RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — We’re going racing! Stay with 8News for live updates of the race as it happens.
After a short delay due to rain on the track at Richmond Raceway, the drivers were given the cue to start their engines.
With all cars starting on the wet weather ties, questions remain as to how track conditions will be for the drivers early in the race.
Kyle Larson begins on pole, followed by Chase Elliot in second and Ross Chastain in third position.
Stage 1
At the last turn of lap 1, Elliot overtook Larson to claim the lead.
On lap 6, Larson took back the lead with Alex Bowman sneaking into second a short time later.
Larson and Bowman held first and second with Bubba Wallace taking third position just before lap 20. On lap 22, Wallace took second from Bowman with Martin Truex Jr. moving into fourth place.
By lap 26, Wallace and Larson started to pull away from the rest of the field. Bowman managed to off Elliot, Todd Gilliland and Ross Chastain for third.
At lap 30, the yellow flag was dropped for all drivers to switch from wet weather tires to slicks.
After 10 laps under caution flag conditions, the pit lanes were dried and all drivers brought their cars in for a non-competitive tire change.
At lap 48, the drivers were back to racing. Larson successfully defended the lead despite Wallace’s attempt to start battling as soon as the green flag was flown.
At lap 64, Daniel Suarez locked up at turn one during a battle for ninth place.
While Suarez avoided a crash, a caution flag was issued till the end of Stage 1.
At the end of the stage, Larson leads with Wallace in second, Bowman in third and Truex in fourth. While Denny Hamlin spent the early parts of the race hovering around 15th, he finished the stage in 11th place.
Stage 2
Pit road was declared dry enough for a competitive pit stop. However, there was no change to the front four places after the pit stop. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. had the most disruptive stop, losing eight places and dropping into 25th.
This is a developing story stay with 8News for updates.
