Harvick wins Stage 2 of Daytona 500 as Dale Jr. and others crash out

Kevin Harvick won the segment — and the playoff point — after the race was delayed for 17-minutes after Kyle Busch triggered a six-car wreck after his right-rear tire blew on Lap 105.

Kyle Larson was the first car off of pit road and led the field to green for the second stage. But it was Harvick that took command early on. He relinquished the lead to Larson on Lap 73, but returned to the point on Lap 74.

The Joe Gibbs Racing drivers — along with Erik Jones — pitted on Lap 81. Harvick did his best to put the Toyotas one lap down, but the duo of Kyle Busch and Jones blocked the No. 4 Ford’s attempt.

Harvick pitted on Lap 90 along with Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Kurt Busch, Paul Menard, Michael McDowell, Ty Dillon and Danica Patrick.

Johnson assumed the lead for the first time on Lap 90 with Chris Buescher in tow. One lap later, Martin Truex Jr. pitted.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the point from Johnson on Lap 96, to lead his first laps in the Daytona 500. Elliott Sadler moved into second following by Johnson, Buescher and Jamie McMurray.

Earnhardt was in the lead on Lap 105 when the back end of Busch’s No. 18 car swung out towards the wall in Turn 3 and collected him along with teammates Erik Jones and Matt Kenseth and Ty Dillon. Elliott Sadler, who was running second at the time, also received damaged.

"It just spun around,” Busch said. “Actually I thought I hung on to it for a long ways. I don't know if it was the left-rear that went down or the right-rear that went down. We tore up three JGR cars in one hit and also (Dale) Junior. I feel horrible for those guys, man.

"It wasn't anything we did wrong. Obviously, Goodyear tires aren't very good at holding air. We have that down here every single year we're down here. Last year, we had it too, wrecked in practice and tore up a car.

"Thankfully we got some segments points out of this day. That's a positive. But you're trying to win the Daytona 500 and it's just disappointing."

Earnhardt limped to pit road where the No. 88 team made stopgap repairs in an effort to beat the crash clock and return to the race. Just before NASCAR lifted the red flag, crew chief Greg Ives informed Earnhardt his race was over.

"I thought I was going to clear him, but I didn't get much out of that after I turned the wheel left,” Earnhardt said.

When the race restarted on Lap 113, Harvick had the lead and held the point to flag.

Between stages, Ragan returned to pit road twice for extensive repairs. The No. 5 Chevy had the hood up so the crew could readjust a loose cooling hose. Austin Dillon received a speeding penalty and had to drop to the rear of the field.

Jones and Kenseth were evaluated and released from the infield care center.

Harvick has led 49 laps total in the first two stages.