In part two of the west coast desert swing the Monster Energy Cup Series is in Phoenix, Arizona for the TicketGuardian 500 and 500 laps around the one mile track.
After three rounds of qualifying Martin Truex Jr puts his number 78 car on the pole.
The starting lineup for the TicketGuardian 500
Martin Truex Jr
Kyle Larson
Chase Elliott
Alex Bowman
Deny Hamlin
Kyle Busch
Jamie McMurray
Erik Jones
Kevin Hrvick
Joey Logano
William Byron
Ryan Blaney
Ryan Newman
Paul Menard
Daniel Suarez
David Ragan
Jimmie Johnson
Austin Dillon
Clint Bowyer
AK Allmendinger
Trvor Bayne
Aric Almirola
Kurt Busch
Chris Buescher
Brad Keselowski
Kasey Kahne
Darrell Wallace Jr
Ty Dillon
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Matt DiBenedetto
Michae McDowell
Gray Gaulding
Corey LaJoie
D.J. Kennington
Timmy Hill
Ross Chastain
Jeffrey Earnhardt
NASCAR has called for a competition caution at lap 35 after some rain in the area.
Stages one and two of the race will be 75 laps each with stage three lasting 162 laps for a total of 312 laps for 500 kilometers or 312 miles.
First time Phoenix poles sitter Martin Truex Jr brings the field down for the green flag start of the race but Kyle Larson passes Truex to get out in front for the lead of their race.
Lap five Kyle Larson is in the lead with Martin Truex Jr in second; Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman, and Denny Hamlin round out the top five.
Ten laps in, Kyle Larson has a lead of over half a second on Martin Truex Jr with Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman, and Denny Hamlim rounding out the top five.
Lap 20 Kyle Larson continues to lead the race; followed by Martin Truex Jr, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, and Alex Bowman. Kyle Busch passes Alex Bowman to take over fifth place.
Lap 25 Kyle Larson continues to lead the race with a half second lead on Martin Truex Jr.
The first caution fag of the race comes out non lap 25 when Corey LaJoie’s engine blows on his car.
NASCAR has deemed this caution the competition caution flag. Teams may fuel their cars if they wish.
Martin Truex Jr wins the race off of pit road.
Kasey Kahne’s team was penalized for having a crew member over the wall too soon and Trevor Bayne’s team was penalized for having an uncontrolled tire on pit road.
Martin Truex Jr brings the field down for the green flag restart on lap 34 but it is Kyle Larson who takes over the lead of the race.
Lap 38 Kyle Larson has a lead of over a second on Denny Hamlin with Kyle Busch in third, Martin Truex Jr in fourth and Kevin Harvick in fifth.
Lap 44 Kyle Larson is pulling away with a lead of nearly a second and a half.
Lap 52, Kyle Busch has pulled to within a third of a second on Kyle Larson with Kevin Harvick in third, Danny Hamlin in fourth, and Martin Truex Jr in fifth.
Lap 57 in the Kyle and Kyle show, Kyle Busch passes Kyle Larson for the lead but Kevin Harvick is coming on fast less than a second behind the leader in third place.
Lap 60 Kevin Harvick passes Kyle Larson for second with Kyle Busch in the lead.
Ten laps remaining in stage one, Kyle Busch is in the lead with Kevin Harvick in second, Kyle Larson in third, Denny Hamlin in fourth, and Martin Truex Jr in fifth.
Five laps remaining in stage one, Kyle Busch has a one second lead on Kevin Harvick.
Kyle Busch wins stage one for his first stage win of the season.
The top 10 at the end of stage one:
Kyle Busch
Kevin Harvick
Kyle Larson
Denny Hamlin
Martin Truex Jr
Chase Elliott
Brad Keselowski
Kurt Busch
Joey Logano
Erik Jones
With a 15 second pit stop, Kyle Busch wins the race off of pit road with Kevin Harvick in second.
Ross Chastain is the “lucky dog”.
Taking the outside lane, Kyle Busch bring the field down for the green flag start of stage two on lap 84 with Kyle Busch holding on to the lead of the race.
Erik Jones is reporting possible brake issues.
Lap 90 Kyle Busch has a lead of less than half a second on Kevin Harvick with Chase Elliott in third, Martin Truex Jr in fourth, and Joey Logano in fifth.
Alex Bowman is reporting some driver cooler issues.
Lap 95 Kyle Busch continues to lead the race by a third of a second on Kevin Harvick with Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr, and Joey Logano rounding out the top five.
Lap 103 Kyle Busch has increased his lead on Kevin Harvick to nearly a second with Chase Elliott closing the gap in third less than a second and a half behind the leader. There are 30 cars on the lead lap.
Lap 109, Kyle Busch has pulled out to a lead of over a second on Kevin Harvick.
With 113 laps complete, Kyle Busch continues to dominate the race.
Lap 120 Kyle Busch has pulled out to a lead of nearly a second and a half on Kevin Harvick; Chase Elliott, Martin Truex, Fr, and Kurt Busch round out the top five.
Kyle Larson brings the caution flag out on lap 121 when he gets loose and spins out.
Taking only two tires, Brad Keselowski wins the race off of pit road.
Brad Keselowski brings the field down for the green flag restart on lap 127 and holds on to the lead of the race with Kyle Busch in second; Martin Truex Jr, Kevin Harvick, and Chase Elliott round out the top five.
Joey Logano gets high on the race track and looses several spots.
Lap 129 Kyle Busch passes Brad Keselowski to retake the lead of the race.
Lap 134 Kyle Busch has a lead of over a second and a half over Martin Truex Jr with Kevin Harvick in third, Chase Elliott in fourth, and Brad Keselowski in fifth.
Lap 141, Kyle Busch holds on to his lead of the race with a lead of nearly two seconds on Martin Truex Jr; with Kevin Harvick, Chase Elliott, and Kurt Busch rounding out the top five.
With only four laps remaining in stage two, Chris Buescher brings out the caution flag with a flat tire. NASCAR has called this a quickie yellow, allowing all teams to come down pit road at once.
Denny Hamlin has issues on his pit stop.
With a 14 second pit stop, Kyle Busch wins the race off of pit road with Kevin Harvick in second.
Alex Bowman was caught speeding on pit road.
With only one lap remaining in stage two, Kyle Busch brings the field down for the green flag restart.
Kurt Busch passes little brother Kyle to take the lead and win stage two.
The top 10 at the end of stage two:
Kurt Busch
Brad Keselowski
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Kyle Busch
Michael McDowell
Ty Dillon
Kevin Harvick
Martin Truex Jr
Kasey Kahne
Clint Bowyer
Kurt Busch wins the race off of pit road.
Kyle Busch brings the field down for the green flag start of stage three on lap 159 and edges out Kevin Harvick to take the lead.
Joey Logano and Trevor Bayne make contact but both drivers save their cars and the track stays green.
Lap 164 Kyle Busch hods on to the lead by a quarter of a second on Kevin Harvick with Martin Truex Jr, Clint Bowyer, and Chase Elliott rounding out the top five.
Lap 169 Kyle Busch continues to lead the race with Kevin Harvick in second.
With 135 laps remaining in the race, Kevin Harvick challenges Kyle Busch for the lead and one lap later Harvick passes Kyle Busch to take over the lead. Kevin Harvick has won the past two Monster Cup races, but he has never won three races in a row.
With 132 past to go, Kevin Harvick is beginning to pull away from Kyle Busch with a lead of half a second with 131 laps to go.
With 129 laps remaining in the race, Kevin Harvick has pulled out to a lead of nearly a second on Kyle Busch.
With 126 laps to go, Kevin Harvick has increased his lead to over a second on Kyle Busch.
Paul Menard brings out the caution flag on lap 191 when he spins out and hits the wall hard.
Taking only two tires William Byron and Aric Almirola win the race off of pit road.
Michael McDowell has power steering fluid issues.
William Byron brings the field down for the green flag restart with 114 laps remaining in the race. William Byron edges out Aric Almirola for the lead.
Lap 201 William Byron is in the lead with Aric Almirola in second, Deny Hamlin in third,Kevin Harvick in fourth and Kyle Busch in fifth.
Paul Menard sites brake issues as the reason for his crash.
With 107 laps remaining in the race, William Byron has a quarter of a second lead on Denny Hamlin with Kevin Harvick in third, Kyle Busch in fourth, and Aric Almirola in fifth.
With 104 laps remaining in the race, Denny Hamlin challenges William Byron for the lead, swapping the lead back and forth. Kevin Harvick makes it a three wide battle for the lead with Kenny Hamlin getting out in front and Kevin Harvick in second. Kyle Busch is in third with William Bryon in fourth and Martin Truex Jr in fifth.
Hundred to go and Denny Hamlin leads the field with Kevin Harvick in second.
There are 93 laps to go with Denny Hamlin leading the way; Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr, and Chase Elliott round out the top five.
Ninety-one to go and Kevin Harvick challenges Denny Hamlin for the lead, but Hamlin holds him off.
Eighty-five laps to go, Denny Hamlin is in the lead with Kevin Harvick just a tenth of a second behind; Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, and Martin Truex Jr round out the top five.
With 75 laps remaining in the race, Denny Hamlin holds on to a narrow lead on Kevin Harvick with Kyle Busch on their bumpers in third and Chase Elliott in fourth closing fast.
With 72 laps to go, Kyle Busch gets around Kevin Harvick for second.
Seventy to go and Kyle Busch passes Denny Hamlin to retake the lead of the race with Kevin Harvick in third, Chase Elliott in fourth, and Martin Truex Jr in fifth.
Sixty-eight to go, Kevin Harvick gets around Denny Hamlin for second, Chase Elliott is in third.
Only 63 laps to go; Kyle Busch is in the lead with Kevin Harvick in second. Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, and Martin Truex Jr fill out the top five.
William Byron and Bubba Wallace begin the cycle of green flag pit stops.
With only 57 laps to go, Kyle Busch has a lead of nearly a second on Kevin Harvick.
There are 48 laps remaining in the race with Brad Keselowski in the lead – he hasn’t made his pit stop yet. Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr have not made pit stops yet.
Ryan Newman passes Brad Keselowski for the lead.
There are eleven cars on the lead lap.
Forty to go, Ryan Newman is in the lead with Brad Keselowski in second, Kasey Kahne in third, Chase Elliott in fourth, and Kevin Harvick in fifth. After an extended pit stop Kyle Busch is in sixth place.
Ryan Newman has a lead of nearly two and a half seconds on Brad Keselowski.
Kevin Harvick passes Chase Elliott for fourth place.
The top three drivers – Ryan Newman, Brad Keselowski, and Kasey Kahne – have yet to make a pit stop.
Only 36 laps remain in the race, the top five are Ryan Newman, Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Chase Elliott, and Kyle Busch.
Thirty to go; Ryan Newman continues to lead the race with Brad Keselowski in second – they still haven’t made a green flag pit stop. Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott round out the top five.
Brad Keselowski brings his car down pit road out of fuel with 27 laps to go.
There are 24 laps remaining in the race and Ryan Newman is still in the lead by nearly eleven seconds over Kevin Harvick.
With 23 laps to go, Ryan Newman finally brings his car down pit road for service and completing the cycle of green flag pit stops. Kevin Harvick is the new leader.
With 22 laps to go Kevin Harvick is in the lead with Kyle Busch in second; Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, and Martin Truex Jr round out the top five.
Twenty to go, Kevin Harvick has a one second lead on Kyle Busch.
Fifteen to go, Kevin Harvick has a one second lead on Kyle Busch with 18 cars on the lead lap.
Ten to go, Kevin Harvick has a lead of over a second on Kyle Busch with Chase Elliott in third, Denny Hamlin in fourth, and Martin Truex Jr in fifth. There are 16 cars on the lead lap.
Six to go, Kevin Harvick continues to lead the race by over a second.
Kevin Harvick is only three laps away from making personal history by winning three races in a row.
Kevin Harvick takes the white flag.
Kevin Harvick makes history in dominating fashion by winning his third race in a row and career win number 40.
The unofficial results of the TicketGuardian 500:
Kevin Harvick
Kyle Busch
Chase Elliott
Denny Hamlin
Martin Truex Jr
Clint Bowyer
Aric Almirola
Daniel Suarez
Erik Jones
Kurt Busch
Ryan Newman
William Byron
Alex Bowman
Jimmie Johnson
Brad Keselowski
Ryan Blaney
Austin Dillon
Kyle Larson
Joey Logano
Trevor Bayne
AJ Allmendinger
David Ragan
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Kasey Kahne
Matt DiBenedetto
Ross Chastain
Darrell Wallace Jr
Chris Buescher
Ty Dillon
D.J. Kennington
Michael McDowell
Timmy Hill
Gray Gaulding
Jeffrey Earnhardt
Paul Menard
Corey LaJoie