A great start to the NASCAR playoffs for Joe Gibbs Racing continued Saturday night at Richmond Raceway, with the company building off of its triumph in last week's Southern 500. Gibbs cars finished 1-2-3 on Saturday night, with the team putting a second driver through to the round of 12.
After taking the lead following a pit road speeding penalty assessed to Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr. was able to build enough of a lead over a final long run to hold off Denny Hamlin to win the Federated Auto Parts Salute to First Responders 400 at Richmond. Although Hamlin was able to manage his tires to the point he had a major speed advantage over Truex, Truex's gap was enough that he was able to nurse his car to the checkered flag despite very worn tires.
Truex prevailed in a race that featured a torrid pace, as just nine cars finished on the lead lap. Truex's win will advance him to the next round of the playoffs, and he joins Hamlin and Kyle Larson in clinching a round of 12 berth.
1. #19 - Martin Truex Jr.
2. #11 - Denny Hamlin
3. #20 - Christopher Bell
4. #9 - Chase Elliott
5. #22 - Joey Logano
6. #5 - Kyle Larson
7. #42 - Ross Chastain
8. #4 - Kevin Harvick
9. #18 - Kyle Busch
10. #12 - Ryan Blaney
Saturday night's race occurred before a somber backdrop, as the United States commemorated the 20th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 American citizens. Honoring the memory of 9/11 victims and first responders was a focal point of pre-race ceremonies, and they were also on Truex's mind as he emerged victorious from the 400 lap event.
"It's an important day in our history, and I think all of us here -- yeah, we're proud to win and this car's amazing and there's so many people to thank - But what a day to win on," Truex told NBC Sports. "It reminds you of the honor it is, the privilege it is, to get to come out here and do this."
Truex faced far from a smooth road to victory, as his race began with him being black flagged by NASCAR for passing Hamlin -- who controlled the initial start of the race from the pole position -- prior to the start/finish line at the green flag. Truex had to serve a pass-through penalty, but was able to fight back from his early adversity by virtue of a fast racecar.
"That was frustrating, I'm not gonna lie. But I knew we'd have a good enough car to overcome it," Truex said. "It felt pretty good those first couple laps. Just one of those things - You've got to put it out of your mind and you've got to go race, and we knew there was a lot on the line tonight. Very happy to get to do this and go to Bristol without any worries next week."
While most of the race ran without incident, the biggest accident of the night spelled an early end for one playoff driver: After taking the lead on the first round of pit stops, Kurt Busch suffered a left rear tire failure that sent him slamming into the outside wall in turn one. Busch was the only car to not finish the race, erasing his points cushion over the cutoff line to the round of 12.
Most other drivers who ran into issues did so on pit road: Michael McDowell was tagged for speeding on three separate occasions, while Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch were both taken out of contention due to pit road miscues. Elliott backed his car off the jack as his crew was beginning to go to work, while Busch was tagged for speeding on the final stop of the night.
The round of 16 will come to an end next Saturday night with the annual night race at Bristol Motor Speedway, which will see Alex Bowman, Tyler Reddick, William Byron, and Michael McDowell all try and avoid playoff elimination. Bowman is tied for the final spot in the round of 12 with Kurt Busch and Reddick sits five points back of the cutoff line, while Byron and McDowell face more dire straits with 18 and 38 point deficits respectively.
1. #11 - Denny Hamlin (1 win)
2. #19 - Martin Truex Jr. (1 win)
3. #5 - Kyle Larson (Advanced)
4. #22 - Joey Logano (+40)
5. #12 - Ryan Blaney (+28)
6. #4 - Kevin Harvick (+25)
7. #9 - Chase Elliott (+19)
8. #20 - Christopher Bell (+17)
9. #2 - Brad Keselowski (+13)
10. #18 - Kyle Busch (+8)
11. #10 - Aric Almirola (+3)
12. #1 - Kurt Busch (+0)
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13. #48 - Alex Bowman (-0)
14. #8 - Tyler Reddick (-5)
15. #24 - William Byron (-18)
16. #34 - Michael McDowell (-38)
Denny Hamlin runs out of time to catch Martin Truex Jr., who holds on to earn his fourth win of the season and earn a spot in the Round of 12.
1. #19 - Martin Truex Jr.
2. #11 - Denny Hamlin
3. #20 - Christopher Bell
4. #9 - Chase Elliott
5. #22 - Joey Logano
6. #5 - Kyle Larson
7. #42 - Ross Chastain
8. #4 - Kevin Harvick
9. #18 - Kyle Busch
10. #12 - Ryan Blaney (-1)
White flag.
Two laps to go. Denny Hamlin is two seconds back but running out of time.
Denny Hamlin has cut the gap down to under 3 seconds but is running out of laps. 5 to go.
Close call between Ross Chastain and Kyle Larson, as Chastain got into Larson's left rear quarter panel as he was trying to pass him in Turn 3. Chastain makes the pass, but Larson passes him back without much of a challenge from Chastain.
Denny Hamlin has cut the gap down to 3.5 seconds. 10 to go.
Denny Hamlin has cut the gap down to 4.6 seconds. Martin Truex had some difficulty passing Tyler Reddick to put him another lap down.
The gap between the two leaders has stabilized at 5.4 seconds with 25 laps to go. Only nine cars are on the lead lap.
Denny Hamlin has been cutting into Martin Truex's lead, but he still has a lot of ground to make up. Hamlin is 5.4 seconds back with 34 laps to go.
Top 10 with 40 laps to go:
1. #19 - Martin Truex Jr.
2. #11 - Denny Hamlin
3. #20 - Christopher Bell
4. #9 - Chase Elliott
5. #22 - Joey Logano
6. #42 - Ross Chastain
7. #4 - Kevin Harvick
8. #3 - Austin Dillon
9. #5 - Kyle Larson
10. #18 Kyle Busch
