TicketGuardian 500: Live NASCAR highlights, updates from ISM Raceway in Phoenix

Get a look at all the action from ISM Raceway in Phoenix with live highlights and updates from the TicketGuardian 500.

Kevin Harvick is going for three wins in a row at a track where he’s already won eight times. Preventing him from another victory will be tough, but it’s the task in front of the rest of the NASCAR Cup Series garage in the TicketGuardian 500 at ISM Raceway in Phoenix.

Alas, Harvick was also fastest in final practice, so keeping him off the lead won’t be easy. He’ll start from the 10th position in his quest for a trifecta. Kyle Larson was second in this race last year, and fittingly, he’s also starting second today.

The pole-sitter might have something to say about the outcome of this one too. That’d be Martin Truex Jr., defending Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion. And last year, Ryan Newman grabbed his lone 2017 victory here, so ISM Raceway can provide surprise winners from time to time.

Let’s fire it up and see who prevails in the desert.

Truex chose the outside lane for the green flag, and that proved out to be the wrong decision. Larson was able to outduel him before the end of the first lap and get out in front for the first part of Stage 1.

Lap 25 brought the first question when the 72 of Corey LaJoie blew up. That took the place of the scheduled competition caution necessitated by rain on Saturday.

Truex won the race off pit road, and Brad Keselowski moved up significantly after taking just two tires. Kasey Kahne and Trevor Bayne were both penalized for different infractions. Truex tried the inside lane for the restart this time, but it didn’t matter, with Larson going right back to the lead.

It wasn’t Truex but Kyle Busch who chased down Larson and was able to take the lead with less than 20 laps to go in Stage 1. And that guy Harvick was closing in as well …

Harvick closed to within less than a second of the lead, but Busch held on and took the green and white checkered flag.

Stage 1 results

1. Kyle Busch, 10 points plus one bonus playoff point
2. Kevin Harvick, 9 points
3. Kyle Larson, 8 points
4. Denny Hamlin, 7 points
5. Martin Truex Jr., 6 points
6. Chase Elliott, 5 points
7. Brad Keselowski, 4 points
8. Kurt Busch, 3 points
9. Joey Logano, 2 points
10. Erik Jones, 1 point

Larson’s car only got worse once Stage 2 began, and he was running all the way down in 13th when he brought out the next caution.

Chris Buescher brought out another caution with just a few laps left in Stage 2, setting up one final restart to determine the stage winner. Because of varying pit strategies, that restart came down to Kurt Busch vs. Keselowski, with the elder Busch brother prevailing. Several other interesting names ended up grabbing some stage points, including Michael McDowell and Ty Dillon.

Stage 2 results

1. Kurt Busch, 10 points plus one bonus playoff point
2. Brad Keselowski, 9 points
3. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 8 points
4. Kyle Busch, 7 points
5. Ty Dillon, 6 points
6. Michael McDowell, 5 points
7. Kevin Harvick, 4 points
8. Martin Truex Jr., 3 points
9. Clint Bowyer, 2 points
10. Kasey Kahne, 1 point

Stop us if you’ve heard this before this season: Harvick chased down Kyle Busch and passed him to take the lead.

Not long after, though, Paul Menard brought out the sixth caution of the day for a single-car incident, potentially shuffling the deck again.

Indeed, by taking only two tires, William Byron and Aric Almirola ended up in the first two spots after pit stops, and Byron pulled out in front to lead his first Cup Series laps of any significance.

Of course, two tires weren’t going to hold off hard-charging drivers with four fresh tires for too long, and that led to a thrilling three-wide battle for the lead that included Harvick and Denny Hamlin.

Hamlin engaged in a stubborn battle to hold onto the lead, preventing Harvick from getting past him lap after lap. But once Kyle Busch got there, Hamlin couldn’t hold them off, falling back behind Chase Elliott to fourth in short order.

With Ryan Newman out in front thanks to pit strategy — just like in 2017, when he won this race — Harvick and Elliott battled it out to be the first car to already have made a green flag pit stop. Harvick eventually prevailed, as he’s done most of the time so far this season.

Newman had to stop eventually, yielding the lead back to … wait for it … Harvick. But Kyle Busch was in hot pursuit.

He never got closer than about a second back, however. With no late caution to bunch things back up, Harvick became the oldest driver ever to win three straight NASCAR Cup Series races.