{"id":28002,"date":"2019-09-21T23:59:17","date_gmt":"2019-09-22T04:59:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=28002"},"modified":"2019-09-22T08:53:09","modified_gmt":"2019-09-22T13:53:09","slug":"martin-truex-jr-survives-spin-to-lead-gibbs-domination-at-richmond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2019\/09\/21\/martin-truex-jr-survives-spin-to-lead-gibbs-domination-at-richmond\/","title":{"rendered":"Martin Truex Jr. survives spin to lead Gibbs domination at Richmond"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond Raceway on September 21, 2019 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

By Reid Spencer,  NASCAR Wire Service<\/em><\/p>\n

RICHMOND, Va. \u2013Martin Truex Jr.<\/strong> overcame late adversity and continued to assert his mastery over the first round of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, crosses the finish line to win the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond Raceway on September 21, 2019 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Rallying from a spin off the bumper of Ricky Stenhouse Jr.\u2019s Ford, and passing Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch for the lead with 25 laps left, Truex led an 1-2-3 finish for JGR in Saturday night\u2019s Federated Auto parts 400 at Richmond Raceway.<\/p>\n

In fact, the Gibbs cars were 1-2-3-4 at the finish, but a disqualification due to a post-race Optical Scanning Station inspection failure cost Erik Jones his fourth-place result. The disqualification was the first in the Cup Series this year.<\/p>\n

The victory was a milestone for Truex. The winner of last week\u2019s Playoff opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Truex had never won back-to-back races before. Now the driver of the No. 19 Toyota has six wins this season, a season sweep at Richmond and 25 victories in his Cup career.<\/p>\n

Busch came home second, 2.630 seconds behind his teammate. Denny Hamlin ran third, followed by pole winner Brad Keselowski.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, celebrates with a burnout after winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond Raceway on September 21, 2019 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Truex\u2019s win, however, was no cakewalk. On Lap 315, Stenhouse, who had just pitted for new tires, drove hard into Turn 3 beneath the No. 19 Camry. Stenhouse lost the nose of his No. 17 Ford, slid up into Truex\u2019s car and sent him spinning, handing the lead to Busch.<\/p>\n

Restarting third after the fifth and final caution of the race, Truex chased his teammate for the next 50 laps, finally clearing him on Lap 375.<\/p>\n

\u201cLuckily I didn’t hit anything,\u201d Truex said of his spin. \u201cI just tried to keep it off the fence, tried to get spun around and get going, and we ended up\u2014because we were pretty far up front, we got going in a pretty good spot and left pit road in a good position and then good adjustments at the end again by (crew chief) Cole (Pearn) and (engineer) James (Small) and the guys. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is just freaking unbelievable. So we came here to get bonus points and damn sure we did that\u2026 Had a heck of a race with Kyle and Denny all night long, really, and we just kept plugging away at it, kept plugging away at it, as we always do. We just keep digging and we never quit.  Next thing you know, catching the 18 (Busch) for the lead, I’m like, \u2018Cool, all right, here we go.\u2019 Man, to sweep Richmond finally is pretty awesome, as much as we’ve led here coming into this year, and just thanks to everybody. It’s pretty amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, celebrates and hands the checkered flag to a young fan after winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond Raceway on September 21, 2019 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Though Busch led a race-high 202 laps to Truex\u2019s 109, the driver of the No. 18 Toyota conceded his car wasn\u2019t quite up to the task of challenging his teammate.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t think we were as good as him all night long,\u201d Busch acknowledged. \u201cMartin, the car, the combination thereof, us, the combination of, just lacked a little bit. You know, like the 11 (Hamlin) lacked a little bit more than us. Just weird, I don’t know.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe led a lot of laps. We were up front a lot. But when I was out front, he could keep the closest distance to me. That kind of worried me for a finish like that in the long run.<\/p>\n

Keselowski was the only driver other than Truex and Busch to lead laps on Saturday. Playoff drivers Ryan Newman, Kyle Larson, Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer finished fifth through eighth respectively.<\/p>\n

Alex Bowman (24th<\/sup>), Bowyer and Kurt Busch (19th<\/sup>) and Jones (credited with a last-place finish) enter the final race of the Round of 16 below the cut line for the next round.<\/p>\n

Media Center Interviews:<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Martin Truex Jr. – <\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/MENCS_RR_TruexJr_092119-1.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

Crew chief Cole Pearn and team owner Coach Joe Gibbs – <\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/LVMS_MENCS_TruexJr_Pearn_Gibbs_091519.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Managing Director Jay Fabian – <\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/MENCS_RR_Fabian_092119.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Race – 62nd Annual Federated Auto Parts 400<\/strong><\/p>\n

Richmond Raceway<\/strong><\/p>\n

Richmond, Virginia<\/strong><\/p>\n

Saturday, September 21, 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

               1. (8)  Martin Truex Jr. (P), Toyota, 400.<\/p>\n

               2. (4)  Kyle Busch (P), Toyota, 400.<\/p>\n

               3. (6)  Denny Hamlin (P), Toyota, 400.<\/p>\n

               4. (1)  Brad Keselowski (P), Ford, 400.<\/p>\n

               5. (19)  Ryan Newman (P), Ford, 400.<\/p>\n

               6. (13)  Kyle Larson (P), Chevrolet, 400.<\/p>\n

               7. (2)  Kevin Harvick (P), Ford, 400.<\/p>\n

               8. (5)  Clint Bowyer (P), Ford, 400.<\/p>\n

               9. (14)  Daniel Suarez, Ford, 400.<\/p>\n

               10. (10)  Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 400.<\/p>\n

               11. (28)  Joey Logano (P), Ford, 400.<\/p>\n

               12. (37)  Bubba Wallace, Chevrolet, 400.<\/p>\n

               13. (3)  Chase Elliott (P), Chevrolet, 399.<\/p>\n

               14. (12)  Matt DiBenedetto, Toyota, 399.<\/p>\n

               15. (18)  Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 399.<\/p>\n

               16. (7)  Aric Almirola (P), Ford, 399.<\/p>\n

               17. (15)  Ryan Blaney (P), Ford, 399.<\/p>\n

               18. (9)  Kurt Busch (P), Chevrolet, 398.<\/p>\n

               19. (27)  David Ragan, Ford, 398.<\/p>\n

               20. (26)  Matt Tifft #, Ford, 397.<\/p>\n

               21. (11)  Michael McDowell, Ford, 397.<\/p>\n

               22. (17)  Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 396.<\/p>\n

               23. (20)  Alex Bowman (P), Chevrolet, 396.<\/p>\n

               24. (25)  William Byron (P), Chevrolet, 396.<\/p>\n

               25. (22)  Daniel Hemric #, Chevrolet, 396.<\/p>\n

               26. (30)  Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 396.<\/p>\n

               27. (24)  Paul Menard, Ford, 395.<\/p>\n

               28. (34)  Landon Cassill(i), Chevrolet, 395.<\/p>\n

               29. (29)  Corey LaJoie, Ford, 395.<\/p>\n

               30. (21)  Ryan Preece #, Chevrolet, 394.<\/p>\n

               31. (23)  Chris Buescher, Chevrolet, 393.<\/p>\n

               32. (32)  Austin Theriault, Chevrolet, 392.<\/p>\n

               33. (38)  JJ Yeley(i), Ford, 391.<\/p>\n

               34. (35)  Spencer Boyd(i), Chevrolet, 388.<\/p>\n

               35. (36)  Quin Houff, Chevrolet, 384.<\/p>\n

               36. (31)  Ross Chastain(i), Chevrolet, Brakes, 265.<\/p>\n

               37. (33)  Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, Accident, 233.<\/p>\n

               38. (16)  Erik Jones (P), Toyota, 400.<\/p>\n

Average Speed of Race Winner:  101.437 mph.<\/p>\n

Time of Race:  2 Hrs, 57 Mins, 27 Secs. Margin of Victory:  2.630 Seconds.<\/p>\n

Caution Flags:  5 for 32 laps.<\/p>\n

Lead Changes:  6 among 3 drivers.<\/p>\n

Lap Leaders:   B. Keselowski (P) 1-53;M. Truex Jr. (P) 54-103;K. Busch (P) 104-245;B. Keselowski (P) 246-281;M. Truex Jr. (P) 282-314;K. Busch (P) 315-374;M. Truex Jr. (P) 375-400.<\/p>\n

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Kyle Busch (P) 2 times for 202 laps; Martin Truex Jr. (P) 3 times for 109 laps; Brad Keselowski (P) 2 times for 89 laps.<\/p>\n

Stage #1 Top Ten: 19,18,2,11,4,14,95,9,48,1<\/p>\n

Stage #2 Top Ten: 18,19,11,2,6,4,9,14,48,42<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  By Reid Spencer,  NASCAR Wire Service RICHMOND, Va. \u2013Martin Truex Jr. overcame late adversity and continued to assert his mastery over the first round of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Rallying from a spin off the bumper of Ricky Stenhouse Jr.\u2019s Ford, and passing Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":28023,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11],"tags":[244,16,486],"class_list":["post-28002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-martin-truex-jr","tag-nascar","tag-richmond-raceway"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/MENCS_RR_VictoryLane_092119-e1569159806696.jpg?fit=640%2C427","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-7hE","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28002"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28002\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28024,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28002\/revisions\/28024"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}