Truex led the final 28 laps and held off Kevin Harvick’s powerhouse auto to win the Southern 500, closing the summer season with a second of Sprint Cup’s “crown jewel” races on Labor Day weekend. Truex Jr. came out in front and Harvick was able to get by Larson for second and focus on catching the Jersey native.
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In turn, he would have the track position to challenge for the lead when Kevin Harvick had some trouble on pit road during the final pit stops.
Truex beat Larson off pit road during a caution with 40 laps remaining, but Ryan Newman and Brad Keselowski stayed out to restart on the front row.
Harvick, despite his problems, eventually settled for second place.
Last week’s victor at Michigan, Kyle Larson, finished third and Denny Hamlin was fourth.
But there would be no celebrating a third win of the season, or a second triumph in three years in a race regarded as one of NASCAR’s most significant. “I’m really proud of the vehicle that we brought tonight and the things that we’ve done on the race track, but you can only make so many excuses for pit road”. He battled back toward the top, but could not chase down Truex.
Harvick was asked how he balances the positive and with tough criticism for his team. In all, Harvick lost a total of 17 positions on pit road.
THROWBACK CITY: The Southern 500’s second straight throwback-themed weekend again looked like a success. Denny Hamlin (No.11), finished in fourth and Joey Logano (No.22) finishes in fifth to complete the top five.
NASCAR summoned Tony Stewart to the Sprint Cup hauler following the Southern 500 on Sunday night after an on-track altercation with Brian Scott. Scott slid and inadvertently blocked Stewart, who turned the No. 44 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford into the wall. “But with that being said, we’ve got two, and I really feel like we’ve got a legitimate shot at this championship”.
Scott said he stuck his hand out the window to waive Stewart by, but he thought Stewart might have mistaken it for giving him the finger. Apparently he got mad at me.
At big organizations such as Stewart-Haas Racing, the pit crews are determined by management beyond even the crew chief’s control.
“I have a lot of respect for Tony and he has always raced me really clean”, Scott said. It is uncertain for now if Stewart and his team will be penalized anything because of the incident. It was sweet redemption for him at the 1.366-mile track where in 10 previous career starts he had led a total of almost 100 laps but the best finish he could manage was fifth. I wasn’t. I was trying to let him go.
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“There is something to them working together but I think there is something more in everybody believing in each other and leaving the egos and all the bullshit at the house and coming here and work together as a team”, he said. It’s just that people need a reason to care, and listening to a driver reel off a list of sponsors between praising downforce and tire wear isn’t the sexiest sell.
