Martin Truex Jr. picks up the first NASCAR Cup Series at Phoenix Raceway
Martin Truex Jr. won a quick brush with the wall and took the lead on the final restart with 25 laps left to claim his first victory in 2021 and the first in 31 careers at Phoenix Raceway.
Truex se nr. 19, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, finally won Joey Logano’s no. 22 Penske Racing Ford held off with a convincing 1,698 seconds for victory in the Instacart 500. The 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion, Truex, began to shift the race lead from the outside in a bold way – pulling away in the final rounds of an enthusiastic race containing 22 provisional changes.
Truex, 40, of New Jersey, is now the fifth winner in as many NASCAR Cup Series this season, joining Michael McDowell, Christopher Bell, William Byron and Kyle Larson, who also took place in the playoffs.
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“Just an amazing job of everyone, (crew member) James (small), all the men of the crew members fixing it, just really solid,” said Truex, who now wins 28 careers. ‘At the start of the race I thought we would run a fifteen. Man, I really can not believe it. I’m pretty speechless.
“It feels quite wonderful. Phoenix was a tough one for us.
“I wish it was November and I was in the last four,” he added with a smile, referring to the final season championship at Phoenix Raceway later in the year. “Just as grateful and proud of everyone at JGR, everyone who makes it possible.”
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Statistically, Logano’s Ford was the dominant car in the afternoon, scoring the best 143 of the 312 laps and winning Phase 2 – its first shift victory of the year. His Penske teammate Ryan Blaney won Phase 1 (also his first shift victory of 2021) and all three Penske Racing cars finished in the top 10. In total, the Penske trio of Logano, Blaney and Keselowski together led to 197 rounds – ahead of 63 percent of the day.
Logano started with Truex on the front row for the final restart and a challenge for the lead, but he could not restrain Truex, not even with a more favorable starting position.
“I was surprised he could hang out with me at the (last) start,” a disappointed Logano admitted that Truex was the winning movement. ‘He also had a good start, but I had a good bottom, and I thought it might be on the dog bone shortcut, and I thought, boy, I would have him cleaned up. Then we were still going door-to-door in that corner, and if you were going from house to house, the outside car was in control.
‘I’m pretty sure, even if I were to even hit him on that start, he would still chase me and probably get to me. They had the best car. We definitely had a good car, but once they introduced it to the second stage, it was the best car on the racetrack. ‘
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Truex’s JGR teammate Denny Hamlin was third, followed by Logano’s teammate Brad Keselowski and Chase Elliott, the Phoenix winner of November last year in fifth place.
Kevin Harvick, a nine-time Phoenix winner, was sixth and reached his fourth top-10 final in the first five races of the season. Last week’s Las Vegas winner Kyle Larson was seventh, his Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron was eighth, followed by JGR drivers Christopher Bell and Blaney to round out the top-10.
Even without the win, it was an impressive performance for the three Hendrick Motorsports cars that climbed to the top 10 finals. Elliott, Larson and Byron all had to start from the back of the field on Sunday. And the fourth Hendrick car, driven by Alex Bowman, was equally resilient with a 13th place finish, despite hitting the wall and bringing up an early warning flag.
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Larson especially gave a lesson on resilience. He rallied to race among the top 10 – even a lap ahead – a third of the way in the race, but was then sent twice to the back of the front lorries for violations in the highway.
Hamlin, Keselowski and Logano – who are still looking for their first wins in 2021 – are 1-2-3 in the championship, while Hamlin has a 39-point lead over Keselowski, while the series goes to Atlanta Motor Speedway for next weekend’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip. 500 (Sunday, 3pm ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Note: The winning match no. 19, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of Martin Truex Jr., passed NASCAR’s technical inspection after the race. The no. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet (Kurt Busch), the no. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota (Kyle Busch) and the no. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet (William Byron) all had one loop nut safe and secure, while the No. 2-team Penske Ford (Brad Keselowski) and number 99 Trackhouse Racing team Chevrolet (Daniel Suarez) have two air nuts not safe and secure.
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