NASCAR at Phoenix: Ryan Newman wins; Joey Logano costs Kyle Busch again

Dave DeLuca

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NASCAR at Phoenix: Ryan Newman wins; Joey Logano costs Kyle Busch again image

Oh, the irony.

One week removed from letting out his frustrations on Joey Logano’s face, Kyle Busch looked liked like he was well on his way to channeling his aggression toward a victory on Sunday. 

Then Logano blew a tire and cost Busch the win, clearing the way for Ryan Newman to take the checkers at the Camping World 500 in Phoenix.

MORE: Busch, Logano not penalized for post-race fight

With Busch leading, Logano blew a tire with five laps to go that forced a caution. Busch then lost his lead to Kyle Larson off pit road, and Newman ended up taking the lead on the subsequent restart to win it in overtime.

If Logano's tire didn't burst, Busch most likely would have been in victory lane. He was leading by nearly four seconds before the caution.

Larson finished second, followed by Busch, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Brad Keselowski. 

Newman gambled by choosing not to go to pit road during the caution, deciding to stay out late with worn tires. It paid off as he earned his first victory since 2013, snapping a 127-race winless streak.

MORE: Squelching heat forces Dale Earnhardt Jr. to cool down any way he can

Below are the complete results.

  1. Ryan Newman
  2. Kyle Larson
  3. Kyle Busch
  4. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
  5. Brad Keselowski
  6. Kevin Harvick
  7. Daniel Suarez
  8. Erik Jones
  9. Jimmie Johnson
  10. Denny Hamlin
  11. Martin Truex Jr.
  12. Chase Elliott
  13. Clint Bowyer
  14. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
  15. Jamie McMurray
  16. Ty Dillon
  17. Aric Almirola
  18. Austin Dillon
  19. Trevor Bayne
  20. Kasey Kahne
  21. Paul Menard
  22. Danica Patrick
  23. Ryan Blaney
  24. Michael McDowell
  25. Kurt Busch
  26. AJ Allmendinger
  27. Chris Buescher
  28. Landon Cassill
  29. Matt DiBenedetto
  30. Reed Sorenson
  31. Joey Logano
  32. Timmy Hill
  33. Derrike Cope
  34. Cole Whitt
  35. David Ragan
  36. Gray Gaulding
  37. Matt Kenseth
  38. Corey LaJoie
  39. Jeffrey Earnhardt

The 312-lap, 500-kilometers race was divided into three stages. Stage 1 ended on Lap 75; Stage 2 on Lap 150; Stage 3 on Lap 162.

Logano started from the pole and led all but one of the first 75 laps to win Stage 1. The top ten finishers in Stage 1, and their points earned, are below.

1. Joey Logano 10
2. Kyle Larson 9
3. Brad Keselowski 8
4. Chase Elliott 7
5. Jamie McMurray  6
6. Kyle Busch 5
7. Ryan Blaney  4
8. Jimmie Johnson 3
9. Ryan Newman 2
10. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 1

Chase Elliott made a three-wide pass on Lap 85 to unseat Logano, and any chance of Logano coming back and winning another stage went bye-bye he was called for speeding on pit road.

Logano sped on pit road while the race was under caution caused by Corey LaJoie’s second accident. Logano was sent to the rear.

Elliott ended up holding on to the lead and win Stage 2. Stage 2’s top 10 finishers are below.

  1. Chase Elliott 10
  2. Kyle Larson 9 
  3. Kyle Busch 8 
  4. Jimmie Johnson 7
  5. Brad Keselowski 6 
  6. Jamie McMurray 5
  7. Erik Jones 4 
  8. Ryan Blaney 3
  9. Denny Hamlin 2
  10. Kevin Harvick. 1

Highlights

It was extremely hot in Phoenix. Dale Earnhardt Jr. did all he could to stay cool, including stuffing a giant bag of ice in his fire suit.

 

Logano won Stage 1 by leading all but one of the 75 laps. He held off a late push by Kyle Larson to earn 10 race points and one playoff point.

 

 

10 laps into Stage 2, Chase Elliott made a three-wide pass on Lap 85 to unseat Logano.

 

 

Later in Stage 2 we almost had some drama between Busch and Logano, but Joey calmly let Busch pass him on Lap 106.

 

Elliott held onto his lead to win Stage 2. He earned 10 race points and one playoff point as the winner.

 

Matt Kenseth went hard into the wall on Lap 192 to bring out the caution flag.

 

Here's what Kenseth had to say about the wreck.

 

Earnhardt had a tough day.

 

 

Follow along for live updates and observations from Phoenix

Here's how things started:  

  1. Joey Logano
  2. Ryan Blaney
  3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 
  4. Kyle Larson
  5. Jamie McMurray
  6. Brad Keselowski
  7. Chase Elliott
  8. Erik Jones
  9. Kyle Busch
  10. Kasey Kahne
  11. Kurt Busch
  12. Matt Kenseth
  13. Clint Bowyer
  14. Jimmie Johnson
  15. Ty Dillon
  16. Martin Truex Jr. 
  17. Austin Dillon
  18. Paul Menard
  19. Denny Hamlin
  20. AJ Allmendinger
  21. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 
  22. Ryan Newman
  23. Kevin Harvick
  24. Trevor Bayne
  25. Michael McDowell
  26. Danica Patrick
  27. Daniel Suarez
  28. Aric Almirola
  29. Landon Cassill
  30. Matt DiBenedetto
  31. Corey LaJoie
  32. Cole Whitt
  33. Chris Buescher
  34. David Ragan
  35. Reed Sorenson
  36. Gray Gaulding
  37. Derrike Cope
  38. Jeffrey Earnhardt
  39. Timmy Hill

NOTE: Hamlin will start at the rear of the field after a puncture in one of his qualifying tires forced a tire change.  

Dave DeLuca

Dave DeLuca is an intern at Sporting News and a recent graduate of Buffalo State. He's a former intern and digital editor at The Buffalo News and executive editor of The Record, Buffalo State's student-run newspaper.