Furniture Row Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. began the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship on the heels of a successful regular season. The victory on Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway was proof that the speedster has taken his game to a new level.
Martin Truex Jr. made an impressive comeback from a flat tire early in the event. The momentous driver took on tires late in the race and got a timely caution that put him up front. Truex Jr. started fourth on the contest’s final restart with new tires. As a result, he blew past Carl Edwards, Kasey Kahne, and Ryan Blaney to grab the lead for good.
The Furniture Row Racing stud found his way into last years Chase to the Sprint Cup Championship. The difference in 2016 is he now will advance to the second round of the playoffs with his first career Chase win. The victor can ease of the gas a little heading into next Sunday’s race at New Hampshire and the week after at Dover International speedway.
The triumph was Martin Truex Jr.’s third victory of the 2016 Sprint Cup season. Once again, his team flexed their muscles at a 1.5 mile venue. All three of his wins this season have came on an intermediate track.
Martin Truex Jr. stated that his thought process after going a lap down was to just keep fighting. “Don’t give up. Just keep digging. There’s a long way to go at that point.” Truex Jr. also won this year in the Coca-Cola 600 and the Southern 500.
“The racing gods don’t want us leading too much; they have to make it difficult,” Truex said in victory lane. “This feels good. We also have more races to win, and we can win some. This is the way we wanted to start it off. It feels awesome.”
Roger Penske Racing’s Joey Logano finished second in the opening playoff race at Chicagoland Speedway. The aggressive driver moved his way from sixth to second in the final two laps in overtime.
Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsport’s new addition won a final lap sprint to the checkered flag over fellow Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate Ryan Blaney. As a result, the youngster finished out his day in the third sport. Blaney kept his position and finished out the race in an impressive fourth while Brad Keselowski crossed the finish line in fifth.
Chase Elliott once again found himself out-front in the closing laps of a NASCAR race. The prodigal son had a one second advantage with just four laps remaining, but Michael McDowell blew a tire and the front of the field came in for fresh tires for the final run.
Martin Truex Jr.’s pit crew put together a phenomenal stop and put him out front with the freshest tires. If not for the blown tire, Truex Jr. would have not had enough time to run down Chase Elliott.
“We had a fast NAPA Chevy. I also appreciate everybody’s hard work this weekend. Hendrick was strong—that’s good to see. Like I said, there are some things you just can’t control with the amount of guys that stay out (under caution) and where you line up on a restart. We also played the cards we were dealt and came up short at Chicagoland .”
Six-time Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson led a race-high 118 laps. Consequently, he finished in the 12th position when he was forced to do a pass-through penalty for speeding on pit row. The late race mistake also cost him several valuable positions heading into next weeks race in New Hampshire.
Sprint Cup Rookie Chris Buescher couldn’t find the speed he needed and ended his first Chase race in 28th. He now sits in the 16th and final spot going in to next weekend’s contest. The greenhorn’s chance of advancing out of the first round is also significantly reduced.
Kevin Harvick, the 2014 series champion, got caught a lap down on pit road. Aric Almirola’s pit crew let a tire get away and roll into the infield. The stroke of bad luck also resulted in Harvick never getting his #4 Freaky Fast Chevrolet back onto the lead lap. He finished in 20th and has his work cut out for him in the next to events.
Race winner Martin Truex Jr.’s winning hot-rod and Hendrick Motorsport’s Jimmie Johnson both failed NASCAR’s post-race inspections. Apparently, both speedster’s cars were to low in the rear by the slightest of margins.
NASCAR officials said the infraction to the #78 Furniture Row Toyota Camry was not serious enough to take away his trip to the Winner’s Circle at Chicagoland Speedway. If by chance, there are penalties to be doled out, they will be done in next weeks race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Final Results for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle 400 at Chicagoland:
1. (6) Martin Truex Jr, Toyota, 270 laps, 126.3 rating, 44 points.
2. (9) Joey Logano, Ford, 270, 111.1, 40.
3. (14) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 270, 129.1, 39.
4. (22) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 270, 91.9, 38.
5. (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 270, 116.7, 37.
6. (3) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 270, 108.7, 36.
7. (19) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 270, 63.2, 34.
8. (1) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 270, 105.3, 34.
9. (7) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 270, 91.1, 32.
10. (17) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 270, 91.8, 0.
11. (16) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 270, 87.2, 30.
12. (8) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 270, 121.3, 31.
13. (12) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 270, 79.3, 28.
14. (15) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 270, 81.2, 27.
15. (5) Carl Edwards, Toyota, 270, 82.7, 26.
16. (11) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 270, 71.5, 25.
17. (21) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 270, 68.7, 24.
18. (10) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 269, 83.9, 23.
19. (18) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 269, 72.6, 22.
20. (4) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 269, 76.9, 21.
21. (26) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 269, 61.6, 20.
22. (28) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 269, 61.2, 19.
23. (20) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 269, 62.3, 18.
24. (25) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 269, 58.5, 17.
25. (23) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Ford, 268, 52.0, 16.
26. (24) Greg Biffle, Ford, 268, 52.2, 15.
27. (33) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 268, 47.3, 0.
28. (13) Chris Buescher, Ford, 268, 56.3, 13.
29. (31) Landon Cassill, Ford, 267, 43.6, 12.
30. (35) Matt DiBenedetto, Toyota, 267, 41.2, 11.
31. (34) Brian Scott, Ford, 266, 44.7, 10.
32. (27) Aric Almirola, Ford, 266, 40.7, 9.
33. (37) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 265, 34.2, 8.
34. (29) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 265, 45.6, 7.
35. (32) David Ragan, Toyota, 265, 36.7, 6.
36. (36) Cole Whitt, Ford, 263, 29.8, 5.
37. (30) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 262, 31.6, 4.
38. (40) Josh Wise, Chevrolet, 260, 27.3, 3.
39. (39) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 257, 25.3, 2.
40. (38) Joey Gase, Ford, 254, 23.2, 0.
Race Statistics:
Average Speed of Race Winner: 145.163 mph.
Time of Race: 2 hours, 47 minutes, 24 seconds.
Margin of Victory: 0.776 seconds.
Caution Flags: 4 for 22 laps.
Lead Changes: 17 among 9 drivers.
