Martin Truex Jr.’s late-race pass of teammate Denny Hamlin key in Martinsville win

Rain postponed NASCAR’s original Saturday night racing plans, but the Cup Series wrapped at Martinsville under the lights anyway on Sunday.

Despite Denny Hamlin’s best efforts to fend off his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Martin Truex Jr. swiped the lead with 15 laps left to win his second race of the season, outdistancing Hamlin and runner-up Chase Elliott for the checkered flag.

“For whatever reason our car really turned on when the lights went down,” Truex said after the race.

Truex scores Martinsville win as Hamlin’s lead fades

Truex held a two second lead over the field at the flag to win his third race at the short-track in Ridgeway, Virginia, in three years. He also won last year’s Blue Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500.

Hamlin led a race-high 276 laps of the 500-lap event, but his lead faded in the closing laps, and Elliott passed him for second place before the checkered flag. Hamlin finished in third.

“We had a really good short-run car. We just didn’t have a good long-run car,” Hamlin said.

He described after the race how his No. 11 Toyota team has been close to winning races but hasn’t demonstrated the early dominance the group had last year. Strong restarts still kept Hamlin out front following nine cautions peppered throughout the final stage (17 cautions total). He lost the first-place spot to Truex coming off pit road in the final 50 laps, but he quickly regained the position after the green flag. But as the race wore on, Hamlin’s car tightened up and slowed at the finish.

“We’ve just been next-best,” Hamlin said, adding that his team’s plan this week is to consult with the No. 19 team about their setups based on their recent success.

Truex won at Phoenix earlier this season and he becomes the first repeat winner this year after a string of different winners characterized the opening races of 2021. He said he feels “really good” about his team and the group’s prospects to contend for a championship this season.

Blaney sweeps stages

Atlanta race winner Ryan Blaney dominated early laps Sunday before Hamlin controlled the final stage. Blaney led 156 laps and swept both stages of the race, often battling Hamlin for the top spot. Blaney started Sunday in third place behind Hamlin in first but was able to complete his pass on Lap 75 and held the lead through the Stage 1 finish.

Hamlin regained the lead early in the second stage, but Blaney was back to first place by Lap 175 and the two drivers dueled through the second-stage finish, racing side-by-side, but Blaney held onto his advantage to clinch another stage win.

Differing pit strategy then put Blaney, who pitted, behind Hamlin, who stayed out to inherit the lead. The decision by the No. 11 team paid off after a caution flew shortly afterward and Hamlin took on new tires. He maintained the lead with strong restarts after the many cautions, which included “The Big One” on Lap 387 that red-flagged the race.

The Paperclip delivers drama

A Talladega-style crash — complete with ballooning flames — evolved Sunday at the paperclip-shaped short-track. Contact between Kyle Busch and Chris Buescher mid-pack forced a major pileup, “The Big One,” in Turn 2 during the final stage. Busch’s car went for a spin and emerged shredded on the right side, but he remained in the race. Others didn’t fare as well.

Alex Bowman, Brad Keselowski, Michael McDowell and Daniel Suárez were among the drivers involved in the 15-car pileup, and they exited the event with heavy damage. Suárez nearly completed the loop around the track before his No. 99 Chevrolet erupted in smoke. He exited his flaming vehicle in Turn 1, intent to make his displeasure with a certain driver known, but that driver wasn’t anyone involved in the wreck.

Suárez threw a water bottle at the passing car of William Byron. He later said that he disliked how Byron shoved him on the track to contribute to him falling back and into the mess of crashing cars.

“I race people the way they race me,” Suárez told PRN. “He’ll have one coming.”

As for the accident itself, Suárez said there was nothing he could do but slam on the brakes as the pileup occurred. Others agreed it was tough to miss hitting anyone in the close quarters.

“That’s just part of the short-track deal,” Keselowski said.

The Cup Series returns to another short track at Richmond Raceway in Richmond, Virginia, next Sunday at 3 p.m., where more drama is likely to ensue.

Race results

Pos.	Car No.	Driver	Time behind	Best time	Best speed
1	19	Martin Truex Jr.	--	20.107	94.176
2	9	Chase Elliott	1.972	20.071	94.345
3	11	Denny Hamlin	2.364	19.916	95.079
4	24	William Byron	4.984	19.996	94.699
5	5	Kyle Larson	6.229	20.355	93.029
6	22	Joey Logano	6.728	20.15	93.975
7	20	Christopher Bell	7.265	20.154	93.957
8	8	Tyler Reddick	7.593	20.427	92.701
9	4	Kevin Harvick	7.815	20.272	93.41
10	18	Kyle Busch	8.183	20.181	93.831
11	12	Ryan Blaney	9.585	20.081	94.298
12	21	Matt DiBenedetto	13.78	20.457	92.565
13	17	Chris Buescher	14.501	20.405	92.801
14	3	Austin Dillon	15.13	20.378	92.924
15	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	16.378	20.509	92.33
16	23	Bubba Wallace	17.377	20.323	93.175
17	42	Ross Chastain	17.678	20.274	93.4
18	41	Cole Custer	17.87	20.465	92.529
19	6	Ryan Newman	-1	20.474	92.488
20	10	Aric Almirola	-1	20.303	93.267
21	1	Kurt Busch	-2	20.345	93.074
22	15	James Davison	-6	20.505	92.348
23	52	Josh Bilicki	-7	20.635	91.766
24	0	Quin Houff	-7	20.829	90.912
25	53	JJ Yeley(i)	-8	20.674	91.593
26	38	Anthony Alfredo #	-8	20.542	92.182
27	14	Chase Briscoe #	-9	20.464	92.533
28	51	Cody Ware(i)	-10	20.627	91.802
29	78	BJ McLeod(i)	-22	20.61	91.878
30	43	Erik Jones	-97	20.508	92.335
31	34	Michael McDowell	-113	20.5	92.371
32	99	Daniel Suárez	-114	20.393	92.855
33	2	Brad Keselowski	-115	20.123	94.101
34	48	Alex Bowman	-116	20.348	93.061
35	77	Justin Haley(i)	-117	20.418	92.742
36	37	* Ryan Preece	-118	20.229	93.608
37	7	Corey LaJoie	-126	20.313	93.221