RICHMOND, Va. – A penalty on the first lap would be enough to derail some NASCAR drivers, but not Martin Truex Jr.
Truex overcame a penalty for jumping the initial start of Saturday’s Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond Raceway, driving through the field to earn his fourth NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season.
The triumph, which came on the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, automatically advances Truex to the second round of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.
RESULTS: Federated Auto Parts 400
“It’s an important day in our history,” Truex said. “Yeah we’re proud to win and this car is amazing and there are so many people to thank, but what a day to win on. It reminds you of the honor it is, the privilege that it is, to get to come out here and do this.”
Truex started on the front row alongside his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin, but during the initial start Truex beat Hamlin to the start/finish line. Since Hamlin was the control car for the initial start, Truex was not allowed to beat him to the line and was penalized with a pass through penalty.
“That was frustrating, I’m not going to lie,” Truex said of the penalty. “I knew we’d have a good enough car to overcome it.”
That dropped Truex to last in the 37-car field, but he had 400 laps to make up the difference.
By the end of the first stage, Truex had marched back to eighth. Fast forward to the end of stage two and he was running third behind Hamlin and Kyle Busch, which put him in prime position to battle for the victory.
During the final stage Truex really began to show his muscle, taking the lead away from Hamlin shortly after the start of the final stage on lap 268. The battle was on from there between Truex, Busch and Hamlin, with all three taking turns at the front.
The final cycle of pit stops came just after lap 340, with Busch stopping first on lap 343 and Truex following one lap later on lap 344. Busch was hit with a pit road speeding penalty, which in turn handed the race lead back to Truex.
Hamlin waited a bit longer to make his stop, opting to pit with 53 laps to go in the hopes that he could make up all of his time at the end of the run to chase down Truex.
That strategy appeared to be working as Hamlin began caring into Truex’s big lead in the final 25 laps. Truex’s lead went from more than six seconds to less than three seconds as the field reached lap 390.
Hamlin continued to close, getting the gap down to less than two seconds, but he ran out of time as Truex took the checkered flag 1.5 seconds clear of Hamlin.
“We knew there was a lot on the line tonight,” Truex said. “Very happy to get to do this and go to Bristol without any worries next week is always fun.
Hamlin said he just needed a few more laps to track down Truex.
“Just a couple more, just a couple more,” Hamlin lamented after the race. “Our pit stops were a little slow there and we lost two or three seconds, maybe four on those pit road in those two stops. I was about a second and a half (behind) at the line.
“Just needed a couple more laps, that’s all.”
Christopher Bell finished third to give Joe Gibbs Racing a sweep of the top-three positions. Chase Elliott was fourth, with Joey Logano finishing fifth.
Kyle Larson finished sixth, which combined with the stage points he earned was enough to lock himself into round two of the playoffs. He joins Hamlin and Truex as the only drivers locked into the second round of the playoffs with one race left.
Kurt Busch appeared to be a contender early in Saturday’s race, but a flat tire sent him into the turn one wall on lap 40 and he retired from the race. He was scored 37th at the checkered flag and is tied with Alex Bowman for the final spot in the second round of the playoffs.
The first round of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs conclude next Saturday night at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.
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September 12, 2021 at 11:01AM
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