DARLINGTON, S.C. (AP) Given a break or two here or there, Martin Truex Jr. believes he’d have a monster season. But with the Chase looming, it’s taken on an even more critical meaning.
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In the end, race victor Martin Truex Jr. needed the final 28 laps to pull off his first-career Southern 500 victory the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota. He started the summer by running away with the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, another of NASCAR’s so-called “crowned jewels”. Two of his three teammates, Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart, are locks for the Chase, so they’ll likely keep all of their crew members on their teams.
Martin Truex Jr. was strongest when it mattered most Sunday, winning the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.
“It’s amusing, we’ve had the best vehicle in a lot of races and not won, and tonight for the most part of the race, we didn’t have the best auto”, Truex said”. This year, we’ve got that speed, so if we can get to Homestead, we should really have a shot at this thing. “Those guys get paid a lot of money to perform on pit road and cheerleading hasn’t really been working”. When told of NASCAR’s demand, Stewart said, “Hey man, made it 25 races, I’d say that’s pretty good”. Leroy Yarbrough (1969) and David Pearson (1976) are the only drivers to accomplish that feat.
NASCAR will argue the sport is bigger than one, two or three personalities, and that the stable is full of young talent to carry stock vehicle racing deep into the future. That none of those guys have done it before is unbelievable.
On the flip side, though, Truex’s team battled to find the car’s sweet spot until they were inside the final 100 laps.
The paint schemes were cool, the retro pit crew uniforms were great.
If you’re filling out your Chase bracket, you’d be remiss not to put Truex in your final four.
But if there’s a repeat victor at Richmond, it seems that Elliott (10th place) and Dillon (12th) would be safe. (13) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 367. 16. Ryan Newman is the first driver out, seven points behind McMurray heading to Richmond next Saturday night. Newman’s No. 31 Chevy failed postrace laser inspection, however. He finished 17 and padded his lead over David Ragan in 31st to 11. “The pit crew was flawless tonight”, said Truex.
It was the first IndyCar race at The Glen since Power won from the pole in 2010. Truex executed flawlessly and was rewarded with his second win of the year.
The 2014 Sprint Cup champion led the most laps (214) but lost a combined 18 spots on pit road during the course of the event.
Harvick’s No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing auto was the fastest in the field for most of Sunday night, but his pit crew was the pits.
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But right now, Harvick says he feels he doesn’t have a championship pit crew.
Harvick was asked how he balances the positive and with tough criticism for his team. “You’ve got to get after it on pit road and do your job”. It would seem his relationship with the crew has been permanently poisoned – I don’t know how they could show up and have nothing on their minds but performing on pit road with this hanging over them.
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“They’re my only sanity check”, said Pearn. I was pointing him to the inside to let him go. Actually, many teams sported colorful old school uniforms. “But sometimes one side of the team is doing great and the other side is struggling”.
