Truex Gets Fifth Win of Season in Vegas Playoff Opener

LAS VEGAS, NV – It had been almost three months since Martin Truex Jr. last raised a trophy, and while others may have wondered about his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team’s Playoff potential, this team never wavered in its confidence or pursuit.

And sure enough, they were the ones celebrating in Victory Lane at Las Vegas Motor Speedway after Sunday night’s South Point 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs opener.

“Welcome back!” an ecstatic Truex screamed to his team on the radio after taking the checkered flag an impressive 4.173 seconds ahead of fellow Playoff competitor, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick.

It was Truex’s fifth victory of the year — best in the field — and an automatic ticket to the next round of the Playoffs.

“We took a gamble, qualified 24th,” said Truex, who led 32 laps. “For a while it wasn’t looking too smart with the 4 (Harvick) out front. Got the right adjustments in the end. Had a great car all day long.

“Hell of a way to make a championship run. Get some good bonus points, move on to the next round, see what we can do there.’’

As strong as Harvick’s Ford had been, leading 47 laps on the day, he said after the race that he really didn’t have much for Truex in the end.

“I knew the Gibbs cars would be tough,’’ said the 2014 Cup champ. “Martin was just so much better on the second half of the run. He made up that ground there, was able to stay close enough to us. My car started to get loose and push the front. It was just in kind of a four-wheel drift.

“We did some things this weekend that we probably will have to undo going forward. I think we can do a little bit better going forward.’’

The top 10 drivers on Sunday were all Playoff competitors. Three-time Vegas winner Brad Keselowski was third in the No. 2 Team Penske Ford. Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott brought his No. 9 Chevrolet home fourth and Harvick’s Penske teammate Ryan Blaney was fifth.

Hendrick Motorsports teammates Alex Bowman and William Byron were sixth and seventh, followed by Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson, reigning series champion Joey Logano in ninth and Roush Fenway Racing’s Ryan Newman in 10th.

While the race’s final laps came down to a battle between Harvick and Busch, it was actually Logano who led the most laps on the day: 105 of the 267.

“We got shuffled out the back and then got to the outside of the 41 (Daniel Suárez) and didn’t know I was there and he crashed our car,’’ said Logano, whose No. 22 Ford suffered a lot of right-side damage after it was squeezed into the wall avoiding Suárez.

“We just didn’t have a chance to fix it as good as it needed to be and as good as it was before that,’’ said Logano, who won the first stage.

“They fixed it as good as they could to recover with a top 10. Our car was so fast and I feel like we had a chance of winning it, but we just kind of got shuffled into everything.’’

On the plus side, Logano said, “Our car was fast. We were definitely capable of winning this thing, no doubt. We showed that. That is a positive.’’

It was a frustrating evening for many of the other Playoff drivers as well, several who worked through various obstacles from a flat tire for polesitter Clint Bowyer (finished 25th) to a crash for Ganassi driver Kurt Busch (39th) to an early race mechanical issue for JGR’s Erik Jones (finished 36th).

First-time Playoff participant, 21-year-old Byron rallied to that seventh-place finish, but actually brought out one of the race’s four caution flags on lap 182 after spinning.

Regular-season champion and Las Vegas native Kyle Busch also had a busy day. He went two laps down early after brushing the wall. He made up enough positions on track and earned a spot back on the lead lap only to have problems with lapped cars as he raced forward.

The frustration was clear after he climbed out of his No. 18 JGR car on pit road, relegated with a 19th place finish even after he rallied back inside the top 10 at one point in the waning laps. The upside for him is the bonus points he received for winning the season title will carry over and balance some of the bad luck on Sunday.

“Should have run fourth probably, instead of 19th,” Busch said on pit road, his disappointment obvious as he called out the driving technique from slower cars.

When reminded he gets to carry those bonus points, he said, “It’s pathetic to have to lean on insurance. My premiums are going to go up.’’

The Cup Series moves to Richmond Raceway next week for the second race of the opening Playoff round. With the victory at Vegas, Truex has taken a three-point lead on Harvick in the championship standings. Logano is third, seven points behind Truex and Kyle Busch is fourth, 19 points off the lead.

Race Results – South Point 400

               1. (24)  Martin Truex Jr. (P), Toyota, 267.

               2. (3)  Kevin Harvick (P), Ford, 267.

               3. (18)  Brad Keselowski (P), Ford, 267.

               4. (8)  Chase Elliott (P), Chevrolet, 267.

               5. (23)  Ryan Blaney (P), Ford, 267.

               6. (19)  Alex Bowman (P), Chevrolet, 267.

               7. (14)  William Byron (P), Chevrolet, 267.

               8. (15)  Kyle Larson (P), Chevrolet, 267.

               9. (22)  Joey Logano (P), Ford, 267.

               10. (17)  Ryan Newman (P), Ford, 267.

               11. (9)  Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 267.

               12. (7)  Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 267.

               13. (4)  Aric Almirola (P), Ford, 267.

               14. (21)  Paul Menard, Ford, 267.

               15. (13)  Denny Hamlin (P), Toyota, 267.

               16. (27)  Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 267.

               17. (6)  Daniel Hemric #, Chevrolet, 267.

               18. (28)  Chris Buescher, Chevrolet, 266.

               19. (20)  Kyle Busch (P), Toyota, 266.

               20. (2)  Daniel Suarez, Ford, 266.

               21. (25)  Matt DiBenedetto, Toyota, 266.

               22. (11)  David Ragan, Ford, 266.

               23. (31)  Bubba Wallace, Chevrolet, 266.

               24. (10)  Michael McDowell, Ford, 266.

               25. (1)  Clint Bowyer (P), Ford, 266.

               26. (12)  Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 265.

               27. (16)  Ryan Preece #, Chevrolet, 265.

               28. (33)  Corey LaJoie, Ford, 265.

               29. (30)  Landon Cassill(i), Chevrolet, 265.

               30. (29)  Matt Tifft #, Ford, 264.

               31. (32)  Ross Chastain(i), Chevrolet, 262.

               32. (36)  JJ Yeley(i), Ford, 260.

               33. (35)  BJ McLeod(i), Ford, 259.

               34. (38)  Joe Nemechek(i), Chevrolet, 257.

               35. (34)  Garrett Smithley(i), Ford, 255.

               36. (26)  Erik Jones (P), Toyota, 254.

               37. (37)  Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 250.

               38. (39)  Joey Gase(i), Toyota, 249.

               39. (5)  Kurt Busch (P), Chevrolet, Accident, 187.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 142.555 mph.

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 48 Mins, 34 Secs.

Margin of Victory: 4.173 Seconds.

Caution Flags: 4 for 22 laps.

Lead Changes: 24 among 14 drivers.

Lap Leaders: C. Bowyer (P) 1;D. Suarez 2-30;A. Almirola (P) 31-33;J. Logano (P) 34-42;M. McDowell 43-58;J. Logano (P) 59-83;K. Harvick (P) 84-86;W. Byron (P) 87;J. Logano (P) 88-123;C. Buescher 124;J. Logano (P) 125-157;M. Truex Jr. (P) 158-167;J. Logano (P) 168;M. Truex Jr. (P) 169-170;C. Elliott (P) 171-181;J. Logano (P) 182;D. Hamlin (P) 183-185;R. Blaney (P) 186;K. Harvick (P) 187-229;C. Elliott (P) 230;W. Byron (P) 231-235;K. Larson (P) 236-237;M. DiBenedetto 238-246;K. Harvick (P) 247;M. Truex Jr. (P) 248-267.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Joey Logano (P) 6 times for 105 laps; Kevin Harvick (P) 3 times for 47 laps; Martin Truex Jr. (P) 3 times for 32 laps; Daniel Suarez 1 time for 29 laps; Michael McDowell 1 time for 16 laps; Chase Elliott (P) 2 times for 12 laps; Matt DiBenedetto 1 time for 9 laps; William Byron (P) 2 times for 6 laps; Aric Almirola (P) 1 time for 3 laps; Denny Hamlin (P) 1 time for 3 laps; Kyle Larson (P) 1 time for 2 laps; Ryan Blaney (P) 1 time for 1 lap; Clint Bowyer (P) 1 time for 1 lap; Chris Buescher 1 time for 1 lap.

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service