After a week off, the NASCAR Cup Series was back in action Saturday night at Martinsville Speedway for the season’s eighth race. Martin Truex Jr. is the defending winner. The “Choose Cone Rule” returned for this race. The rule allows drivers to pick a lane before the race starts. Joey Logano won the pole for this race by a metric qualifying system, and Denny Hamlin qualified second.
Several drivers had to start the race in the back. They were Cory LaJoie, Justin Haley, James Davison for inspection failure. Daniel Suarez for an illegal ballast placement. His crew chief was ejected and lost ten points, and Tyler Reddick for unapproved adjustments.
The start of the race was delayed for rain. Track Crews were able to dry the track with the help of the drivers doing several pace laps. Once the track dried, the race started. Joey Logano got a good jump to maintain the lead. His lead didn’t last long, as three laps later, Hamlin used the inside lane off turn three to take the lead. On the eighth lap, William Byron took second place from Logano.
On lap 12, Martin Truex Jr., who started seventh, passed Chase Elliott for fourth place. Three laps later, Ryan Blaney got by Elliott for fifth. On lap 26, Logano would get second place back from William Byron. By this point in the race, it was drizzling as Hamlin told his crew chief, “The track is wet.” The race’s first caution came out on lap 37 when Cody Ware sent James Davison spinning and ended up hitting the wall at turn four. Everyone went to pit road during the caution, with Hamlin beating Logano out to keep the lead.
Just as the cars were ready to restart the race, the skies opened up, and rain began to fall. The cars headed down to pit road and were waiting for an hour before NASCAR postponed the race to Sunday afternoon. The race completed 42 laps before it started raining.
At 4:04 pm on Sunday, the Cup Series resumed their race. The race picked up where they left off under caution on lap 43. The race would continue on lap 47 with Denny Hamlin in the lead. The restart only lasted three laps before Erik Jones turned Kurt Busch at turn four to bring out the race’s second caution.
No one went to pit road during the caution, and the race resumed on lap 57. Eighteen laps into the restart, Ryan Blaney was all over Hamlin’s bumper before passing him on lap 76 to take the lead. Blaney was mowing down the field while distancing himself from Hamlin. Blaney would lead the last 47 laps to win stage one.
Everyone went to pit road during the caution, with Blaney beating Hamlin off pit road. The race resumed on lap 141 to start stage two. Hamlin would take the lead from the outside lane a lap later. Blaney and Hamlin were neck and neck for the lead. On lap 175, Blaney used the inside lane off turn two to regain the lead. Meanwhile, Alex Bowman moved into third place after passing Truex. On lap 241, the fourth caution would come out after Cody Ware cut a right rear tire and went around with 20 laps to go in stage two.
Everyone went to pit road during the caution, and once again, Blaney beat Hamlin off pit road. The race resumed on lap 248 with thirteen laps to go in stage two. Three laps later, Ryan Newman and Matt DiBenedetto got together fighting for 15th place, leaving debris on the track. Both cars suffered damage and went to pit road. No one else went to pit road during the caution, and the race resumed with two laps to go in the stage. Blaney would hold off Hamlin to win stage two.
Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski stayed out while everyone else pitted, with Blaney beating Truex off pit road. The final stage got underway on lap 270. Seven laps later, Justin Haley cut a left rear tire and went around to bring out the seventh caution of the day. Seven cars went to pit road during the caution that included Ryan Newman. The race would get back underway on lap 283.
Six laps into the restart, Cody Ware went around for the second time at turn two for the race’s eighth caution. Everyone who didn’t pit under the last caution pitted while others stayed out. Bubba Wallace was the new leader when the race resumed on lap 297. On lap 310, William Byron made his way up to second place after restarting ninth. Five laps later, he would take the lead from Wallace.
Kyle Busch was the latest car to spin that brought out the caution for the ninth time; he radioed in his crew chief that something broke. Everyone went to pit road during the caution, with Hamlin beating Byron off pit road. The race resumed on lap 328. Two laps later, Anthony Alfredo made contact with Aric Almirola and spun to bring out caution number ten.
No one went to pit road during the caution, and the race resumed on lap 336. Once again, the restart didn’t last ten laps as Brad Keselowski was hit by Daniel Suarez and went around to bring out the eleventh caution. Some of the leaders went to pit road during the caution. Keselowski’s crew changed the power steering fluid while on pit road to help with the overheating problem.
The race resumed on lap 348, with Hamlin still leading the race. Again, not even a lap into the restart, Aric Almirola hit Ryan Newman to bring out the twelfth caution. Both cars had significant damage but remained in the race. The race restarted on lap 356. Alex Bowman restarted second when he had a loose wheel three laps in and went to pit road. The thirteenth caution would come out on lap 371 when Ross Chastain hit Brad Keselowski, who then hit Erik Jones as both cars went around.
Christopher Bell, Ross Chastain, and Daniel Suarez stayed out while everyone else pitted under the caution. The race got back underway on lap 378. Those on new tires quickly gobbled up the three cars as Denny Hamlin got the lead back from Bell on lap 383. Three laps later, the big one happened as fifteen cars were involved in a crash to bring out the fourteenth caution. Among those involved were Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Ryan Preece, and Erik Jones.
The race was red-flagged as crews cleaned up debris and fluid before the race could resume on lap 392. Most of the leaders went to pit road during the caution. Hamlin was the leader when the race resumed on lap 397. During this restart, Joey Logano nearly turned Truex around, battling for third. Ryan Blaney was catching Hamlin for the lead. On lap 452, Chase Briscoe spun and got into the wall at turn three to bring out the race’s fifteenth caution.
Everyone went to pit road for their final stops of the day, with Truex beating Hamlin. Ryan Blaney was penalized for running over the air hose/removing equipment. The race resumed on lap 459. Hamlin would quickly get the lead from Truex. He led 26 laps before Truex took it back with fifteen laps to go. Chase Elliott was right behind them and challenged Hamlin for second place.
Elliott would get second with five laps to go. Upfront, Truex would score his 29th career Cup Series win by 1.972 seconds over Elliott.
The rest of the top ten finishers were Denny Hamlin third, William Byron fourth, Kyle Larson fifth, Joey Logano sixth, Christopher Bell seventh, Tyler Reddick eighth, Kevin Harvick ninth, and Kyle Busch tenth. Hamlin led 276 laps, the most in the race. There were fifteen cautions for 102 laps and eighteen lead changes.
The Cup Series will now head to Richmond Raceway next Sunday, April 18th, at 3 pm on FOX. Martin Truex Jr. has won two out of three races at Richmond Raceway.
Opmerkingen