Kyle Larson and his crew chief Chad Johnston nearly pulled off the ultimate strategy move. With seven laps remaining in Stage 2, the field came down pit road, the entire field except Larson.
The driver of the No. 42, who is looking for points after a disappointing Stage 1 and was mired back in 14th place, assumed the lead for a three lap shootout.
He got an incredible restart and with the field battling behind him, it looked like he would possibly win the Stage. However, heading into the final turn of the Stage, Martin Truex Jr. took the lead and won the second Stage.
Truex also won Stage 1 earlier in the race.
Larson did hold on for second though, and as a result, he will bank nine Stage points.
Team Penske teammates Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano finished third and fourth in Stage 2, while Aric Almirola was fifth.
William Byron and Kyle Busch ended up sixth and seventh.
Polesitter Denny Hamlin has had a frustrating day. He has lost seven positions on pit road already today, and he has a car that has not handled nearly as well as it did when he led the opening 31 laps of the race. Hamlin ended Stage 2 in eighth.
Erik Jones and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top-10 finishers in Stage 2.
Only two Playoff contenders finished outside the top-10 in Stage 2.
Kevin Harvick struggled to a 16th place finish in Stage 2 and it appears his car is way off as he heads into the second half of the race.
And Chase Elliott — who looked to have a car capable of winning — had a broken rear axle and rear gear issue on a pit stop early in the Stage.
Elliott sits last in the running order, 53 laps off the pace at the end of Stage 2, but he is back on track.
