the line on the final restart and drove away for the stage win. Elliott, Kyle Larson and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top five.

RELATED: Stage 1 results

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. brought out a caution on Lap 105 when his No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford banged the wall in Turn 1. Stenhouse’s car sustained damage to the right-front fender, but not enough to knock him out of the race.

Stage 1 featured some nifty saves as drivers got loose racing close to each other. Those included Jimmie Johnson in the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet whose car wobbled when he moved up the track in front of Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota on Lap 10.

Four cars started from the rear for multiple failures in pre-race inspection. Martin Truex Jr., in the No. 19 JGR Toyota, was among those drivers, but he moved up to 12th place by the end of the stage.

There was also a caution at Lap 40 for a competition check of track conditions after Sunday’s rain.