Martin Truex Jr. withdrew. away in Sunday’s finals at Phoenix Raceway for his first win of the season and 28th of the season and 28th overall.
Truex have won the last four finals since last year. He had failed to advance to the quarter-finals for the first time in four years and could only look on when Chase Elliott defeated Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski for the desert apple title. The four Truex tails along the finish line.
Phoenix Raceway will once again host the competition race in November.
“To come here and win this, I wish it was November,” said Truex. “Hopefully we can return in November and get a shot at the tree. “
The 40-year-old Truex struggled earlier this year, finishing 25th at Daytona. But he’s on a much better race a few weeks ago, finishing third at Homestead and sixth at Las Vegas last week.
He had the upper hand in the second half on Sunday and was the first driver from last year’s 16-car playoff field to get into the postseason. Truex blew past Logano on the final restart with 25 laps left and was not challenged again.
It was a good day for Toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing, who had the winners in Truex and Hamlin in third place.
Kyle Larson – who raced to his first win with Hendrick Motorsports last week in Las Vegas – had to start at the back of the field after failing a pre-race check. He worked his way back to the front and briefly steered about halfway through the race.
But soon after he made an urgent mistake, getting a flag for going too fast on a pit road. He had to go through the road of the pit as a penalty, causing him to fall to the back of the lead lap in 22nd place. He finished seventh.
Logano – who led 143 laps – won the second tier after leading the final 35 laps in a long race of green flag races. But he could not hold back Truex, who won his ninth race with Joe Gibbs Racing.
Hamlin was very early in the race, continuing for 31 laps until the tournament warned half way through the first stage. But he fell back a few spots after a pit stop that allowed a window for Ryan Blaney to get to the front of the field. Blaney won the first 75-lap run after leading 35 laps.
FANS IN STANDARDS
Truex enjoyed getting the win in front of some Phoenix fans. The track allowed about 20% of the hub to fill. Phoenix was the site of the last “normal” race in March last year before COVID-19 closed the sport for about two months.
“Most of what we saw in a bad time and the more the more valuable. We love to have them, we miss seeing them, we miss seeing them inside, we miss pre-race, we miss practice, we miss certification just like all someone else, ”said Truex.
NOTES
Six drivers – three from Hendrick Motorsports – had to start at the back of the field, including Elliott, William Byron, Larson, Cody Ware, Quinn Houff and Garrett Smithley. Larson, Byron and Ware went back due to a pre-race inspection failure, Elliott and Houff had disagreeable changes and Smithley was the driver instead. … It was Lyn St. James the honorary pioneer. St. James is one of only nine women to deserve the Indianapolis 500.
UP Next
NASCAR will make the long journey across the country for a race at Atlanta Motor Speedway next weekend. Kevin Harvick won at the track last season.
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