{"id":33186,"date":"2021-04-11T20:36:42","date_gmt":"2021-04-12T01:36:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=33186"},"modified":"2021-04-11T20:44:07","modified_gmt":"2021-04-12T01:44:07","slug":"late-pass-gives-martin-truex-jr-third-nascar-cup-victory-at-martinsville","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2021\/04\/11\/late-pass-gives-martin-truex-jr-third-nascar-cup-victory-at-martinsville\/","title":{"rendered":"Late pass gives Martin Truex Jr. third NASCAR Cup victory at Martinsville"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #19 Bass Pro Toyota, celebrates after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway on April 11, 2021 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by James Gilbert\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

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

Martin Truex Jr. passed Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin on Lap 485 of Sunday\u2019s rain-delayed Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway and pulled away to win for the third time in his last four starts at the .526-mile short track.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #19 Bass Pro Toyota, celebrates with a burnout after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway on April 11, 2021 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by James Gilbert\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

The victory was Truex\u2019s second this season, ending a streak of seven straight different winners to start the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season. The driver of the No. 19 Toyota triumphed for the 29th time in his career and for the fifth time in his last 11-short track starts.<\/p>\n

Truex finished 1.972 seconds ahead of runner-up Chase Elliott, who passed Hamlin for the second spot on Lap 495 of 500. Hamlin held third, 2.364 seconds behind, to post his seventh top-five finish (including four third-place results) in his eight starts this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t believe we won again here, after not having the dominant car today, for sure,\u201d said Truex, who led for the first time when he beat Hamlin out of the pits on Lap 455 but surrendered the top spot to Hamlin\u2019s short-run speed after a restart on Lap 459. \u201cIt was a lot of fun there at the end racing with Denny.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #19 Bass Pro Toyota, celebrates with a young fan in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway on April 11, 2021 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWe raced clean, and we were able to come out on top. It\u2019s definitely difficult. We try to race hard, race clean. He was making it difficult on me\u2014I was loose coming off the corners. His car got tight, so we kind of had opposite things going on, and it made it difficult to pass. We played nice. (Team owner) Coach (Joe Gibbs) will be happy. It\u2019ll be a cordial meeting tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a race that produced 15 cautions for 102 laps, the 42-lap green-flag run to the finish proved Hamlin\u2019s undoing. The driver No. 11 Toyota didn\u2019t have the long-run speed to hold off his teammate.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just the cards we were dealt,\u201d said Hamlin, who led 276 laps. \u201cWe had a really good short-run car. We just didn\u2019t have a good long-run car. We just couldn\u2019t get our car to turn in the long run. That was the bugaboo of it, I guess you could say.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Office Toyota, drives during the NASCAR Cup Series Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway on April 10, 2021 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWe had a really fast car for 20 laps or so, and then it would just kind of go away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hendrick Motorsports teammates William Byron and Kyle Larson finished fourth and fifth, respectively. Joey Logano, Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick, Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch completed the top 10.<\/p>\n

Ryan Blaney won the first and second stages and led 157 laps, but his No. 12 Team Penske Ford dragged an air hose out of the pit box on his final stop, earning a penalty that sent him to the back of the field for the Lap 459 restart. He fought back for an 11th-place finish.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had an issue the last three times we\u2019ve been here with a car to win, so that\u2019s frustrating, but I\u2019m real proud of the effort,\u201d Blaney said. \u201cI just wish we could close one out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Bubba Wallace, driver of the #23 DoorDash Toyota, drives during the NASCAR Cup Series Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway on April 11, 2021 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

A 15-car pileup worthy of a \u201cBig One\u201d at Talladega thinned the field of potential winners and blocked the track as effectively as the forlorn container ship stopped traffic in the Suez Canal. Then melee started with side-to-side contact between the cars of Chris Buescher and Kyle Busch and collected a baker\u2019s dozen of cars behind them\u2014and setting the Chevrolets of Daniel Suarez and Ryan Preece on fire.<\/p>\n

The wreck, which stopped the race under a red flag that lasted 21 minutes, 47 seconds, was the coup de grace for two-time Martinsville winner Brad Keselowski, who had sustained damage in two earlier accidents.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just unfortunate that we got caught up in it,\u201d Keselowski said. \u201cThe track was blocked.  I think I was just barely going to get stopped in time, and somebody clobbered me from behind and just tore us up. It\u2019s a bummer. I think we were really good.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe drove up into the top five and lost the power-steering. I was able to manhandle it around the race track, but I couldn\u2019t get down pit road where you go to turn in your pit box\u2026 Just one of those compounding, frustrating short-track days, but we had decent speed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The race was halted by rain after 42 laps on Saturday night and resumed under caution at 4 p.m. on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Interviews:<\/h3>\n

Martin Truex Jr., James Small and Joe Gibbs (No. 19 Toyota, NASCAR Cup Series winner) – <\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/NCSJoeGibbsMartinTruexJrJamesSmallMartinsvillePost4112101.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

Chase Elliott (No. 9 Chevrolet, NASCAR Cup Series runner-up) –<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/NCSChaseElliottMartinsvillePost01.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

Denny Hamlin (No. 11 Toyota, NASCAR Cup Series third-place finisher) –<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/NCSDennyHamlinMartinsvillePost4112101.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

NASCAR Cup Series Race – 72nd Annual Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500<\/b><\/p>\n

Martinsville Speedway<\/b><\/p>\n

Martinsville, Virginia<\/b><\/p>\n

Saturday, April 10, 2021<\/b><\/p>\n

           <\/b>        1. (7)  Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 500.<\/p>\n

                   2. (5)  Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 500.<\/p>\n

                   3. (2)  Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 500.<\/p>\n

                   4. (3)  William Byron, Chevrolet, 500.<\/p>\n

                   5. (19)  Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 500.<\/p>\n

                   6. (1)  Joey Logano, Ford, 500.<\/p>\n

                   7. (23)  Christopher Bell, Toyota, 500.<\/p>\n

                   8. (13)  Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, 500.<\/p>\n

                   9. (9)  Kevin Harvick, Ford, 500.<\/p>\n

                   10. (12)  Kyle Busch, Toyota, 500.<\/p>\n

                   11. (4)  Ryan Blaney, Ford, 500.<\/p>\n

                   12. (22)  Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 500.<\/p>\n

                   13. (15)  Chris Buescher, Ford, 500.<\/p>\n

                   14. (18)  Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 500.<\/p>\n

                   15. (6)  Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 500.<\/p>\n

                   16. (25)  Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 500.<\/p>\n

                   17. (27)  Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 500.<\/p>\n

                   18. (26)  Cole Custer, Ford, 500.<\/p>\n

                   19. (8)  Ryan Newman, Ford, 499.<\/p>\n

                   20. (31)  Aric Almirola, Ford, 499.<\/p>\n

                   21. (21)  Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 498.<\/p>\n

                   22. (37)  James Davison, Chevrolet, 494.<\/p>\n

                   23. (33)  Josh Bilicki, Ford, 493.<\/p>\n

                   24. (29)  Quin Houff, Chevrolet, 493.<\/p>\n

                   25. (28)  JJ Yeley(i), Chevrolet, 492.<\/p>\n

                   26. (35)  Anthony Alfredo #, Ford, 492.<\/p>\n

                   27. (24)  Chase Briscoe #, Ford, 491.<\/p>\n

                   28. (32)  Cody Ware(i), Chevrolet, 490.<\/p>\n

                   29. (36)  BJ McLeod(i), Ford, 478.<\/p>\n

                   30. (16)  Erik Jones, Chevrolet, Rear Gear, 403.<\/p>\n

                   31. (14)  Michael McDowell, Ford, Accident, 387.<\/p>\n

                   32. (11)  Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, Accident, 386.<\/p>\n

                   33. (10)  Brad Keselowski, Ford, Accident, 385.<\/p>\n

                   34. (20)  Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, Accident, 384.<\/p>\n

                   35. (30)  Justin Haley(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 383.<\/p>\n

                   36. (17)  Ryan Preece, Chevrolet, Accident, 382.<\/p>\n

                   37. (34)  Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, Accident, 374.<\/p>\n

Average Speed of Race Winner:  67.316 mph.<\/p>\n

Time of Race:  3 Hrs, 54 Mins, 25 Secs. Margin of Victory:  1.972 Seconds.<\/p>\n

Caution Flags:  15 for 102 laps.<\/p>\n

Lead Changes:  18 among 7 drivers.<\/p>\n

Lap Leaders:   J. Logano 1-3;D. Hamlin 4-38;J. Logano 39;D. Hamlin 40-74;R. Blaney 75-140;D. Hamlin 141-174;R. Blaney 175-264;D. Hamlin 265-290;J. Logano 291;B. Wallace 292-314;W. Byron 315-323;D. Hamlin 324-372;J. Logano 373;C. Bell 374-382;D. Hamlin 383-453;R. Blaney 454;M. Truex Jr. 455-458;D. Hamlin 459-484;M. Truex Jr. 485-500.<\/p>\n

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Denny Hamlin 7 times for 276 laps; Ryan Blaney 3 times for 157 laps; Bubba Wallace 1 time for 23 laps; Martin Truex Jr. 2 times for 20 laps; Christopher Bell 1 time for 9 laps; William Byron 1 time for 9 laps; Joey Logano 4 times for 6 laps.<\/p>\n

Stage #1 Top Ten: 12,11,19,9,5,24,48,2,22,20<\/p>\n

Stage #2 Top Ten: 12,11,19,9,48,2,24,8,18,1<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Martin Truex Jr. passed Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin on Lap 485 of Sunday\u2019s rain-delayed Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway and pulled away to win for the third time in his last four starts at the .526-mile short track. The victory was Truex\u2019s second […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":33182,"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":[244,407,16,181],"class_list":["post-33186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-martin-truex-jr","tag-martinsville-speedway","tag-nascar","tag-nascar-xfinity-series"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/GettyImages-13120246451-scaled-e1618190781416.jpg?fit=640%2C439&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-8Dg","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33186"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33186\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33194,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33186\/revisions\/33194"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}