Alex Bowman, Joey Logano split stage wins at Charlotte Motor Speedway
Staff Report
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
Alex Bowman surged to a Stage 2 win in Thursday night's Alsco Uniforms 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Bowman's Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet led 41 laps in the stage, which ended with 115 of a scheduled 208 laps complete. The result was his fourth stage win of the season, tops in the NASCAR Cup Series.
RELATED: Stage 2 results
Ryan Blaney held on for second place for the second straight stage, with Team Penske teammate Joey Logano right behind him in third. Chase Elliott and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top five in Stage 2 in order.
Kyle Busch's Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota suffered left-rear fender damage and a cut tire during a restart scramble at the start of the stage. He made an unscheduled pit stop and returned to the race in 38th place, two laps off the pace.
The only caution flag of the stage flew for a Lap 73 incident involving Quin Houff and Brennan Poole.
Stage 2 results
Finish
Driver
Team
Points
1
Alex Bowman
Hendrick Motorsports
10
2
Ryan Blaney
Team Penske
9
3
Joey Logano
Team Penske
8
4
Chase Elliott
Hendrick Motorsports
7
5
Kevin Harvick
Stewart-Haas Racing
6
6
Kurt Busch
Chip Ganassi Racing
5
7
Austin Dillon
Richard Childress Racing
4
8
John Hunter Nemechek
Front Row Motorsports
3
9
Christopher Bell
Leavine Family Racing
2
10
Bubba Wallace
Richard Petty Motorsports
1
Logano prevails in opening stage
Joey Logano rose up to grab victory in an eventful opening stage in Thursday night's NASCAR Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
RELATED: Stage 1 results
Logano led 33 of the 55 laps in the opening stage of the Alsco Uniforms 500. The outcome marked the second stage win of the 2020 season for the driver of the Team Penske No. 22 Ford.
Logano teammate Ryan Blaney took second place in the stage with Matt DiBenedetto third and Kevin Harvick completing a top-four sweep by Ford drivers. Alex Bowman was fifth in the top-running Chevrolet.
Pole-starter William Byron led 11 laps before a round of pit stops after a competition caution flew on Lap 20. But Byron's No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet made contact with Corey LaJoie's Go Fas Racing No. 32 Ford on pit road, forcing Byron to pit road for an additional stop. The pit-stop cycle also drew speeding penalties for two drivers: Denny Hamlin and Clint Bowyer.
Two incidents and a weather-related stoppage slowed the first stage. Joey Gase and Garrett Smithley tangled in a Lap 1 crash, severely damaging both cars. Brad Keselowski's No. 2 Ford cut a tire and Matt Kenseth's No. 42 Chevrolet spun in his wake in Turn 4 on Lap 29.
Keselowski was penalized for pitting too soon and his Team Penske entry suffered damage to the right-front fender because of his tire trouble.
The event was red-flagged for 74 minutes with just 30 laps complete because of lightning and rain from a nearby storm. The event was postponed from a scheduled Wednesday night start because of rain associated with Tropical Storm Bertha.
The race began with no practice or qualifying. Byron started first after an inversion of the top 20 finishers from Sunday's Coca-Cola 600, a procedure that placed race winner Keselowski 20th for Thursday's start.
Stage 1 results