Brad Keselowski inches closer to Victory Lane

April 23, 2024

By Holly Cain

NASCAR Wire Service

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - There’s a good argument to be made that one of the hottest driver in the NASCAR Cup Series right now hasn’t even hoisted a trophy. yet.

But Brad Keselowski has been awfully close. Sunday at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway he was in prime position to claim his first victory since 2021 – running second to fellow Ford driver Michael McDowell as the field came to the checkered flag. But a typically frantic Talladega finish instead left him runner-up by a fraction of a second to winner Tyler Reddick.

It wasn’t a victory, but it was the second consecutive second-place finish for the owner-driver of the RFK Racing team and fifth top-10 finish through the season’s first 10 races. Four of those have been top-five finishes, including the back-to-back runner-up showings Keselowski takes to Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway for Sunday’s Würth 400 (2 p.m. ET on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Keselowski has a victory at Dover in 2012 – the same season he captured the NASCAR Cup Series championship. He’s finished inside the top-10 in three of the last five races there.

And yet for all the recent positives to consider, Keselowski has not wavered in his stance.

“Good finishes are important, but we want wins," Keselowski, 40, said after climbing out of his No. 6 RFK Racing Ford Mustang at Talladega. “We could really taste it today, but it just didn’t happen."

This is not to say that Keselowski, whose last race win was at Talladega in 2021, is not proud of the effort or encouraged by the recent results. He just has high expectations. And good reason for them.

His work this year is a strong sign that the team is absolutely progressed on-track. Keselowski became a partner with NASCAR Hall of Fame team owner Jack Roush only three years ago and has already infused exactly the kind of high-level expectation and championship thinking to help bring about a racing renaissance of sorts.

His four top-five finishes through 10 races this season is already half of the total he tallied in all of 2023. His five top-10 efforts are on-track to better the mark of 16 he had last year. He’s ranked 14th in the NASCAR Cup Series driver standings, but only seven points behind 10th place Alex Bowman.

Keselowski’s RFK Racing teammate Chris Buescher won three races last year and qualified for the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. And he’s got five top-10 finishes this season and is ranked 16th – only 16 points behind Bowman in 10th.

“I feel like the last two weeks especially, we’ve earned finishes we probably didn’t deserve," said Keselowski, one of the most analytical drivers on the NASCAR Cup Series grid. “It kind of ebbs and flows as the season goes. But when you have cars that are capable of winning, in general, you need to make it count."

Keselowski – a 35-race winner - closes out the Spring schedule with a good track record at promising venues. He’s scored victories at all four of the next four points-paying tracks (excluding the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro, N.C.). He’s won at Dover and Darlington (S.C.) Raceway and has two victories at both Kansas and Charlotte.

Combine that with his strong current run and Keselowski has plenty of reason to feel positive. He characterized his organization two weeks ago at Texas as being filled with that same “kind of never-give-up spirit” that Keselowski - the driver - has cultivated and flourished from. Certainly, things seem absolutely headed in the right direction.

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NASCAR Weekend Preview: Talladega Superspeedway

April 18, 2024

By Holly Cain

NASCAR Wire Service

The uncertainty of Talladega gives hope to many looking for a win

For the second consecutive week, Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson holds the NASCAR Cup Series driver standings lead and this Sunday, the 2021 series champion will try to do something he’s never done: win a NASCAR Cup Series race at the iconic Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway in the GEICO 500 (3 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Neither Larson nor his closest championship challenger, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. have won on the Talladega high banks, which consistently present a one-of-a-kind challenge for the series’ very best, no matter the pedigree.

Drivers have certainly shared the victory hardware this season with six different winners through the opening nine races. But Talladega is a big opportunity for those still looking to hoist their first trophy in 2024. There have been seven different winners in the last seven races at the 2.66-mile track.

Seven of the nine former Talladega race winners entered this weekend – Ryan Blaney, Kyle Busch, Ross Chastain, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Bubba Wallace – are racing for their first win of the season. Blaney, Keselowski and Logano are also hoping to give Ford its first win of the season.

Busch, driver of the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, is the defending race winner. Blaney, driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Ford was runner-up to Busch in this spring race last year then came back in the Fall to claim his third victory at the big track. He’s won races at Talladega in all three of NASCAR’s premier series.

Keselowski, who earned his best finish (runner-up) of the season at Texas Motor Speedway last weekend, has six Talladega wins – most among active drivers. He scored his very first NASCAR Cup Series win here in 2009. His last Talladega win came in 2021. A victory this weekend would be both sentimental and crucial to a championship run for the 2012 series champ.

“Talladega has been a special track for me, and I look forward to going there," said Keselowski, who is still looking to earn his first victory as an owner-driver for the Roush Fenway Keselowski (RFK) Racing team.

“I think we will have cars that can compete for the win. There are a lot of peripheral circumstances that would add to how special that would be if we were able to do that. From Mustang’s 60th birthday to where we are as a company to where I am at in my career. So, it would be special to be able to win."

Fellow Ford driver and reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion, Blaney, is openly optimistic that Talladega Superspeedway represents a good bet – perhaps the best yet - for a Ford Mustang to be celebrated in Victory Lane. Ford has won four of the last nine races at Talladega, and powered Blaney to his crucial Playoff win last Fall.

“The speedways have been pretty good for the Fords for a while," said Blaney. “Ever since I’ve been in the Cup Series I feel like we’ve always been super strong and really been able to compete and try to control the race.

“It helps when you have fast cars and Ford has brought fast cars," Blaney continued, adding, “I thought we were really strong at Daytona and I’m sure Talladega is going to be the same way. We’ll all be really strong so you just hope that you can be there at the end of this race and have a shot to win it. I have no doubt in the speed, it’s just about how you execute and try to get through the day."

Two opposing motivations are fueling Truex and Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott – both with potentially huge positive ramifications. Truex is 0-for-38 at Talladega and the 2017 series champion is more than ready and capable to put an end to this futility at the big track.

Elliott is a two-time Talladega winner and the Georgia-native is unquestionably the ‘Dega fan favorite. Having earned his first win since 2022 last week at Texas, Elliott would love nothing more than to carry that positive momentum into the weekend. He’s ranked fourth in the driver standings – the highest he’s been ranked since the 2022 season finale.

Qualifying is set for Saturday at 10:30 a.m. ET (on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin – a two-time Talladega winner - won the pole position for this race last year.

It's anyone's race in the Xfinity Series at Talladega this weekend

When it comes to racing on the 2.66-mile Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway high banks, everyone on the grid typically feels like they stand a chance to hoist the big trophy. This brand of all-out, pedal-down racing is a specialized artform for the drivers and Saturday’s Ag-Pro 300 (4 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) is always a fan favorite, must-see event.

There are only two former race winners among the season’s NASCAR Xfinity Series championship field. Kaulig Racing’s A.J. Allmendinger won in 2022 and Jordan Anderson Racing’s Jeb Burton is a two-time winner, including last Spring when he triumphed over Sheldon Creed in in a tremendously exciting overtime finish.

Both Allmendinger and Burton arrive in Alabama highly-motivated, racing for their first victories of the year. In Burton’s case, he’s competing for his first top-10 finish of the season after several hard-luck finishes.

As so often happens racing on superspeedways, the finishes in this race are typically wide-open with an anyone-can-win feel. That may be a good thing for several of the 2024 championship leaders, who have not typically fared particularly well at ‘Dega.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chandler Smith brings a 19-point advantage atop the Xfinity Series driver standings over reigning series champion Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer. He has a 33-point lead on Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill and is 56 points ahead of JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier.

Smith, driver of the No. 81 JGR Toyota, has crashed out in both of his previous starts at Talladega with finishes of 38th and 25th-place. Custer, driver of the No. 00 SHR Ford, is batting .500 with two top-10 finishes in four starts. He finished fourth last year.

Hill has been a victim of Talladega aggressiveness with zero top-10 finishes in four starts – twice he’s crashed out. His best finish was 14th-place in 2022. However, Hill has started on the front row the last three races and won pole position the last two.

The sustained qualifying achievements certainly show Hill – who has three wins at the series’ other big track, Daytona International Speedway - knows his way around a superspeedway. And he is optimistic about his chances on Saturday working with rookie teammate Jesse Love, who won pole position in the Daytona season-opener that Hill won.

“So, I think that going into this weekend, a lot of guys are going to do all they can to split the 2 (Love) and the 21 (Hill) up and try to keep us from leading the field," said Hill, a two-race winner this season. “Because if we’re leading the field, him and I both, we do a really good job of stringing the line around. Yes, we have fast race cars, but we know what to do with them as well."

This week marks the third race of the season’s Dash 4 Cash incentive program. Last week’s Texas winner, Sam Mayer (No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet), his Texas runner-up Ryan Sieg (No. 39 RSS Racing Chevrolet), Allgaier (No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet) and Allmendinger (No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet) will compete for the money this week. The highest finishing driver among this quartet pockets an extra $100,000 check. The top-four eligible finishers will then qualify for the final leg of the Dash 4 Cash program next week at Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway.

There is no practice session for the field at Talladega. Qualifying is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. ET on Friday (FS1).

Journey back to the top has brought Elliott and the No. 9 team closer

April 16, 2024

By Holly Cain

NASCAR Wire Service

It was undoubtedly one of the more popular victories of the season. Chase Elliott’s win Sunday in double-overtime at Texas Motor Speedway was not only the conclusion of an exciting race, but a bold reminder of what Elliott means to the sport and his success means to a wide-open championship battle.

It had been 42 races since the 28-year old perennial Most Popular Driver in the sport had celebrated in a Victory Lane – that last win coming in October 2022 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, where the series competes Sunday in the GEICO 500 (3 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

An off-track injury and one-race suspension early last season put Elliott in a catch-up mode all year and while he certainly turned in competitive race showings, the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion missed the Playoff for the first time in his celebrated eight-year career to that point.

That disappointment, however, only motivated his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports team and Sunday’s trophy hoist was a sort of comeback culmination – a high-profile reminder that Elliott and this team are absolutely championship-capable. After his win Sunday, Elliott spoke at length about how the recent adversity has only made this team closer and more determined than ever.

“One, I’ve just been really proud of our group for sticking together, ‘cause I’m sure a lot of you guys have been around the sport long enough to understand and know that when you have a couple bad years, a period of time that things aren’t going well, it is so easy to jump ship and to start bailing out on one another," Elliott said.

“I think that the win’s great, all that stuff is fantastic, but I’m truthfully more proud of the journey and the group of people that we have climbed back up together with. We’ve made each other better. They push me to be a better driver and a better person.

“I just feel like we’re all in a really good place and we have been," he continued. “It’s nice to see all the hard work pay off. Those guys really deserve to win. They’ve been busting it for a while, have been doing a really good job.

“That’s what I’m most proud of, is the journey and all of us sticking together at the 9-team."

That focus has been evident all season and in the last three weeks, in particular, the on-track results made Sunday’s outcome – Elliott’s 19th career win - seem almost inevitable. After mid-teen finishes in five of the opening six races, Elliott finished fifth-place (Richmond, Va.) and third-place (Martinsville, Va.) going into the Texas race leading laps in both, including a season-best 64 laps at the Martinsville half-miler.

“I feel like just generally speaking, from a competitive standpoint, we’ve been better to the competition throughout really most of the season, we just hadn’t always had great finishes and great results," Elliott said.

“But relative to the guys that won a lot of these things over the last year or so, I felt like we’ve been close to them. I still think we have a lot of work to do, for sure. A lot of things went our way today, I’m not naïve to that, for sure as well.

“You have to be in the mix. You got to be up front to even have things go your way. We were close enough to do that. We still want to be better. I think we have room for improvement. Just proud of the way everything worked out. It’s a lot more fun when you’re fighting for wins and up front battling, whether it goes your way or doesn’t go your way. Just to have a shot is enjoyable."

And judging by his track record, Elliott can feel especially optimistic about the upcoming weeks on the schedule. He is a two-time winner at Talladega Superspeedway (2019, 2022). He’s also a two-time winner at Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway (2018, 2022) and the 2019 winner at Kansas Speedway – the following two stops on the schedule.

It all speaks to another important competitive trait Elliott has shown in NASCAR’s big leagues – an uncommonly high level of diversity. That Texas victory gives him wins at 13 different tracks on a schedule that includes 26 venues. And the next slate of races where Elliott has earned trophies prove his keen adaptability. Talladega is a 2.66-mile superspeedway, Dover is a concrete mile and Kansas is a 1.5-miler like Texas.

He’s won on four different current road courses (Watkins Glen, N.Y., Charlotte, Austin and Elkhart Lake) and both Watkins Glen and Charlotte are now part of the Playoff 10-race run. He’s won at the Martinsville short track – also on the Playoff schedule - and the Phoenix one-miler, where the Championship 4 will settle the NASCAR Cup Series trophy on Nov. 10.

It all bodes well for Elliott, whose team is the third different Hendrick Motorsports car to win this year. His teammate Kyle Larson leads the season championship, and his teammate William Byron leads the series with three victories.

It is not lost on Elliott, that he earned his first career Xfinity Series win at Texas in 2014 and it propelled him to a series championship. It’s not unfathomable that Sunday’s victory on those 1.5-mile Texas high-banks puts Elliott back on the NASCAR Cup Series championship path too. It certainly did a lot for the confidence and spirit so essential to driver and team.

And it was a strong message to his competitors that Elliott is back up front and perhaps, more determined than ever.

“It’s been an extremely important thing to me and fortunately to our entire group, to try to climb this mountain again together and try to get back to where we need to be as a group," said Elliott, noting that most of his team has been together his entire nine years in the NASCAR Cup Series.

“That’s pretty special," he said of the closeness of his team. “I look at it as a credit to them because I think they’ve made me better and they’ve pushed me to be better, helped me identify some of my faults and some of my bad habits and been patient with me as I’ve addressed them, or at least started to.

“.. I think we still have work to do, no doubt. We had a lot of stuff go our way today. But we’ve been back in the mix more often. That is certainly progress. I think that is worth being proud of."

 Martinsville race may prove to be a watershed moment for Bubba Wallace

 April 9, 2024

 By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

Three Hendrick Motorsports drivers—William Byron, Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott—finished 1-2-3 in Sunday’s Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway.

That aspect of the eighth NASCAR Cup Series race of the season has been well documented. Hendrick is the first organization to sweep the podium positions at the 0.526-mile short track.

All but lost in the Hendrick hoopla, however, was the performance of a driver who now seems poised for lasting stardom—Bubba Wallace.

Examination of the statistics from Sunday’s race reveals emphatically that, as strong as the Hendrick trio was at the front of the field, those drivers had company.

Wallace was closing fast on Larson at the end of the first stage and finished second to the pole winner. At the end of the second stage, he was runner-up behind his 23XI Racing team owner, Denny Hamlin, by less than a half-second.

In the two-lap overtime shootout that decided the race, Wallace was fourth by the nose of a car behind Elliott, roughly three feet away from spoiling Hendrick’s storybook sweep.

Wallace scored 18 stage points at Martinsville, matching Larson for the highest total. His 51 points for the race were second-most behind Larson’s 53.

NASCAR’s loop data statistics for the event are even more telling. With a driver rating of 115.8, Wallace was fourth behind Larson, Elliott and Byron, the race winner. Wallace’s average running position was 3.79, third behind Elliott (3.15) and Larson (3.50), with Byron’s statistics skewed by an 18th-place starting position.

Wallace was third fastest late in a run at 89.003 mph, again behind Elliott (89.166 mph) and Larson (89.093 mph). He spent 412 of 415 laps in the top 15, behind only Hamlin (415) and Elliott (413).

Cumulatively, the statistics tell a compelling story, namely that in Sunday’s race at Martinsville, Wallace was a formidable challenger to the three powerhouse drivers who swept the top three positions.

The statistics, however, don’t tell the whole story. There was a different character to the way Wallace raced at Martinsville. He raced, not as an interloper with an atypical gift of speed, but as if he belonged at the front of the field.

But for an adjustment that loosened the handling condition of his No. 23 Toyota too much for the final run, Wallace might well have contended for the victory.

“We were almost great today,” Wallace said of SiriusXM NASCAR Radio after the race. “In races past, we’ve just been good, been decent, nothing to hang our heads about.

“But even today, we took an uptick in performance, so it’s something to build on for the fall and a hell of a points day for us, so it’s good.”

It was more than that. Reflecting on his fourth-place run, Wallace acknowledged that he has embraced what Byron seems to have known instinctively, that the intensity of a driver’s work ethic can have as much of an effect on performance as raw talent.

“We do a lot of stuff during the week, and I’m finally starting to understand that it all pays off,” Wallace said. “You’ve got to give the effort, because these guys (his 23XI team) are busting their ass. It is days like this that you appreciate it.

“We needed that. My Toyota was strong today. We lost a little bit on that last stop. We got too free, but all in all, I was content in finishing sixth (where he was running before the overtime), and that’s why you never give up. Top-five—good day, and we will go on to Texas.”

Indeed. Wallace will go to Fort Worth with a sense of accomplishment, well-earned confidence, a feeling of belonging at the front of the field and more than a hint of budding stardom.

NASCAR Weekend Preview: Martinsville Speedway

April 4, 2024

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing share dominance at Martinsville Speedway

During a six-year period after the turn of the century, Hendrick Motorsports owned Martinsville Speedway, at least where competition on the track was concerned.

Jeff Gordon won both 2003 races at the 0.526-mile short track from the pole, embarking on a dominant run during which he and Hendrick teammate Jimmie Johnson would take the checkered flag in 10 of 13 races.

Hendrick Motorsports will celebrate its 40th anniversary at Martinsville this weekend, with team owner Rick Hendrick serving as honorary pace car driver and Gordon and 1984 Martinsville winner Geoff Bodine performing Grand Marshal duties for Sunday’s Cook Out 400 (3 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

It was Bodine’s victory in the eighth race of the 1984 season that kept Hendrick in business. Including that triumph, the organization has accumulated 28 wins at the historic short track, a record for team victories at a single venue.

In recent years, however, Hendrick has been forced to share the Martinsville spotlight with Joe Gibbs Racing. In the fall race of 2009, Denny Hamlin started his own streak of three straight victories at the venerable facility.

In the nine most recent Martinsville races, Hendrick and Gibbs drivers have won four each, the only exception being NASCAR Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney’s victory for Team Penske in last year’s Playoff race.

Though the four recent Hendrick wins are evenly divided among four drivers—Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman, William Byron and defending spring race winner Kyle Larson—Martin Truex Jr. has accounted for most of JGR’s success with three victories to one for teammate Christopher Bell.

Starting with the fall race of 2019, Truex won three of four events at Martinsville. He comes to Sunday’s race after suffering a heart-wrenching loss last Sunday at Richmond, where a late caution gave Hamlin a chance to steal the win.

In 2022, Truex struggled at Martinsville—and elsewhere—in the Next Gen Cup car introduced into the Cup Series that year. Since then, his fortunes have improved dramatically.

“Definitely high confidence going into Martinsville compared to the first year of this car,” said Truex, who led 228 laps at Richmond before finishing fourth after an overtime restart. “To be able to go run like we did at Richmond, it gives me a lot of confidence going forward that our Martinsville stuff should be good.

“I love going there. It’s been a really good track for us over the years, aside from the first year of the Next Gen.”

Note: Given the clear advantages of securing pit stall No. 1, it’s surprising that no Cup driver has won a Martinsville race from the pole position since Johnson accomplished the feat in the spring race of 2013. Hamlin, who leads active drivers with five wins at the paper-clip-shaped track, is the only driver in Sunday’s race who has won at Martinsville from the pole (2010). 

Justin Allgaier leads hungry JR Motorsports contingent at Martinsville

In the first Dash 4 Cash race of the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series season, the incentive for JR Motorsports drivers is clear. They will be competing for the victory, not the $100,000 prize that goes to the Dash 4 Cash winner, in Saturday’s DUDE Wipes 250 at Martinsville Speedway (7:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

No JRM driver finished high enough last Saturday at Richmond to qualify for the initial Dash 4 Cash bonus, which is available to four eligible drivers: Richmond winner Chandler Smith and runner-up Aric Almirola, both of Joe Gibbs Racing; Sunoco rookie leader Jesse Love of Richard Childress Racing; and Parker Kligerman of Big Machine Racing.

Though out of the running for the bonus, JRM’s Justin Allgaier and teammate Brandon Jones are the only former Martinsville winners in the field for Saturday’s race. Allgaier won the 2023 fall race at the 0.526-mile short track.

“It’s great to be returning to Martinsville this weekend,” Allgaier said. “We showed last fall that we were capable of getting to Victory Lane there, and I feel just as confident that we will have a fast Jarrett Chevrolet when we hit the track on Friday (for practice and qualifying).

“(Crew chief) Jim (Pohlman) and this entire No. 7 team has been fighting hard all year long and I know that we will give it everything we have to get a solid finish and be in position for the win come Saturday night.”

Jones hopes to reverse his fortunes after an early engine failure knocked him out of last Saturday’s Richmond event.

“We had great speed in Richmond last weekend, but just had some bad luck come our way,” Jones said. “Martinsville has always been a strong track for me, so I am ready to get there and try to turn our luck around.

“I trust this Menards/Atlas Roofing team will give me a fast car like they have all season, so it’s time to get it done.”

One word of caution: there have been 13 different winners in the last 13 Xfinity races at Martinsville, which didn’t host the series between 1994 and 2006 and experienced another gap between 2006 and 2020.

Kenny Wallace was the last repeat winner at the track (1992 and 1994).

Supercars star Cam Waters to make NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck debut

In a case of extremes, 11-time Australian Supercars winner Cam Waters will make his first NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series start in Friday night’s Long John Silver’s 200 at Martinsville Speedway (7:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

At the other end of the spectrum, Waters’ ThorSport Racing teammate, Matt Crafton, will make his record 550th Truck Series start—all consecutive—at the 0.526-mile short track.

Waters follows three-time Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen into the NASCAR ranks. Van Gisbergen won his NASCAR Cup Series debut in last year’s Chicago Street Race and now competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

“I'm absolutely pumped, so I’m super excited to be finally having a race over here in a truck,” said Waters, who will drive ThorSport’s No. 66 Ford on Friday. “I’ve always followed NASCAR and done a little valuable stuff myself on dirt in Australia, so to do a pavement oval is pretty cool for me and something I’ve always wanted to do.

“I’ve wanted to do it for years, but with what I do in Australia, (that) has always been my focus and still is my focus, for sure. But we came to Martinsville 12 months ago and watched a race, and that’s what probably sparked a bit more interest in me to pursue it.

“I’ve just been chipping away in the background over the last 12 months to make something happen like this.”

Starting in 2001, Crafton has raced at Martinsville 40 times in the Truck Series, winning twice and posting a record 23 top 10s. The three-time series champion has completed a record 8,736 of a possible 8,915 laps at the vaunted short track.

For the fourth time since the inception of the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series in 1995, the first five races of the season have produced five different winners and five different polesitters.

Corey Heim, winner of the Mar. 23 race at Circuit of The Americas, leads the series by eight points over second-place Ty Majeski and by nine points over third-place Tyler Ankrum.

The last 10 Truck Series races at Martinsville have produced 10 different winners. Heim is the defending winner of Friday night’s event.

Truex Jr. uses Richmond disappointment to fuel Martinsville charge

April 2, 2024

By Holly Cain

NASCAR Wire Service

After leading a dominant 228 of the 407 laps in Sunday night’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond (Va.) Raceway but not getting to celebrate in Victory Lane, Martin Truex Jr. was understandably frustrated in the checkered flag moments.

The good news for Truex, however, is that he heads north in Virginia for this weekend’s race at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway the driver points standings leader for the second consecutive week – 14 points ahead of Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson.

Truex is riding a streak of five consecutive top-10 finishes, highlighted by a runner-up finish at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway three weeks ago. He’s led laps in six of the seven races – his 362 laps total this season second only to Larson’s 368.

So, while Sunday night was unquestionably a tough outcome to stomach, his season has been impressive. And the expectations remain high.

“Unfortunately, that’s happened to us a few times over the years," an obviously frustrated Truex said of leading the most laps, but not hoisting the trophy.

“Definitely sucks but a good solid day and another car capable of winning," he added, “just have to come back next week and try to get them again."

The good news is Truex and his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team are headed to a place  - Martinsville (Va.) Speedway - where he’s had plenty of success. The 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion is a three-time race winner (2019, 2020, and 2021) at the historic half-mile track.

He’s finished inside the top-10 in half his starts (16) there – 10 times he’s earned a top-five finish. He turned in one of the most impressive afternoons in modern history in 2019, leading 464 of the 500 laps en route to his first victory there. Four times he’s led at least 100 laps at Martinsville. No one has won as many races there as Truex since 2019 and he’s the last driver to win back-to-back races (2019-20).

He was third in last year’s Spring race and started from pole position in the Fall Playoff race there - leading 47 laps and finishing 12th .

“Definitely high confidence going into Martinsville compared to the first year of this car," Truex said. “To be able to go run like we did at Richmond it gives me a lot of confidence going forward that our Martinsville stuff should be good.

“I love going there, it’s been a really good track for us over the years aside from that first year of NextGen. Hopefully, we can continue that, and use that going forward with our Bass Pro Shops Camry [this week]."

Since his amazing 2017 NASCAR Cup Series championship run with Furniture Row Racing when he won a career single season high eight races – he’s led the championship standings in all but one season. The confidence level is higher than the disappointment threshold this week.

“Plenty more races left so we’ll keep fighting," Truex’ crew chief James Small said Sunday night.

And that’s something you can bet on.