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Truex Wins At Martinsville

Martin Truex, Jr. earned a spot in NASCAR’s championship race for the third consecutive year by leading 464 of the 500 laps. He’s the first driver to claim one of the four spots in the Nov. 17 title race at Homestead-Miami Speedway while leading the most laps in a win since Kyle Petty led 484 laps in 1992 at Rockingham.

 

There were just three lead changes, and Truex controlled the event from the first round of pit stops, when he beat Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Hamlin back onto the track for the lead. He was hardly challenged at all and his Toyota coasted to his first career victory at NASCAR’s shortest track.

 

Truex was celebrating the victory that locked him into NASCAR’s title race when he heard the crowd roar, looked up at the big screen and saw two championship contenders jawing at each other on pit road.

 

Denny Hamlin was knocked to the ground in a confrontation with Joey Logano in the most intense action of an otherwise lackluster playoff Sunday at Martinsville Speedway.

 

Martinsville marked the first of three races in the round of eight of the playoffs, where the field will be trimmed to a winner-take-all final four for the finale. Truex is locked in, while Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Logano are above the cutline. Kevin Harvick, Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson are the bottom four.

 

The next two rounds will be must-win situations for Elliott, NASCAR’s most popular driver, who suffered a catastrophic mechanical failure and finished 36th in the 38-car field. A victory earns a playoff driver an automatic berth into the final four.

 

William Byron and Brad Keselowski, both already eliminated from the playoffs, finished second and third.

 

Hamlin was fourth, followed by Blaney, another playoff contender.

 

Kurt Busch, eliminated from the playoffs in the first round, was sixth and followed by title contenders Harvick, Logano and Larson at his worst track in this round.

 

Kyle Busch had a really rough day and finished 18th, which would have been worst of the title contenders if not for Elliott’s issues.

 

Elliott had to start at the back of the field because of an engine change but worked his way inside the top-five until he stopped for a routine service.

 

The middle race of the third round of the playoffs, Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway. Harvick won last year but was disqualified after for an illegal part. Hamlin won in the spring.

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