Richmond Raceway
September 11th, 2021
FINAL STATUS
LAPS COMPLETED
PLAYOFF POINTS
1
Martin Truex Jr
19 |
2
Denny Hamlin
11 |
3
Christopher Bell
20 |
4
Chase Elliott
9 |
5
Joey Logano
22 |
6
Kyle Larson
5 |
7
Ross Chastain
42 |
8
Kevin Harvick
4 |
9
Kyle Busch
18 |
10
Ryan Blaney
12 |
11
Austin Dillon
3 |
12
Alex Bowman
48 |
13
Brad Keselowski
2 |
14
Aric Almirola
10 |
15
Tyler Reddick
8 |
16
Chase Briscoe
14 |
17
Daniel Suarez
99 |
18
Matt DiBenedetto
21 |
19
William Byron
24 |
20
Ryan Newman
6 |
21
Erik Jones
43 |
22
Cole Custer
41 |
23
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
47 |
24
Chris Buescher
17 |
25
Ryan Preece
37 |
26
Anthony Alfredo
38 |
27
Justin Haley
77 |
28
Michael McDowell
34 |
29
Corey Lajoie
7 |
30
BJ McLeod
78 |
31
Garrett Smithley
51 |
32
Bubba Wallace
23 |
33
Joey Gase
15 |
34
JJ Yeley
53 |
35
Quin Houff
00 |
36
Josh Bilicki
52 |
37
Kurt Busch
1 |
-
#1 | LEADER
![Martin Truex Jr.]()
Martin Truex Jr.
19|
-
#2 | 1.417
![Denny Hamlin]()
Denny Hamlin
11|
-
#3 | 12.916
![Christopher Bell]()
Christopher Bell
20|
Martin Truex Jr. rolls to Richmond win, advances in NASCAR Playoffs
Martin Truex Jr. received a penalty on the opening lap of the race for crossing the start/finish line in front of pole-sitter Denny Hamlin at the green flag. But 400 laps later Truex led the field across the line again — this time as the race winner of Saturday night‘s Federated Auto Parts 400 Salute to First Responders at Richmond (Va.) Raceway.
The convincing 1.317-second margin of victory over his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Hamlin and Christopher Bell marked Truex‘s third win in the last five races at Richmond, his fourth win of the 2021 season and, most importantly, gave him that coveted automatic bid into the next round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.
RELATED: Official results | At-track photos
Truex joins Hamlin, who won last week‘s playoff opener at Darlington, South Carolina, and Regular Season Champion Kyle Larson, who finished sixth on Saturday, as the only three drivers to have officially secured positions in the Round of 12 that begins in two weeks at Las Vegas.
The first thing Truex did after climbing out of his winning No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was acknowledge the importance of the September 11 date to our country and thank the fans for showing their support on the solemn anniversary and for their patriotic support of the sport of NASCAR.
As for his early setback, “That was frustrating, I‘m not going to lie,” Truex said of the race start. “But I knew we had a good enough car to overcome it. Just one of those things you have to put out of your mind and go race. A lot on the line tonight.
“But going to Bristol next week without any worries is always fun,” he added with a smile.
RELATED: Martin Truex Jr. proud to win on September 11
Truex, who led a total of 80 laps, took the lead for good — pacing the field for the final 51 laps — after a series of green-flag pit stops in the final portion of the race. Just before the pit sequence, another JGR teammate, Kyle Busch, had positioned himself to be a factor at the checkered flag. Instead, Busch received his second pit road penalty of the night — a speeding violation during his green-flag stop with 55 laps remaining. At the time, it dropped him to 10th place, the last car on the lead lap after he had been out front for 39 laps just before the pit-stop exchange. He ultimately finished ninth.
Last week‘s winner Hamlin had the strong car early, leading 100 of the opening 152 laps and a race-best 197 on the night, winning both stages. But the pit-road sequence, lapped traffic and an awakened Truex forced Hamlin to play catch-up in the end.
“The whole JGR team had fast cars for all of us today. I really wish we had gotten two in a row, but regardless still a great day for the team,” Hamlin said.
RELATED: Denny Hamlin says it’s go time now
Unlike last week‘s playoff opener at Darlington, when several of the 16 playoff cars suffered setbacks and disappointing finishes, Saturday night those cars reminded why they are in position to challenge for a championship. Thirteen of the top 15 cars were driven by playoff drivers.
Reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Chase Elliott finished fourth in a Hendrick Chevrolet and Team Penske‘s Joey Logano was fifth in a Ford. Larson finished sixth, followed by the only non-playoff driver among the top 10, Ross Chastain.
Stewart-Haas Racing’s driver Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Team Penske‘s Ryan Blaney rounded out the top 10.
Playoff drivers Alex Bowman, Brad Keselowski, Aric Almirola and Tyler Reddick finished 12th-15th. William Byron (19th), Michael McDowell (28th) and Kurt Busch (37th) rounded out the playoff finishers.
Busch, who led laps early, suffered a tire problem that sent his No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet hard into the Turn 1 wall only 40 laps into the race.
“Something happened with that left rear, it let go,” said Busch, who was running in the top five at the time of his accident. “It let go of our points and it let go of our whole season right now. I don‘t know what we‘re going to have to do at Bristol other than win.”
RELATED: Kurt Busch exits early
Despite the tough luck, Busch heads into Saturday night‘s Round of 16 finale at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway in a mathematical tie with Bowman for the 12th playoff position — and last transfer position.
Reddick (-5), Byron (-18), Daytona 500 winner McDowell (-38) are currently outside the top 12, with four of the 16 cars set to be eliminated from the playoffs after Bristol‘s Bass Pro Shops Night Race (7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Harvick is the defending winner of the Bristol playoff race. Joey Logano won the 2021 race at the Bristol track‘s inaugural dirt race in March. Kurt Busch has six previous wins at Bristol and his younger brother Kyle is the winningest active driver with eight victories.
Note: Inspection in the NASCAR Cup Series garage revealed no issues, thus validating Truex’s win. In post-race inspection, the No. 77 Chevrolet was found to have two lug nuts not safe and secure, while the No. 19 Toyota had one lug nut not safe and secure.
DRIVERS COMPARISON
- Martin Truex Jr. (P)
- Denny Hamlin (P)
- Flag State
- Fastest Lap
#1
- Martin Truex Jr. (P)
#1
LAP SPEED
107.424MPH
LEADER
AVG RUNNING POS
6.973
BEST LAP TIME (SEC)
22.83
XFINITY FASTEST LAP (MPH)
118.265
LAPS LED
77
#2
- Denny Hamlin (P)
#2
LAP SPEED
109.126MPH
1.4169999999995 (Time Behind)
1.4169999999995 (Time Behind)
AVG RUNNING POS
1.833
BEST LAP TIME (SEC)
22.863
XFINITY FASTEST LAP (MPH))
118.095
LAPS LED
0
LIVE STANDINGS
STAGE ONE POINTS
STAGE TWO POINTS
STAGE THREE POINTS
RACE POINTS
1
Brad Keselowski
41 |
2
Brad Keselowski
2 |
3
Brad Keselowski
17 |
LIVE STANDINGS
STAGE ONE POINTS
STAGE TWO POINTS
STAGE THREE POINTS
RACE POINTS
1
Martin Truex Jr.
41 |
2
A.J. Allmendinger
2 |
3
A.J. Allmendinger
2 |
4
A.J. Allmendinger
41 |
5
A.J. Allmendinger
17 |
6
A.J. Allmendinger
17 |
7
A.J. Allmendinger
2 |
8
Martin Truex Jr.
41 |
9
A.J. Allmendinger
2 |
10
Martin Truex Jr.
17 |
- Follow your favorite driver
- Listen to the team strategy
- Hear officials radio
- Purchase here and log into the app to access on mobile
https://ift.tt/3k3UaxI
Auto
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Federated Auto Parts 400 Salute to First Responders | Official Site Of NASCAR - NASCAR"
Post a Comment