Race report
NASCAR Cup Texas
Joey Logano beats Johnson for Stage 1 win at Texas
Joey Logano held off Jimmie Johnson following green-flag pit stops to claim the Stage 1 wi at Texas Motor Speedway.
Jim Utter
Edited: Mar 31, 2019, 8:10 PM
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Some cars who pit early in the stage tried to stay out, but eventually everyone pit and Logano cycled into the lead with three laps remaining in the stage, holding off Johnson, who had dominated much of the 85-lap stage.
Chase Elliott was third, Austin Dillon was fourth and Ryan Blaney completed the top-five.
Also collecting stage points were Paul Menard, Daniel Suarez, Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson and Chris Buescher.
Johnson, the pole-winner, remained out front the first 14 laps as Elliott replaced Byron in the second position.
On Lap 15, Erik Jones spun off Turn 2 but appeared to keep his No. 20 Toyota off the wall. Some drivers elected to pit but Johnson and Elliot remained on track and led the way on the restart on Lap 19.
On Lap 25, Johnson blocked the advance of Logano, which allowed Elliott to move back into the runner-up position.
With 55 laps remaining in the first stage, Johnson held a small advantage over Elliott with Logano close behind in third and Austin Dillon in fourth.
Johnson continued with a small lead over Logano with 40 laps to go in the stage. Elliott ran third, Austin Dillon fourth and Denny Hamlin fifth.
On Lap 60, several of the lead-lap cars, including Johnson, elected to make a green-flag pit stop for fuel and tires.
Once the cycle of stops was completed for those who had to pit, Byron emerged as the leader on Lap 67 followed by Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr.
Johnson fell back to 22nd, behind all the cars that had elected to pit under the first caution.
With 10 laps remaining in the stage, Byron remained out front followed by Truex, Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski.
William Byron pit from the race lead with five laps remaining, handing the lead over to Bowyer.
With three laps to go, Logano cycled back to the lead as the remaining cars elected to pit. Johnson was second and Elliott third.
Ryan Newman’s No. 6 Ford twice failed pre-race inspection and had to drop to the rear to start the race. His car chief was also ejected from the track.
Alex Bowman had to start the race from the rear of the field after he moved to a backup car following an accident in Friday’s practice.
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