Martin Truex Jr. got the lead once, and never looked back.
NASCAR’s tour of the Wild West reached its final stop at Phoenix International Raceway for the first race of the year in Arizona. Martin Truex Jr. got a hold of the lead late and ran away with it all the way to Victory Lane.
Penske Power at the Desert
Brad Keselowski took the green flag on the pole while everyone else behind him spread out like peanut butter on a slice of white bread. Denny Hamlin, however, took the lead shortly after. TrackBite proved tough on the corners as the transition from resin to asphalt was tricky for some. Things ran smoothly with only a competition caution at lap 30.
Lap 45 brought up the first incident of the race as Alex Bowman found some trouble with Austin Dillon. The 48 Ally Camaro spun and had to go for a quick fix with black tape on the pits but did not leave the race. Penske showed up its short track power as they ran strong near the end of the stage dominating the top three. Ryan Blaney got the stage win and Playoff point, behind him came in teammates Joey Logano and Brad K. Not much would change for stage two.
Trading Spots at the Top
Team Penske continued to dominate in the second stage. Chase Elliott started from the back after qualifying sixth due to “Unapproved adjustments” to his number 9 Camaro, nonetheless, he made his way into the top five and sneaked up on the leaders. Logano traded first place with his fellow Mustang while the reigning champ settled in third.
Field reshuffled for a while after a cycle of green flag pitstops in lap 144. Bubba Wallace took the lead for a while before going in for tires himself and handing the top spot for Corey LaJoie. LaJoie surrendered the lead to Logano once again but stuck around the top ten despite having a considerably inferior car. Stage two ended with another Playoff point for a Penske car as Logano came in first. Later in the race, number 22 would fall flat at the flat track.
Martin Truex Jr. Makes Some Moves
We had plenty of bumps and bangs all along, which is to be expected at a track like Phoenix. Bumping though, went to a whole new different level at the restart as Kyle Larson pushed Cristopher Bell a little too hard off the start/finish line. Bell wiggled to the right and the big one was avoided only by a matter of inches. Everyone was off to the races for the checkered flag from that point on.
Martin Truex Jr. took the lead from Logano early on before pitting. While Logano and Brad K remained at the top, the last of the Penskes dropped to seventh place and only went down the order onwards. Joe Gibbs Racing kicked it up a notch as the race winded down as Truex Jr. posted his fastest lap of the race with twenty to go, teammates, Hamlin and Bell sat third and ninth respectively. Little did we know, they wouldn’t look back.
The Penzoil 22 could only follow along dragging a second a half gap that never closed. In the end, the Captain’s cars felt as flat as Phoenix Raceway and came up short of the win. Race winner Martin Truex Jr. had some worst off the car: “Hopefully we can be back here in November and be part of the Final Four.”
Talking with @MartinTruex_Jr after his first career victory at @phoenixraceway!
More» https://t.co/rR21HEjm8E pic.twitter.com/BqttXhpyt9
— Jamie Little (@JamieLittleTV) March 14, 2021
Sunday’s Race was Joe Gibbs Racing’s second Cup win of the season.
What’s Next?
NASCAR’s back East for the traditional Fold of Honor QuiktTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Georgia next weekend.
