Martin Truex Jr. earns first win of 2020
Martin Truex Jr. was the latest NASCAR Cup Series driver to earn their first win of 2020 with his victory in the Blue Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500.
Truex led the final 131 laps Wednesday night (June 10) at Martinsville Speedway, capturing his 27th career win in NASCAR’s elite series.
“Last year to get the win [at Martinsville] and this year, just hats off to the guys,” Truex said. “We started the first run and it pushed the right-front tire off and we were terrible. Really good adjustments from the guys, just want to thank all of them.”
Runner-up Ryan Blaney led 34 laps, tying his highest finish of the 2020 season. The Team Penske driver overcame going a lap down early, and a pit road speeding penalty.
“I would have loved to restart towards the front with Martin to see, if I didn’t have to pass all those cars, if I could have raced with him,” Blaney said. “He was pretty good.”
Fellow Penske teammates Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano finished third and fourth respectively. Logano led a race-high 40 laps.
“We were able to get a stage win, I’m proud of the stage win,” Logano said. “Those playoff points add up. They mean a lot, so that’s good.”
Chase Elliott rounded out the Top-5 finishers.
THROUGH THE FIELD
Alex Bowman, Matt DiBenedetto, William Byron, Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson finished in positions sixth-10th.
Bubba Wallace, driving the #BlackLivesMatter No. 43 Chevrolet, finished 11th.
Ryan Newman posted his highest finish since a Top-10 finish in the Daytona 500 in 12th.
Kevin Harvick — the Sunday winner at Atlanta and current points leader — posted his lowest finish of 2020 in 15th, one lap down.
Tyler Reddick was the highest finishing rookie one lap down in 16th.
Defending series champion Kyle Busch finished 19th, one lap down.
In his first Cup Series start since 2018, David Starr, driving the No. 53 Chevrolet for Rick Ware Racing, finished 32nd, 21 laps down.
Austin Dillon finished 37th, out of the race. He experienced fatigue related to damaged crush panels in his racecar.
NEXT RACE
The next points-awarding race for the Cup Series is scheduled for Sunday, June 14 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Fla.
Kyle Busch is the most recent winner in the Cup Series at the 1.5-mile facility.
Kevin Harvick is the points leader heading into southern Florida (452 points) over Joey Logano (424), Brad Keselowski (380), Denny Hamlin (335) and Chase Elliott (405).
SOURCES
Ford Performance
Racing-Reference.info
Toyota Racing
Dominic Aragon View All
Dominic Aragon is currently the editor-in-chief for The Racing Experts.
From Grants, New Mexico, USA, Aragon started watching NASCAR in 2004 and has been covering the sport since 2009. Aragon is a 2012 graduate of Grants High School and a May 2016 graduate of the University of New Mexico with a B.A. in Mass Communications & Journalism. Aragon has worked in local and national media, as a musician, and an educator. He is co-author of the 2024 book "All of It: Daytona 500 Champion Tells the Rest of the Story" with racer Geoff Bodine.
Aragon, his wife Feliz, and son Christopher currently reside in Grants, New Mexico, USA.
You can reach Dominic at daragon@theracingexperts.net.