Stage 1 of Sunday’s Camping World 400 at Chicagoland Speedway may be one of the longest stages we have ever seen, thanks to a nearly three and a half hour weather delay. However, the Stage did finally end and it was Denny Hamlin who would take the win in what turned out to be a chaotic end to the opening Stage of the race.
It looked like Kevin Harvick had the best car during the Stage, as he led 53 of the 80 laps in Stage 1, but in the closing laps a thrash of tire problems swept over the field including Harvick. In total, four drivers suffered flat tires in the final laps of Stage 1: Harvick, Ryan Blaney, Clint Bowyer and Kyle Busch.
It will be interesting to see if tires stay an issue throughout the remainder of the race.
Brad Keselowski, Jimmie Johnson, pole-sitter Austin Dillon, and Martin Truex Jr. rounded out the top-five drivers in Stage 1.
Kevin Harvick, William Byron, Alex Bowman, Kurt Busch and Joey Logano also scored Stage points.
