There was no stopping Martin Truex Jr. at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Monday afternoon. Not even a handful of late-race restarts would slow the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion.
Truex, who led a race-high 254 laps, swept every Stage en route to winning the Crayon 301 which was postponed to Monday due to inclement weather.
The win was Truex’s third victory of the season and the 34th of his career.
“Just really an awesome job by everybody,” an elated Truex said on the frontstretch. “What a race car we had today. Just proud of the whole team. Pit stops were flawless. Race car was unbelievable.
“We had some challenges at times throughout the race and it was a handful at times, but we just kept our heads down, kept digging.”
Ironically, it was Truex’s second win on a Monday this season after winning at Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway in May.
It was a banner day for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver, who also retook the points lead from William Byron with six races remaining in the regular season.
While the No. 19 was near flawless all race, three caution flags within the final 31 laps began to wear on the 43-year-old.
“Stop wrecking, everybody just stop wrecking,” Truex said. “Yeah, luckily we were able to hold them off. The car was just so fast. I don’t know, I don’t even know what to say. I’m speechless. Been after this one a long time. This one is sweet.”
While no driver could match Truex’s stellar pace throughout the 301-lap event, Joey Logano came close in the dire stages as the Team Penske driver stalked the rear bumper of the No. 19 Toyota to the checkered flag in second. It was Logano’s fourth top 10 finish in the last six races.
“I thought I would have had something,” Logano said. “Right before that caution came out two cautions to the end when we had tires on it seemed like the 19 took a few laps to get going. I was running him down, I was like, ‘Man, I’ve got a chance here.’
“That caution came out right when I was thinking I could make a move on the outside into (turn) three.
“And then it seemed like the cycles helped him get his pressures up to where he can re-fire and be pretty quick the last couple restarts,” Logano continued.
“Dang it, the home track, there’s no place you want to win more than this, so it stings to not get the Shell-Pennzoil Ford into victory lane. But gosh, second just sucks sometimes. It stings the most when you’re that close and feeling like you had a shot at it. Still a good day for us.”
Despite starting 15th, Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson carefully maneuvered his way to third by race’s end to notch his fourth top-five in the last six races.
Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick ended his 40th and final Cup Series start at the 1.058-mile oval in fourth. Harvick and the No. 4 team played the strategy game after electing to stay out with 25 laps to go.
“We knew we just had to get rolling on the old tires. Just rolled the bottom,” Harvick said. “Probably should have rolled the fourth lane instead of the third lane, but still a decent day. We’ll keep plugging along. This had just been a great race track for us – another top-five.
“These tracks and these fans here, especially, have been so good to me throughout the years. It’s always fun to come here.”
Rounding out the top-five was RFK Racing’s Brad Keselowski, who earned his third consecutive top-six result.
What Else Went Down
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell started on pole alongside Truex to begin the Crayon 301. Though Bell quickly relinquished the lead on lap two when Truex powered his way to the top.
• A lap 29 spin for A.J. Allmendinger brought out the competition caution which was originally scheduled for lap 30.
• After starting at the rear for unapproved adjustments, Kyle Busch’s day went sour at the end of Stage One when Busch slammed the outside wall in the middle of turns one and two. Busch’s day was over in 36th, his fourth DNF of the season.
• Erik Jones spun on lap 162, prompting various strategy calls on pit lane.
With the two tire strategy continuing to play out, Aric Almirola, Larson, Logano and Harvick elected to take two Goodyear tires for track position.
Almirola was running inside top five at the time of caution.
On the ensuing restart, Almirola’s Cinderella story came to an abrupt end from the lead. The No. 10 Ford Mustang hit the outside wall after the right-rear wheel came loose.
“I thought it (the right-rear) felt a little bit awkward leaving pit road, but then after that, working my tires in and going through the gears before the restart, ya know… I spun the tires a few times – everything felt normal,” Almirola explained. “I didn’t really have any concerns going into the restart, and then, obviously the right-rear wheel came off.
“So, just really, really disappointed. This race team has been working so hard to bring fast race cars to the track. I’m so proud of everybody – Drew (Blickensderfer, crew chief) and all the guys on our team. We’re not capitalizing when we have cars capable of running up-front. Just frustrating… disappointing… all the words you can use to describe being upset is certainly where we are,” Almirola continued.
“I hate it. I hate it for Smithfield. I hate it for Ford… Mobil 1, HighPoint.com, Go Bowling – everybody that puts so much into this program that we can’t get results.”
Heading into New Hampshire, Almirola was mired back in 27th in the standings.
• Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney pressured Truex for a handful of laps later on in the race, though a caution with 31 laps to go changed the course for the No. 12 team.
On the final pit stop under caution, Blaney’s potential hopes of victory were dashed after he ran over equipment in his pit box. Blaney was forced to restart at the tail end of the longest line. The driver of the No. 12 finished 22nd.
Two additional cautions slowed Truex’s pace, including one with 13 laps to go when eighth-place runner Bell got loose heading into turn three, slapping the outside wall.
Bell finished 29th after starting on the pole.
The final restart came with nine laps to go, where Truex cruised ahead of the field.
• Harvick eclipsed 16,000 career laps led during green flag pit stops (11th all-time).
• Early on in the event, Truex eclipsed 1,000 career laps led at the Magic Mile, the fifth track in his career.
• The NASCAR Playoff grid shook up after New Hampshire, with 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace jumping two positions into 15th, two points ahead of the cutline after an eighth-place finish.
Michael McDowell holds a one-point cushion over Daniel Suarez for the final playoff spot.
Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott sits 23rd in the standings after a 12th-place finish at New Hampshire, 60 points out of 16th.