Martin Truex Jr. scores first win at Phoenix
AVONDALE, Ariz. — It took 31 races, but Martin Truex Jr. finally won a Cup Series race at Phoenix Raceway.
Truex led the final 25 laps Sunday in the Instacart 500, passing race leader Joey Logano after the final restart of the race.
“I can’t believe it, I’m speechless, this feels pretty amazing,” Truex said. “Phoenix has been a tough one for us and to come here and win this, I wish it was November, but hopefully we can come back here in November and have a shot at being in the Final Four.”
Truex’s win is his first of the 2021 season, making him the fifth different winner in the opening five races of the season.
Joey Logano, the March 2020 winner at Phoenix, finished about 1.7 seconds behind the race winner in second place.
“We were a second-place car and finished second, won a stage and second in the other stage, so a lot of points,” Truex said. “I hate finishing second, though.”
Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski and 2020 series champion Chase Elliott finished fifth.
THROUGH THE FIELD
Nine-time Phoenix winner Kevin Harvick finished in sixth.
Last week’s winner at Las Vegas, Kyle Larson, finished seventh.
William Byron, Christopher Bell and Stage 1 winner Ryan Blaney rounded out the Top-10.
Alex Bowman, who spun out in Stage 1, rebounded to finish 13th.
Chase Briscoe was the highest finishing rookie in 22nd.
2021 Daytona 500 champion and Arizona native Michael McDowell finished 23rd.
Four drivers did not finish the race: Josh Bilicki (35th), Cody Ware (36th), rookie Anthony Alfredo (37th) and Timmy Hill (38th).
OUTLOOK
Leaving Phoenix, Denny Hamlin remains the points leader (2XX points).
The next race for the Cup Series is scheduled for Sunday, Mar. 21 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
SOURCES
Racing-Reference.info
Toyota Racing
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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.