Martin Truex, Jr. was the class of the field in the final portion of Wednesday night’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway.
Truex, Jr. took the lead from Brad Keselowski on lap 370, and stayed on the point the rest of the way to score the victory in the Blue Emu 500.
It’s a historic win for Truex, Jr., as it comes in the first NASCAR national touring series race to be run at night in the 73 year history of the tight, paperclip shaped Virginia short track.
It’s the 27th career win for Truex, Jr. in the Cup Series, and his second straight at Martinsville.
“We’ve been working a long time at trying to figure this place out and just chipping away at it,” said Truex, Jr. “The last couple years we’ve been really strong. 2018 was a heartbreaker at the end of the race there. Last year to get the win and this year, just hats off to the guys. We started the first run and it pushed the right-front tire off and we were terrible. Really good adjustments from the guys, just want to thank all of them.”
It also marks the first win for his crew chief, James Small, who took over the spot after Cole Pearn retired at the end of 2019.
“It’s huge for his confidence. I knew we would get one soon,” said Truex, Jr. “The last couple weeks at the end of the race, we have a group text and I would say, ‘Our win’s coming soon guys, keep it up.’ Just so proud of them, we have an awesome team. Really proud of those guys. Nice to get another win early in the season and hopefully now we can get on a roll.”
Truex, Jr. had to bounce back from a penalty for missing the commitment box coming to pit road at the end of the race’s first stage at lap 130. The team brought his No. 19 Toyota back to pit road to cut away some damage on the right front.
Truex, Jr. worked his way back through the field, and moved himself into contention after a fast pit stop under caution prior to a lap 333 restart.
Thirty-three laps later, Truex, Jr. moved to second. Four laps later, he took the lead and never looked back.
Ryan Blaney finished in second, but that came after some setbacks during the night.
After starting on the pole, Blaney’s car faded back early with handling issues, falling a lap down at one point.
His Team Penske crew worked on his No. 12 Ford Mustang, and Blaney wrestled his way back through the field. Shortly after the start of the final segment, Blaney moved to the lead on lap 274. He would battle back and forth with teammate Joey Logano, but retook the lead on lap 307.
More problems came for Blaney on pit road around lap 330. First, the front tire changer dropped his air gun during the pit stop, slowing his time on pit road and dropping him to eight. But then Blaney was hit with a pit road penalty for a crewman coming over the pit wall too soon before the stop.
Blaney restarted deep in the field, but clawed his way first back into the top 10, and then into the top five. With 52 laps to go, he moved around Logano for third, and then bypassed teammate Brad Keselowski for second with 44 laps remaining.
But while his Ford Mustang was fast, Blaney was unable to close on Truex, Jr. before the end, and had to settle for the runner-up position.
“I thought the 19 (Truex, Jr.) and I were pretty even,” Blaney said. “I would have loved to line up beside him on the restart with 70 to go, whatever it was, and see what we could have done. But we’ll never know. I thought we had a really good car.
“I was never really close enough to see on equally worn tires to see what we had for him.”
Keselowski finished in third, Joey Logano in fourth and Dawsonville, Georgia’s Chase Elliott in fifth.
Alex Bowman, Matt DiBenedetto, William Byron, Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top 10.
Bubba Wallace, driving a car highlighting Black Lives Matter on the Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet, ran in and around the top 10 for much of the night, and finished in 11th at the end of the night after battling with Johnson over the closing laps.
“Our Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE was so good on the long runs, so we definitely did not need those cautions towards the end of the race,” Wallace said. “All-in-all, great job to come here and execute with no practice at my favorite track. I’ll tell you what, it was awesome to race with 7-Time (Jimmie Johnson) there at the end. Jimmie Johnson has won so many times here and when we’re running him down – that’s hats off to my guys. Good job fellas!”
Austin Dillon also had problems early, as a cut tire on lap four knocked out the crush panels on his No. 3 Chevrolet, allowing head and fumes into the cockpit. Dillon tried to tough it out, but had to park the car with around 100 laps to go. He was helped from his car by members of his team, and taken to the infield medical center, where he was treated and later released.
Two drivers who were expected to have strong nights instead appeared to be off from the start. Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin both encountered early issues. Busch began reporting brake issues on his No. 18 Toyota early in the first segment, and the team never seemed to catch up. He would eventually finish one lap down in 19th.
Hamlin’s car began moving in the wrong direction from the start, with his team chasing the setup early. It never got any better for the driver of the No. 11 Toyota, as he soldiered home three laps down in 24th in the end.
The NASCAR Cup Series has a quick turnaround, as the teams and drivers head for Homestead-Miami Speedway for a race on Sunday afternoon.
NASCAR Cup Series
Martinsville Speedway – Martinsville, VA
Blue Emu 500 – June 10, 2020
1. (5) Martin Truex, Jr., Toyota, 500.
2. (1) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 500.
3. (6) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 500.
4. (3) Joey Logano, Ford, 500.
5. (11) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 500.
6. (8) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 500.
7. (19) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 500.
8. (15) William Byron, Chevrolet, 500.
9. (9) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 500.
10. (21) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 500.
11. (23) Bubba Wallace, Chevrolet, 500.
12. (16) Ryan Newman, Ford, 500.
13. (24) Chris Buescher, Ford, 500.
14. (29) Michael McDowell, Ford, 500.
15. (10) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 499.
16. (14) Tyler Reddick #, Chevrolet, 499.
17. (4) Clint Bowyer, Ford, 499.
18. (25) Corey LaJoie, Ford, 499.
19. (7) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 499.
20. (13) Erik Jones, Toyota, 497.
21. (17) Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Chevrolet, 497.
22. (30) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 497.
23. (20) Matt Kenseth, Chevrolet, 497.
24. (12) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 497.
25. (18) John Hunter Nemechek #, Ford, 497.
26. (28) Ryan Preece, Chevrolet, 496.
27. (37) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, 494.
28. (32) Christopher Bell #, Toyota, 494.
29. (27) Cole Custer #, Ford, 494.
30. (31) Brennan Poole #, Chevrolet, 494.
31. (26) J.J. Yeley(i), Ford, 493.
32. (33) David Starr(i), Chevrolet, 479.
33. (2) Aric Almirola, Ford, Battery, 476.
34. (34) Quin Houff #, Chevrolet, 474.
35. (36) Joey Gase(i), Chevrolet, 464.
36. (35) Garrett Smithley(i), Chevrolet, 450.
37. (22) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, Accident, 399.
38. (39) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, Electrical, 295.
39. (38) Timmy Hill(i), Toyota, Fuel Pump, 105.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 77.378 mph.
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 23 Mins, 56 Secs. Margin of Victory: 4.705 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 7 for 52 laps.
Lead Changes: 14 among 8 drivers.
Lap Leaders: R. Blaney 0;A. Almirola 1-19;J. Logano 20-62;C. Elliott 63;J. Logano 64-114;M. Truex Jr. 115;C. LaJoie 116-120;J. Logano 121-201;J. Johnson 202-271;R. Blaney 272-283;J. Logano 284-306;R. Blaney 307-328;J. Logano 329-364;B. Keselowski 365-369;M. Truex Jr. 370-500.
Leaders Summary: (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led) Joey Logano 5 times for 234 laps; Martin Truex Jr. 2 times for 132 laps; Jimmie Johnson 1 time for 70 laps; Ryan Blaney 2 times for 34 laps; Aric Almirola 1 time for 19 laps; Brad Keselowski 1 time for 5 laps; Corey LaJoie 1 time for 5 laps; Chase Elliott 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 22,14,48,19,43,9,1,4,21,24
Stage #2 Top Ten: 48,12,22,88,4,43,24,9,1,8
Top 10 in Points: 1. Kevin Harvick – 452 (2 Wins); 2. Joey Logano – 424 (2 Wins); 3. Chase Elliott – 405 (1 Win); 4. Martin Truex, Jr. – 381 (1 Win); 5. Brad Keselowski – 380 (2 Wins); 6. Ryan Blaney – 361; 7. Alex Bowman – 352 (1 Win); 8. Denny Hamlin – 335 (2 Wins); 9. Kyle Busch – 326; 10. Kurt Busch – 318.
