Ryan Truex comes up short with second at Phoenix

AVONDALE, Ariz. — While Sammy Smith celebrated his first NASCAR Xfinity Series win Saturday at Phoenix Raceway, his teammate Ryan Truex finished runner-up for the third time in his career, still searching for his first NASCAR national series victory.

Truex placed second in the United Rentals 200 in the No. 19, his first of six-race slate with Joe Gibbs Racing this season. He was quick to congratulate Smith as Smith’s No. 18 strolled down pit road towards Victory Lane.

“I think the best car won, but I wish it could have been us.” Truex said before he broke away from a group of reporters for interviews.

The deficit from first to second was less than one second — 0.641 seconds to be exact.

The 30-year-old driver’s previous two second-place finishes came at Dover in 2012 — a race he drove for Joe Gibbs Racing — and at Phoenix in 2019 driving for JR Motorsports.

In 85 Xfinity Series starts, Truex has netted 6 Top-5 finishes and 28 Top-10 finishes.