Martin Truex Jr. battled off teammate Denny Hamlin to get his second win of the season.
Martin Truex Jr, had to wait a little bit over 24 hours to get his second win of the year after a rain delay at Martinsville Speedway sent everyone packing Saturday night.
Sunday is (Still) Raceday
The Cup Series took to the “Paper Clip” for the first time this season. Joey Logano took the lead for the checkered flag but lost it early on to Denny Hamlin. The race sailed along very smoothly until Aussie Anthony Davidson spun at the backstretch, bringing the first caution of the night.
Yellow turned into red quite quickly as the race was halted as mother nature decided to throw a tantrum in the form of heavy rain. Cars and drivers were under cover only 42 laps into the race. NASCAR was back at it as its usual timeslot on Sunday. Cars were rolling out off pitlane with their night setups still intact.
The track had a lot of grip thanks to the previous Xfinity Race that was also postponed a few days ago. Cars had little trouble getting round the asphalt/concrete combo and the yellow flag showed up only once as Kurt Busch was spun off the race line by Erik Jones early on the restart.
Ryan Blaney crossed the line to get the first postseason point of the race. Not much would change at the front for stage 2.
Deja Vu
The stage was set for some proper racing after everyone settled into the racetrack. Everyone dived into the pits before Denny Hamlin regained the lead off the start of the second stage. Things looked calm at the front, the middle of the pack, however, was a dog fight as Bubba Wallace and Kevin Harvick got into quite an argument on wheels.
Simply put: Harvick blocked Wallace, and Wallace bumped him, hard, almost into the second row. From that point on, Harvick, who struggling to begin with, wasn’t really the same, he struggled to crack the top 10 and finished the second third of the race 17th.
We did have a caution as Aric Almirola and Ryan Newman went sliding up the racetrack turning into moving barricades for Matt DiBenedetto who crashed into the number six. Wood Brothers Racing fixed their number 21 car very quickly, sending out what looked like a fenderless NASCAR Modified to the track.
At the front? Déjà vu. Blaney came in first despite a hard fight by Denny Hamlin. Down in third was Martin Truex Jr.
Moves would be made and, flags would be dropped during the final stage.
Red Means Stop
The final set of laps kicked off with a minor with a yellow flag as Justin Haley “Slipped” off the race line before the leaders dived into the pits. The field then reshuffled and William Byron took the lead. Behind him were those who gambled on older tires such as Daniel Suarez and Aric Almirola. Then, the race came to a halt, again.
Red flag came out after Kyle Busch and Chris Buescher collided with each other blocking the entire width of the track and causing a massive wreck. The “Big One” pilled up at least a dozen cars and left everyone stranded right where they were for about 40 minutes.
Red turned into yellow, and the pace car was out with 105 laps to go. Hamlin seemed to have a commanding lead on the field, that was until, the last 30 laps. Martin Truex Jr. started gaining some ground little by little and eventually took the lead off the FedEx car with 15 to go. Elliott proved helpful to Truex’s cause costing Hamlin valuable time in the fight for second place.
Joe Gibbs Racing won their third Cup Series race of the season with Truex Jr. coming in first making him the first driver to win two races this year.
WHat’s Next?
The NASCAR Cup Series continues its “Greatest Season Ever” next weekend as teams travel to Virginia for a trip around Richmond International Speedway.
Missed the dirt race? Check it out HERE
Featured Image: Getty Images
