It appears that Martin Truex Jr. wants to add another Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship to his resume after his “comeback” performance at Richmond. In a race of firsts, the one that mattered most to Truex was winning back-to-back races for the first time – and to start the playoffs no less.
With under 100 laps to go, Truex was spun by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in Turn 3, giving the lead to Kyle Busch. Restarting third after the final caution, Truex chased Busch for the next 50 laps, finally clearing him with 25 laps to go in the race.
“This is just freaking unbelievable,” said Truex. “So we came here to get bonus points and damn sure we did that. … Had a heck of a race with Kyle and Denny (Hamlin) all night long. … We just kept digging and we never quit.”
Busch finished second, followed by Hamlin. In what appeared to be a sweep of the Top Four spots for Joe Gibbs Racing, Erik Jones car was disqualified during post-race inspection, Brad Keselowski moved into fourth, followed by Ryan Newman.
With the roval at Charlotte this weekend, Jones, Alex Bowman, Clint Bowyer and Kurt Busch are in danger of not making it to the second round.
September 23, 2019