Martin Truex Jr. Dominates Darlington sweeping both stages and collecting his 3rd NASCAR Cup race of the 2021 season.
DARLINGTON – May 9, 2021 – ANTHONY HOLBROOK
The NASCAR Cup Series 12th point’s race of the season traveled to Darlington Raceway for the Goodyear 400 Sunday May 9th 2021. The race marked the first time the track “Too Tough to Tame” is hosting two regularly scheduled races since 2004. Race teams utilized a sanctioned 750 High Horse Power, low downforce package on upcoming intermediate tracks allowing drivers to control their own destiny.
Goodyear 400 – Stage 1 recap:
Martin Truex Jr. advanced to second place position on Lap 15 and wasn’t satisfied. After Nascar competition caution on Lap 25, Truex Jr. would wax the leaders on Lap 29 pronouncing his car to contend with for the Goodyear 400 win.
Truex Jr. would own Stage 1 only to relinquish his lead to Ross Chastain after a Truex Jr. scheduled pit service. No issue for Truex Jr. as herecycled back to the point reclaiming the lead on Lap 72 onward to a Stage 1 victory.
Goodyear 400 – Stage 1 results:
1. Martin Truex Jr.
2. Denny Hamlin
3. Tyler Reddick
4. Kyle Larson
5. Kevin Harvick
6. Joey Logano
7. Ryan Blaney
8. Chase Elliott
9. William Byron
10. Alex Bowman
Goodyear 400 – Stage 2 recap:
Martin Truex Jr. taking advantage of the 750 downforce package reclaimed the lead after the field pitted on Lap 93. Truex Jr. mastered this package and flexed a 6 second lead before pitting for new shoes on Lap 145. The lead allowed Truex Jr to recirculate to the front while lap drivers pitted for fresh tires.
Martin Truex Jr. separates his car from the field winning Stage 2 by over 14 seconds over JGR teammate and previous race winner Kyle Bush.
Goodyear 400 – Stage 2 results:
1) Martin Truex Jr.
2) Kyle Busch
3) William Byron
4) Denny Hamlin
5) Kyle Larson
6) Christopher Bell
7) Joey Logano
8) Tyler Reddick
9) Ryan Blaney
10) Chris Buescher
Goodyear 400 – Final Stage recap:
Martin Truex Jr. checked off 240 of the 293 scheduled laps leading the final 105 circuits around the “Lady in Black”.
Kyle Larson who was racing for second throughout the race caught Truex Jr. and sliced into his large lead over the final 30 laps. For this is as close as Kyle Larson achieved as Truex Jr. held Larson in check the last 10 laps for his third victory of the season.
Martin Truex Jr. while capturing his 30th career NASCAR Cup Series trophy became the only 3-time winner of the 2021 season.
Goodyear 400 – Final Stage results:
1. (4) Martin Truex Jr, Toyota, 293 laps, 60 points.
2. (14) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 293, 48.
3. (3) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 293, 43.
4. (5) William Byron, Chevrolet, 293, 43.
5. (7) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 293, 48.
6. (2) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 293, 37.
7. (6) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 293, 33.
8. (16) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 293, 35.
9. (11) Chris Buescher, Ford, 293, 29.
10. (20) Ryan Newman, Ford, 292, 27.
11. (22) Chase Briscoe, Ford, 292, 26.
12. (10) Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, 292, 36.
13. (12) Joey Logano, Ford, 292, 33.
14. (21) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 292, 28.
15. (18) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 291, 22.
16. (9) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 291, 21.
17. (19) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 291, 21.
18. (26) Erik Jones, Chevrolet, 291, 19.
19. (8) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 290, 18.
20. (28) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Chevrolet, 290, 17.
21. (23) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 290, 16.
22. (30) Corey Lajoie, Chevrolet, 290, 15.
23. (15) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 290, 14.
24. (1) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 290, 13.
25. (29) Ryan Preece, Chevrolet, 290, 12.
26. (25) Anthony Alfredo, Ford, 289, 11.
27. (13) Michael McDowell, Ford, 288, 10.
28. (31) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 288, 0.
29. (34) JJ Yeley, Chevrolet, 286, 0.
30. (35) Quin Houff, Chevrolet, 286, 7.
31. (36) James Davison, Chevrolet, 286, 6.
32. (32) BJ McLeod, Ford, 285, 0.
33. (37) Josh Bilicki, Ford, 245, 4.
34. (33) Cody Ware, Chevrolet, garage, 188, 0.
35. (17) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, accident, 106, 2.
36. (24) Cole Custer, Ford, accident, 97, 1.
37. (27) Aric Almirola, Ford, accident, 5, 1.
1/3 season complete, 14 races left before the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Playoff start.
The NASCAR Cup Series drives a Monster Mile to Dover International Speedway for the Drydene 400 scheduled Sunday, May 16th 2021 2:00 p.m. E.T. (FS1 / MRN / SiriusXM – NASCAR)
