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Truex wins second stage of Auto Club 400

Martin Truex Jr. won Stage 2 at Auto Club Speedway on Sunday with a 7.6-second lead over Kyle Larson.

Martin Truex Jr., Furniture Row Racing Toyota

Martin Truex Jr., Furniture Row Racing Toyota

Barry Cantrell / NKP / Motorsport Images

Truex Jr. gained the lead off of pit road between stages. He led all but one lap in the segment — and a total of 68 laps in the first two segments of the Auto Club 400.

It really changed quite a bit from the first stage to the second,” Truex said. “That last run was a little bit different. We’ll see what we got and keep after it.”

Kyle Larson, Clint Bowyer, Chase Elliott, Erik Jones, Jamie McMurray, Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top 10.

Truex held the point at the restart followed by McMurray. A 15.7-second pit stop mired Larson to fifth for the restart. Ryan Blaney, who dragged equipment out of his pits, was forced to return to pit road for a drive-thru penalty. After finishing ninth in the first stage, Blaney dropped to 18th. Austin Dillon was too fast entering pit road and restarted 19th.

The race returned to on Lap 68. Larson moved up to third-place on the first lap followed by Elliott, Busch, Bowyer, Logano, Jones, Hamlin and Bayne. Larson passed McMurray for second-place on the next lap but Truex maintained a 1.4-second advantage in clean air.

Jimmie Johnson, who went down one lap, was the first to pit in the second stage on Lap 86.

Truex pitted from the lead on Lap 90. Elliott remained on the track and assumed the lead. When pit stops cycled out on Lap 93, Truex retained the lead and a five-second advantage over the field. Bowyer was second followed by Larson, Elliott, Erik Jones, Kyle Busch, Logano, McMurray, Hamlin, Bayne and Earnhardt.

By Lap 100, Truex had extended his lead by 6.1-seconds over Larson. Bowyer, Elliott, Jones, Logano, Busch, McMurray, Hamlin and Bayne rounded out the top 10. Keselowski, who spun in the first segment and restarted 19, recovered to 12th.

Truex had a 7.8-second lead with 10 laps remaining in the stage with 19 cars on the lead lap.

Seventeen cars remained on the lead lap. Some notables multiple laps down included Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch.

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