NASCAR at Richmond 2021 Results: Martin Truex Jr. Finishes 1st in Playoff Race
Sep 12, 2021
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA - SEPTEMBER 11: Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #19 Bass Pro Shops Red White Blue Toyota, (penalized) and Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Ground Toyota, lead the field to the green flag the NASCAR Cup Series Federated Auto Parts 400 Salute to First Responders at Richmond Raceway on September 11, 2021 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
Martin Truex Jr. ended his Saturday night in Richmond with a trip to Victory Lane, besting Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell at the Federated Auto Parts 400 Salute To First Responders.
The second leg of the Round of 16 in the Cup Series playoffs saw Truex jump up to second in the playoff standings behind only Hamlin, who won last week's Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.
Truex led just 80 of the 400 laps Saturday, working his way back from a green flag penalty at the start to move into first on Lap 132. He last pitted on Lap 343 and pulled away late to secure the win. Hamlin, meanwhile, led for 197 laps but couldn't hold off his teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing.
Two of the sport's top drivers were both dealt massive blows early on. Kurt Busch went into the wall at Turn 1 on Lap 41 following a flat left-rear tire and was unable to get back on the track.
Reigning champion Chase Elliott suffered a communication error on pit road that nearly took him out of the running as well. Instead he was able to recover and finish in fourth place ahead of Joey Logano and Kyle Larson.
They'll all be back in action next weekend in Bristol, Tennessee when the Bass Pro Shops Night Race kicks off at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.
NASCAR at Richmond 2021: Odds, TV Schedule, Live Stream and Drivers
Sep 10, 2021
DARLINGTON, SOUTH CAROLINA - SEPTEMBER 05: Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #19 Bass Pro Toyota, drives during the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on September 05, 2021 in Darlington, South Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
The 16 drivers involved in the NASCAR Cup Series postseason experienced a mixed bag of results in the first of three round-of-16 races last weekend.
The early exits of certain drivers put more pressure on them to succeed on Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway.
Denny Hamlin secured his spot in the round of 12 with his victory at Darlington Raceway. Kyle Larson is in the best position to advance on points from Richmond.
Alex Bowman, who won at Richmond earlier this season, Kyle Busch, William Byron and Michael McDowell sit beneath the cut line after they went through troubles at Darlington.
The desperation of the drivers beneath the 12th-place cut line combined with the motivation of top playoff drivers to lock up round-of-12 spots should produce plenty of fireworks under the lights in Virginia.
Kyle Larson is on the pole for Saturday night's Cup Series playoff race at Richmond. Denny Hamlin starts second, Martin Truex Jr. third, Kurt Busch fourth and Kevin Harvick fifth. pic.twitter.com/vh5EVkfZYq
The easiest way for a driver to secure safe passage into the round of 12 is to win at Richmond.
Hamlin has the opportunity to fine-tune things over the next two weeks because he is not under the pressure to advance.
Larson is in the best position to join Hamlin if he does not win. NASCAR.com outlined all of the potential clinching scenarios with Larson at the forefront.
Larson produced one of his worst results of the 2021 season at Richmond in April. He earned an 18th-place finish in a race won by his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Bowman.
Bowman will try to replicate the magic he found at Richmond to dig out of the early playoff hole he set for himself at Darlington.
The No. 48 car driver sits in 13th place, and he is level on points with Tyler Reddick, who finished two spots behind Larson in April on the Virginia short track.
Kyle Busch should also be in a good spot to leap above the cut line. He won both races at the track in 2018 and he took an eighth-place finish in April.
William Byron landed a seventh-place finish in April, so that should boost his prospects of moving out of 15th place to a more comfortable spot ahead of next week's trip to Bristol Motor Speedway.
The top eight positions from the April Richmond race were occupied by playoff qualifiers. Pre-race favorite Martin Truex Jr. started on the pole and finished fifth in that race. Hamlin, Joey Logano and Christopher Bell were second, third and fourth, respectively.
Truex completed the Richmond sweep in 2019, and he took second behind Brad Keselowski in the lone race at the circuit in 2020.
Larson can't be ignored as a pick to win since he has been the most consistent Cup Series this season. The No. 5 car driver has a chance to get out in front early from the pole position.
Starting up top does not guarantee success at Richmond since three of the last six winners won from starting spots outside the top 10.
However, the pole position should at least give Larson a chance to run in clean air to start and try to create some separation between himself and the rest of the pack.
Aric Almirola, who got into the playoffs with an unexpected win at New Hampshire, could be the best sleeper pick for prop bets on Saturday. He took sixth in April and carries some of the longest odds to win among the playoff drivers at +2500. A bet on Almirola to finish inside the top 10 at +350 carries plenty of value.
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NASCAR at Darlington 2021: Odds, TV Schedule, Live Stream and Drivers
Sep 4, 2021
Kyle Larson (5) during qualifying for a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Sunday, Aug. 15, 2021, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Doug McSchooler)
The NASCAR Cup Series postseason kicks off Sunday at one of the sport's most historic race tracks, with the 16 drivers in the playoff field, as well as the other drivers on the circuit, heading to Darlington Raceway.
Kyle Larson captured the regular-season title to earn the top spot in the standings going into the playoffs. Ryan Blaney and Martin Truex Jr. are both 28 points behind the No. 5 car driver.
Larson, Blaney and Truex have the easiest paths to the next round, but that could change in an instant if someone deeper in the postseason standings wins a race.
Any driver in the playoff hunt can automatically move on to the 12-driver postseason round with a victory at Darlington or at one of the two other round-of-16 races that follow at Richmond and Bristol.
Larson and Truex are the two favorites to win at Darlington for separate reasons.
The regular-season champion has been the most dominant driver on the Cup Series circuit in 2021, recording five wins and 14 top-five finishes. Truex, meanwhile, won the May race at Darlington. That was his second victory at the Track Too Tough To Tame.
Truex beat out Larson and Kyle Busch in the first Darlington race of the season. The No. 19 car led 248 of the 293 laps.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver needs to make up some ground from the start to catch up to Larson and Blaney. Truex starts on the outside of Row 5 in 10th place.
Larson begins the race in sixth place. He is one of three Hendrick Motorsports drivers starting on the first three rows.
Even though Blaney sits on the pole and won last time out at Daytona, he carries much steeper odds to win than Larson and Truex. Blaney owns a single top-10 finish at Darlington, but that did come in May, when he took eighth.
Blaney carries the best betting value based on his recent form. He has five top-five placings in the past six races and won in back-to-back weeks at Michigan and Daytona to close out the regular season. Blaney is +2000 to win, +650 to land in the top three, +330 to earn a top-five spot and -110 for a top-10 finish.
Kevin Harvick is the driver to watch outside of the top three in points. He has won two of the past four races at Darlington and is in need of a victory to rise out of the bottom four.
Harvick, Aric Almirola, Tyler Reddick and Michael McDowell sit beneath the cut line going into Darlington. They are all within three points of Christopher Bell in 12th. A strong run from those drivers should make them feel more comfortable about their prospects of advancing to the next round.
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NASCAR at Indianapolis 2021: Odds, TV Schedule, Live Stream and Drivers
Aug 14, 2021
Chase Elliott turns into the Esses during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race in Watkins Glen, N.Y., on Sunday, Aug. 8, 2021. (AP Photo/Joshua Bessex)
The NASCAR Cup Series will experience another first trip to a road course Sunday.
Instead of running on the oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Cup Series race will be contested on the road course inside the track.
Sunday's Verizon 200 at the Brickyard is the sixth road course challenge posed to the Cup Series drivers this season. They will take on a seventh in October at the Charlotte Roval.
Chase Elliott did not continue his road course dominance last time out at Watkins Glen. Instead, Kyle Larson extended his fantastic season by cashing in on his status as second-favorite.
The odds for Sunday's race suggest Elliott and Larson will be at the front of the pack again. They are the two clear favorites ahead of Martin Truex Jr. and others.
Since the Indy road course is new to the Cup Series drivers, a practice and qualifying session will be held on race weekend.
After the resumption of the 2020 schedule following a pandemic-related break, NASCAR has used a formula based off race finishes and points to determine the starting grid for most races. Sunday's trip around the Brickyard brings with it a special set of circumstances. A practice round will take place Saturday morning, and the grid will be set through Sunday's qualifying session.
Even though the starting lineup is not set, it feels like a guarantee to see Elliott and Larson up front at some juncture of the 200-mile race.
Elliott worked his way up from the back of the pack at Watkins Glen to take second behind Larson. The No. 9 car driver has four straight top-two finishes on that type of track. The pre-race favorite has landed inside the top two in eight of his past nine points races on road courses. The lone exception was a 21st-place mark at Daytona in February.
Larson has been equally as dominant during most of NASCAR's road course races in 2021. The No. 5 car driver won at Watkins Glen and Sonoma and took second at the Circuit of the Americas. He is one of the few drivers in the field who can match Elliott on this type of track because he carries an extensive amount of experience racing all sorts of vehicles on every surface imaginable.
The Hendrick Motorsports teammates should qualify high. Even if they do not, they should be in the mix for the lead sooner rather than later Sunday.
Truex should be viewed as the biggest threat to Elliott and Larson. He took third behind the duo at Watkins Glen and owns three straight top-10 marks on road courses. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver carries better odds across the board than the Hendrick cars. Getting Truex at -145 to finish in the top five is reasonable given his high level of performance on the road surfaces.
It is hard to see a long shot coming out of nowhere to upset the three favorites, but keep an eye on Christopher Bell at +1800.
Bell won at the Daytona road course race to clinch his spot in the playoffs and had top-10 finishes at Road America and Watkins Glen. Bell may be the best driver to target on props since he is +250 to finish in the top five.
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NASCAR at Watkins Glen 2021 Results: Kyle Larson Earns 5th Win of Season
Aug 8, 2021
WATKINS GLEN, NEW YORK - AUGUST 08: Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, waits on the grid prior to the NASCAR Cup Series Go Bowling at The Glen at Watkins Glen International on August 08, 2021 in Watkins Glen, New York. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
Kyle Larson held off Chase Elliott and Martin Truex Jr. to win for the fifth time during the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season.
The points leader collected the checkered flag in Sunday's Go Bowling at the Glen at Watkins Glen International in New York.
Larson cruised to the finish line with nearly three seconds separating him from Elliott in second place. It was a story fans already saw play out at Sonoma Raceway in the Toyota/Save Mart 350.
Larson was basically racing against himself in the final 10 laps given his comfortable lead, while Elliott and Truex were locked in a tight battle for second place.
Chase Elliott up to second!
He sends it past Martin Truex Jr. in the bus stop! TV: NBCSN
Lapped traffic presented a minor hindrance to the No. 5 car and allowed Elliott a bit of a lifeline. At one point, Larson's lead dwindled to under two seconds, but his team cautioned that Elliott was due to encounter the same problems.
"There's nothing to worry about, Chase still has all that s--t to get through," crew chief Cliff Daniels said over the radio.
After the race, Larson said he felt a more serious threat from Elliott in the moment.
"Chase was already catching me pretty quick," he told NBC Sports. "When I caught those four cars, I thought I would look in my mirror and he'd be right on me."
Elliott was circumspect about a strong day overshadowed by Larson's dominant performance:
The championship playoff structure can quickly nullify whatever happened earlier in the year. A driver can look like the clear title favorite and all of a sudden be on the bubble with a couple of bad showings.
Having said that, Larson has been in a class by himself for much of 2021, transforming under the guidance of Hendrick Motorsports.
Kyle Larson won six races in 223 races at Chip Ganassi Racing
He has five wins in 23 races at Hendrick Motorsports.
Only three more races remain before the playoffs get underway, so every little bit counts in terms of jockeying for position. Truex and Joey Logano were the two stage winners to earn one playoff point apiece.
Logano's fortunes shifted significantly later in the race when he caught friendly fire from Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski.
"That's just bad luck!"
Brad Keselowski spins and gets into his own teammate, Joey Logano.
Logano wound up in 22nd place, with Keselowski only managing a 35th-place showing.
One of NASCAR's signature events lies ahead on Aug. 15. Drivers will make the trip to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for Verizon 200 at the Brickyard.
This will be the first year NASCAR runs the road course in Indianapolis, which adds a different dimension to the 2021 installment in the legendary race.
Kevin Harvick is the two-time defending champion at the Brickyard, but his back-to-back victories may not count for much on a new track configuration.
NASCAR at Sonoma 2021: Odds, TV Schedule, Live Stream and Drivers
Jun 5, 2021
NASCAR Cup Series driver Chase Elliott drives in the NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., Sunday, May 30, 2021. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)
Chase Elliott is NASCAR's road-course king.
The Hendrick Motorsports driver has five victories in his past seven road-course starts, but none of them occurred at Sonoma Raceway.
Because of the COVID-19 restrictions in place in California, the NASCAR Cup Series did not race at Sonoma during the 2020 season. Elliott has never won at the track, but he does own a pair of top-10 finishes at the road course.
Martin Truex Jr. won the past two Cup Series races at Sonoma in 2018 and 2019. He has challenged Elliott at most road-course events in recent years. Truex is the second-favorite to win behind Elliott, and there is a significant gap between the two drivers and the rest of the field on the odds board.
Elliott appears to be in a better spot to win than Truex on Sunday.
The No. 9 car driver starts on the front row alongside Hendrick teammate Kyle Larson and could take over the lead from the start.
Since 2009, all of the race winners at Sonoma started inside the top 14, and five of them began the race on the first three rows.
Truex won the past two Sonoma races from second and eighth, respectively. Three of the four cars that finished behind him lined up in the top 10.
Sonoma is the one road course Elliott has not yet conquered. He has two wins on the Charlotte Roval, two more at Watkins Glen, another at the Daytona road course and a triumph at the Circuit of the Americas.
Elliott's COTA win came in a shortened race that was plagued by weather issues for most of the time the drivers were on track. Fortunately for the drivers, they will deal with sunny conditions Sunday, per AccuWeather.
Larson is the driver to watch outside of Elliott and Truex. He starts on the pole, took second at COTA and he owns four top-10 finishes in his past seven Cup Series road-course starts.
The No. 5 car driver is one of three competitors with double-digit top-10 placings this season, and he is one of three drivers with multiple wins. Truex has found Victory Lane three times, and Alex Bowman has won twice.
If Larson extends his strong run of form into Sonoma, he could make a push toward the top of the points standings. He and William Byron are 76 points back of Denny Hamlin.
Hamlin could be worth a look at +1000 to win the race since he finished in the top 10 in his past two starts at Sonoma. He is one of six drivers to land inside the top 10 in the past two races at the track.
Erik Jones and Aric Almirola are the long shots from that group to consider from a betting perspective. Jones is +15000 to win and Almirola sits at +20000. The drivers are +350 and +450, respectively, to finish in the top 10.
If you do not want to take the risk of betting Jones or Almirola outright, you can still get great value for a top-10 finish even if one of the road-course aces takes the checkered flag.
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NASCAR at Charlotte 2021: Odds, TV Schedule, Live Stream and Drivers
May 29, 2021
Brad Keselowski in action during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Dover International Speedway, Sunday, May 16, 2021, in Dover, Del. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
The NASCAR Cup Series' longest race of the season takes place in its traditional spot on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend.
The Coca-Cola 600 has been won by some of the most prestigious drivers in the sport, and recently it has been dominated by Joe Gibbs Racing.
Joe Gibbs Racing has won three of the last six May races at Charlotte Motor Speedway. One of its drivers, Martin Truex Jr., won in 2016 before he joined Gibbs.
Truex and the other 39 drivers in the field will determine their starting positions through a qualifying session on Saturday morning.
That marks the second week in a row the NASCAR Cup Series race will have its starting grid determined by a weekend session.
In previous weeks, the grid was made up by a pre-determined formula that took into account points and recent results.
Even though the Gibbs cars have had recent success at Charlotte, it is the Hendrick Motorsports drivers on top of the odds chart.
Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott are the two favorites on top of the grid entering Sunday. Elliott won the rain-shortened race at the Circuit of the Americas last Sunday.
Hendrick has two straight victories, with the other coming from Alex Bowman at Dover International Speedway. All four Hendrick cars placed in the top four in that event.
If the team extends its dominance into Charlotte, it can pick up its first Coca-Cola 600 victory since Jimmie Johnson in 2014.
Elliott has the most-recent win on the circuit at Charlotte, but that occurred on the road course in October.
Elliott was second to Brad Keselowski last May. Bowman led 164 laps in that event, but he finished in 19th.
Keselowski comes into the 400-lap race with speculation building about his seat for the 2022 season. The No. 2 car driver is being rumored with a move away from Penske Racing to Roush Fenway Racing, per Motorsport.com's Jim Utter.
The reigning Coca-Cola 600 champion did not add much to the speculation when asked about it in the Charlotte garage, per NASCAR.com's Chase Wilhelm.
"I can't talk about that, but I appreciate you asking," Keselowski said. "When I can, I'll tell you."
When he won last May, Keselowski led just 21 laps and started in ninth position. Because of the length of the race, starting position is not as important as it is at other tracks.
As the sun sets, the track conditions will change, and the crews must make adjustments and adapt their pit strategies to deal with the changing conditions on the track.
For example, four of the top 10 drivers last May started 15th or worse, with Ryan Blaney's third-place finish from 26th the best of the lot.
Saturday's qualifying session will be more of a turn back to a normal race weekend than a tone-setter for Sunday. There has not been a qualifying session or race on an oval since the Daytona 500.
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NASCAR at COTA 2021: Odds, TV Schedule, Live Stream and Drivers
May 22, 2021
Kyle Busch drives his car past the viewing tower during practice for Saturday's NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, Friday, May 21, 2021. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)
The NASCAR Cup Series will make its debut at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, on Sunday.
The 3.4-mile course has been used by the IndyCar Series and Formula 1, but most of the NASCAR competitors have no experience there.
Sunday's trip to Texas is one of a few unique challenges added to the 2021 schedule. The Cup Series already competed on the dirt at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Because of the unfamiliarity with the COTA track, the Cup Series drivers will compete for starting spots in a qualifying session Sunday morning.
For most of the season, the starting lineups have been set by a formula that takes into account the past week's results and the points standings. This was put into effect to shorten the time at the track because of COVID-19 protocols.
Chase Elliott and Martin Truex Jr. are the two favorites to win the EchoPark Texas Grand Prix because of their road course prowess. Every other driver is listed at +1000 or above to take the checkered flag first.
The easiest way to gauge which drivers will be successful at COTA is looking at past results on the other NASCAR road courses.
Elliott has become a road course ace with two victories in the past two seasons at the Charlotte Motor Speedway and a 2020 triumph on the Daytona International Speedway road course.
Truex, who leads the Cup Series in wins with three, turned in top-10 finishes on the Daytona and Charlotte road courses in 2019 and finished 12th on Daytona's road course this season.
But even the most experienced road course drivers could have trouble navigating COTA because it is the first series trip to the course.
Denny Hamlin's crew chief, Chris Gabehart, outlined how difficult it will be for teams on Sunday, per NASCAR.com's Zack Albert: "Gosh, the unknowns. There's just so many things that you've got to keep track of at this track, and none of us have been there to do it, so we're just guessing at some of them, at that."
In addition to dealing with the unknowns, the drivers and teams may have to deal with inclement weather. According to the AccuWeather forecast, there is a 61 percent chance of rain Sunday.
With all of the variables in play, there is a chance that an unlikely driver takes first, especially if that driver qualifies well. The Cup Series drivers have one practice session Saturday before Sunday morning's qualifying.
A somewhat similar situation played out at the Daytona road course in February, when Christopher Bell won as a long shot over Joey Logano and Hamlin.
At +2000, Bell is worth a look as an outright winner because he should come into Sunday's race with some confidence on a road course.
Xfinity Series champion Austin Cindric, who is driving on a part-time basis in the Cup Series, could turn in a surprise victory at +2200. Cindric won at Road America and the Daytona road course on the Xfinity Series circuit in 2020 and took second at Daytona in February.
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NASCAR at Dover 2021: Odds, TV Schedule, Live Stream and Drivers
May 15, 2021
Martin Truex Jr. (19) does a burnout as he celebrates after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Va., Sunday, April 11, 2021. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
The last five NASCAR Cup Series winners at Dover International Speedway top the odds chart for Sunday's Drydene 400.
Martin Truex Jr., who is coming off a win at Darlington Raceway, is the favorite to win at the Monster Mile. The No. 19 car driver owns three victories in 2021.
Truex and his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch won the last two races on the circuit, while Denny Hamlin sits atop the points standings for the team.
The Gibbs cars should be leading the pack for a good chunk of Sunday's race since Truex and Hamlin start on the front row. Four of the last seven winners at Dover have come from the top spots on the starting grid.
Kevin Harvick, Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson, all of whom have wins at Dover in the past three years, start inside the top eight, so it may be difficult for a long shot to upset the field.
Sunday's race is set up for the Gibbs cars to have a ton of success.
Truex owns two victories at the track and took second in both races in Delaware in 2020. Hamlin won one of those competitions, and Busch placed third in the race that the No. 11 car landed in Victory Lane.
In the last two years, the Gibbs team put nine cars in the top 10 and captured a pair of victories at Dover, so it is hard to argue against betting on one of those three drivers to win.
Truex sits at even-money to land in the top three, while Hamlin is +155 and Busch is +210 to land one of those positions.
In addition to their recent success at Dover, the three Gibbs drivers carry plenty of momentum into the race. Busch and Truex are the last two race winners, and Hamlin possesses nine top-five placings.
If you shy away from the Gibbs teammates, Larson and Harvick are the two best options to consider.
Larson won at Dover in October 2019 and drives for a Hendrick Motorsports team that had five top-10 finishes in the past two races at the Monster Mile.
Harvick captured the second of two races in August and was fourth behind the Gibbs train in the first of those two competitions.
Harvick carries more betting value at +750, and you can also get him at +200 to land inside the top three. Larson is +450 to capture the checkered flag and +125 to secure a top-three spot.
William Byron and Alex Bowman are the best wagering options outside of the top five since the Hendrick cars achieved so much success at Dover in 2020.
Byron and Bowman each had a top-five finish in the second Dover race last season, and they both sit above +1600 to win outright.
If you go further than Bowman on the odds chart, it becomes harder to justify an outright winner selection since the Gibbs and Hendrick teams have raced well at Dover.
Cole Custer may not win, but he carries the best value of the long shots to finish inside the top 10. The No. 41 car driver took 10th and 11th at Dover in 2020 and sits at +450 to finish in that spot on Sunday.
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NASCAR at Darlington 2021 Results: Martin Truex Jr. Dominant in 3rd Win of Year
May 9, 2021
Martin Truex Jr. drives into Turn 1 during the NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Darlington Raceway, Sunday, May 9, 2021, in Darlington, S.C. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)
Not only did he win the Goodyear 400 at the Darlington Raceway on Sunday—his third victory of the year—but he also won the first and second stages, capping off a thoroughly commanding performance.
Truex led for 248 of the 293 laps on Sunday—about as dominant as it gets. Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch, William Byron and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top five, with just two drivers other than Truex leading for double-digit laps with 10 (Kevin Harvick, who finished sixth, and Ross Chastain, who finished 15th).
He also became the first stage winner to win at Darlington. Truex earned his burnouts, that much is certain:
Martin Truex Jr wins Darlington, his 3rd of 2021. Over his first decade in Cup he won 3 times in 369 starts & never more than once in a season. But over last 6 years/192 starts he's won 27 times with multiple wins in 5 out of 6 years. Wow. https://t.co/bh0HRtKHPh
"We just had good balance," Truex said on the FS1 broadcast after the race (h/t Chris Estrada of NBC Sports). "The car was doing what I wanted it to do. I just had to manage those long runs. It was really loose that last run and I was nervous with the 5 (Larson) catching us and we got mired in some traffic there. That's always tough."
While Truex dominated, a few drivers had their day cut short.
Aric Almirola was done after just five laps after he hit the wall following contact from Ricky Stenhouse Jr.:
Those drivers will look to turn things around as the NASCAR Cup Series will continue next Sunday (2 p.m. ET on FS1) at the Dover International Speedway's Drydene 400.
Truex will be looking for win No. 4 after Sunday's impressive showing.
