Joey Logano sees off Jimmie Johnson for Texas Stage 1 win

A quick pitstop elevated Joey Logano to win Stage 1 of the O’Reilly 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Johnson blasted away from Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron when the green flag dropped as Byron fell into the clutches of teammate Chase Elliott.

The pair of Hendrick Motorsports Camaros raced side-by-side for nearly 10 laps with Elliott eventually prevailing. Elliott then closed on Johnson and was within a car length of the lead when Erik Jones spun on Lap 14, bringing out the yellow flag.

Bowman pitted from the top five along with a handful of others outside the top ten.

Johnson got the drop of the field again on the restart as Joey Logano fought his way to second past Elliott and Suarez.

A slight bobble from the seven-time Texas winner allowed Logano to close, but Johnson prevented him from passing.

The block hurt Logano’s momentum and allowed Elliott to move back up into second place on Lap 27 only to surrender it again on Lap 41.

The top three ran in lockstep for ten laps while Austin Dillon and Denny Hamlin ran a distant fourth and fifth.

Johnson stretched out to 1.18-second lead come lap 50 and maintained that gap until he pitted on Lap 60.

His pitstop opened the pit window as Logano and Elliott pitted a lap later while Austin Dillon and Kyle Busch led a few laps before they pitted until they pitted and William Byron picked up the lead on Lap 66.

William Byron picked up the lead once they pitted on Lap 66. The outside polesitter led the next 14 laps while Logano overtook Johnson for what would be the race lead. Clint Bowyer picked up the lead for a lap once Byron pitted but pitted for a splash and go on Lap 82 to make it to the end.

That handed the lead back to Logano, and he held on to win the stage three car lengths ahead of Johnson.

Elliott took third ahead of Dillon and Ryan Blaney. Completing the top ten and collecting stage points were Paul Menard, Daniel Suarez, Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, and Chris Buescher.