Martin Truex Jr. dominates at Darlington for third win of season

[May 10, 2021]  Martin Truex Jr. won for the third time in the 2021 season Sunday when he captured the Goodyear 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina.

And a dominating win it was for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver as he led 248 of 293 laps. At times, his margin over the closest driver behind him was more than 10 seconds -- or a third of a lap at the 1.33-mile egg-shaped oval.

"We just had good balance," said Truex, the 2017 Cup champion. "The car would do what I wanted it to do. I just had to manage those long runs."

Truex's other wins this year were at Phoenix on March 14, and Martinsville, Va., on April 10.

"Hopefully we can keep this rolling," he said.

The victory was Truex's second at Darlington but it didn't come without a late-race challenge as Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports hunted him down over the final 30 laps, made his way to Truex's rear bumper and stayed there until fading with five laps to go.

Truex's margin of victory over Larson was 2.51 seconds.

"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," he said. "That's always tough."

Larson said, "I was surprised I was able to get to him," suggesting he had been too patient in his charge. "He was just a little bit better than I was in long runs. I just wish I could have taken advantage of the opportunity."

Kyle Busch, who won a week ago at Kansas, had the lead before blowing a tire and spinning on Lap 22. But he came back from that and finished third.

"Solid day overall," Busch said. "Just missing a little bit on the long runs. Seems like could fire off with Truex there and hang with him a little bit. Actually, we'd catch him for about five laps and then it was over."

William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports was fourth and Gibbs driver Denny Hamlin was fifth.

Stewart-Haas Racing's Kevin Harvick won two of the three Darlington races last year and finished third in the other. But all those races were run in cars with more downforce and 200 less horsepower -- 550 vs. 750. Harvick finished sixth.

Both Hendrick's Chase Elliott and Stewart-Haas Racing's Aric Almirola were forced to start from the rear of the field -- Elliott for unapproved adjustments to his car and Almirola for twice failing pre-race inspection.

Almirola's day ended when he was tapped from behind and slammed into the inside wall.

Elliott, on the other hand, advanced to the top 10 well before the end of the first 90-lap stage. The defending series champ finished seventh.

Next up on the schedule is a race at Dover International Speedway's Monster Mile in Delaware, May 16.

NASCAR Cup Series Race - 2nd Annual Goodyear 400

Darlington Raceway

Darlington, South Carolina

Sunday, May 9, 2021

1. (4) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 293.

2. (14) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 293.

3. (3) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 293.

4. (5) William Byron, Chevrolet, 293.

5. (7) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 293.

6. (2) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 293.

7. (6) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 293.

8. (16) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 293.

9. (11) Chris Buescher, Ford, 293.

10. (20) Ryan Newman, Ford, 292.

11. (22) Chase Briscoe #, Ford, 292.

12. (10) Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, 292.

13. (12) Joey Logano, Ford, 292.

14. (21) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 292.

NASCAR Cup Series driver Martin Truex Jr. celebrates after winning the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

15. (18) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 291.

16. (9) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 291.

17. (19) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 291.

18. (26) Erik Jones, Chevrolet, 291.

19. (8) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 290.

20. (28) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 290.

21. (23) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 290.

22. (30) Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 290.

23. (15) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 290.

24. (1) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 290.

25. (29) Ryan Preece, Chevrolet, 290.

26. (25) Anthony Alfredo #, Ford, 289.

27. (13) Michael McDowell, Ford, 288.

28. (31) Justin Haley(I), Chevrolet, 288.

29. (34) JJ Yeley(i), Chevrolet, 286.

30. (35) Quin Houff, Chevrolet, 286.

31. (36) James Davison, Chevrolet, 286.

32. (32) BJ McLeod(i), Ford, 285.

33. (37) Josh Bilicki, Ford, 245.

34. (33) Cody Ware(i), Chevrolet, Driveshaft, 188.

35. (17) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, Accident, 106.

36. (24) Cole Custer, Ford, Accident, 97.

37. (27) Aric Almirola, Ford, Accident, 5.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 123.562 mph.

Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 14 Mins, 21 Secs. Margin of Victory: 2.571 Seconds.

Caution Flags: 6 for 36 laps.

Lead Changes: 19 among 10 drivers.

Lap Leaders: B. Keselowski 1-4; K. Harvick 5-13; K. Busch 14-21; M. Truex Jr. 22-24; T. Reddick 25; C. Ware(i) 26; M. Truex Jr. 27-60; T. Reddick 61; R. Chastain 62-71; M. Truex Jr. 72-92; D. Hamlin 93; M. Truex Jr. 94-110; D. Hamlin 111-114; M. Truex Jr. 115-144; C. Buescher 145; K. Harvick 146; C. Bell 147-149; M. Truex Jr. 150-187; K. Busch 188; M. Truex Jr. 189-293.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Martin Truex Jr. 7 times for 248 laps; Kevin Harvick 2 times for 10 laps; Ross Chastain 1 time for 10 laps; Kyle Busch 2 times for 9 laps; Denny Hamlin 2 times for 5 laps; Brad Keselowski 1 time for 4 laps; Christopher Bell 1 time for 3 laps; Tyler Reddick 2 times for 2 laps; Cody Ware(i) 1 time for 1 lap; Chris Buescher 1 time for 1 lap.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 19,11,8,5,4,22,12,9,24,48

Stage #2 Top Ten: 19,18,24,11,5,20,22,8,12,17

--Field Level Media


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