Martin Truex Jr. wins the first race of the Playoffs
Martin Truex Jr. has continued his hot form of the regular NASCAR season through to the first race of the Playoffs with a dominant victory at Chicagoland.
Truex came back from a pit road speeding penalty and a loose wheel to drive his way back to the front and through to the lead and comfortable race win; the fifth of the season and second-straight at the track and 12th of his career.
Truex extended his points lead, but most importantly automatically advances to the next stage of the Playoffs.
“Do you know what time it is,” said Truex.
“This is unbelievable. This is what it’s all about.”
Chase Elliott is winless on the season, but a second -place finish and stage victory has him in a strong position to go deep into the Playoffs. Playoff-eligible drivers swept the top six spots, including Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson.
As good a day it was for Truex, the same can’t be said for the Busch brothers who both finished down the order and can’t afford another poor race if they are to fight for the title.
The race only had four caution periods and a loose wheel and pit road penalty, plus poor car balance saw Kyle Busch fall quickly off the pace. A loose wheel and pitlane penalty also inflicted Kurt Bush.
Other Playoffs contenders who had a poor day included Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who scraped the wall and had a pair of pit-road penalties; Jamie McMurray rallied back to finish 10th after a spin; Austin Dillon was also included on the list of drivers serving penalties for speeding on pit road.
Next weekend the series heads to New Hampshire with the end of the first leg of the Playoffs the following weekend at Dover International Speedway.
VIDEO: Race wrap
VIDEO: Truex Jr. speaks after the race
RESULTS: Tales of the Turtles 400 – Chicagoland Speedway
Cla
#
Driver
Make
Laps
Laps Led
1
78
Martin Truex Jr.
Toyota
267
77
2
24
Chase Elliott
Chevrolet
267
42
3
4
Kevin Harvick
Ford
267
59
4
11
Denny Hamlin
Toyota
267
1
5
42
Kyle Larson
Chevrolet
267
6
2
Brad Keselowski
Ford
267
1
7
22
Joey Logano
Ford
267
8
48
Jimmie Johnson
Chevrolet
267
9
20
Matt Kenseth
Toyota
267
10
1
Jamie McMurray
Chevrolet
267
11
21
Ryan Blaney
Ford
267
12
19
Daniel Suarez
Toyota
267
13
14
Clint Bowyer
Ford
266
14
27
Paul Menard
Chevrolet
266
15
18
Kyle Busch
Toyota
266
85
16
3
Austin Dillon
Chevrolet
266
17
88
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Chevrolet
266
18
10
Danica Patrick
Ford
265
19
41
Kurt Busch
Ford
265
20
34
Landon Cassill
Ford
265
2
21
5
Kasey Kahne
Chevrolet
264
22
6
Trevor Bayne
Ford
264
23
31
Ryan Newman
Chevrolet
264
24
43
Aric Almirola
Ford
264
25
17
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Ford
263
26
47
A.J. Allmendinger
Chevrolet
263
27
37
Chris Buescher
Chevrolet
263
28
13
Ty Dillon
Chevrolet
262
29
38
David Ragan
Ford
262
30
95
Michael McDowell
Chevrolet
262
31
32
Matt DiBenedetto
Ford
261
32
15
Reed Sorenson
Toyota
259
33
77
Erik Jones
Toyota
259
34
33
Jeffrey Earnhardt
Chevrolet
258
35
72
Cole Whitt
Chevrolet
257
36
23
Corey Lajoie
Toyota
256
37
83
Brett Moffitt
Toyota
255
38
55
Gray Gaulding
Toyota
254
39
66
Timmy Hill
Chevrolet
254
40
51
Ray Black Jr.
Chevrolet
251
STANDINGS
Pos
Driver
Pts
Behind
Wins
Starts
Top 5’s
Top 10’s
Poles
1
Martin Truex Jr.
2,102
Leader
5
27
11
18
1
2
Kyle Larson
2,075
-27
4
27
12
16
3
3
Kevin Harvick
2,067
-35
1
27
9
17
4
4
Brad Keselowski
2,061
-41
2
27
11
15
2
5
Kyle Busch
2,061
-41
2
27
10
16
7
6
Chase Elliott
2,059
-43
0
27
7
15
1
7
Denny Hamlin
2,058
-44
2
27
12
16
0
8
Jimmie Johnson
2,046
-56
3
27
3
9
0
9
Matt Kenseth
2,039
-63
0
27
7
13
2
10
Ryan Blaney
2,034
-68
1
27
3
9
1
11
Jamie McMurray
2,031
-71
0
27
2
14
0
12
Austin Dillon
2,026
-76
1
27
3
4
0
13
Kurt Busch
2,026
-76
1
27
5
13
0
14
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
2,022
-80
2
27
4
7
1
15
Kasey Kahne
2,021
-81
1
27
3
4
0
16
Ryan Newman
2,019
-83
1
27
6
11
0
17
Joey Logano
692
-1,410
1
27
9
13
1
18
Clint Bowyer
688
-1,414
0
27
5
10
0
19
Erik Jones
654
-1,448
0
27
4
11
1
20
Daniel Suarez
595
-1,507
0
27
1
9
0
21
Trevor Bayne
499
-1,603
0
27
1
4
0
22
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
479
-1,623
0
27
1
4
1
23
Paul Menard
461
-1,641
0
27
2
3
0
24
Ty Dillon
434
-1,668
0
27
0
0
0
25
Chris Buescher
422
-1,680
0
27
0
3
0
26
Michael McDowell
417
-1,685
0
27
1
1
0
27
AJ Allmendinger
406
-1,696
0
27
1
5
0
28
Danica Patrick
396
-1,706
0
27
0
1
0
29
David Ragan
325
-1,777
0
27
0
2
0
30
Aric Almirola
318
-1,784
0
20
2
3
0
31
Matt DiBenedetto
280
-1,822
0
27
0
2
0
32
Landon Cassill
275
-1,827
0
27
0
0
0
33
Cole Whitt
259
-1,843
0
27
0
0
0
34
Corey LaJoie
179
-1,923
0
24
0
0
0
35
Gray Gaulding
114
-1,988
0
21
0
0
0
36
Reed Sorenson
104
-1,998
0
21
0
0
0
37
Jeffrey Earnhardt
103
-1,999
0
25
0
0
0
38
Derrike Cope
36
-2,066
0
13
0
0
0
39
Michael Waltrip
29
-2,073
0
1
0
1
0
40
Billy Johnson
15
-2,087
0
1
0
0
0
41
Boris Said
15
-2,087
0
2
0
0
0
42
Gary Klutt
6
-2,096
0
1
0
0
0
43
Alon Day
5
-2,097
0
1
0
0
0
44
Stephen Leicht
5
-2,097
0
1
0
0
0
45
Cody Ware
5
-2,097
0
4
0
0
0
46
Kevin O’Connell
4
-2,098
0
1
0
0
0
47
Tommy Regan
3
-2,099
0
1
0
0
0
48
D.J. Kennington
2
-2,100
0
2
0
0
0
49
Brendan Gaughan
0
-2,102
0
3
0
1
0
50
Darrell Wallace Jr.
0
-2,102
0
4
0
0
0
51
Timmy Hill
0
-2,102
0
13
0
0
0
52
Elliott Sadler
0
-2,102
0
3
0
0
0
53
Ross Chastain
0
-2,102
0
1
0
0
0
54
Joey Gase
0
-2,102
0
5
0
0
0
55
Regan Smith
0
-2,102
0
2
0
0
0
56
JJ Yeley
0
-2,102
0
4
0
0
0
57
Ryan Sieg
0
-2,102
0
5
0
0
0
58
Carl Long
0
-2,102
0
2
0
0
0
59
B.J. McLeod
0
-2,102
0
5
0
0
0
60
Brett Moffitt
0
-2,102
0
3
0
0
0
61
Josh Bilicki
0
-2,102
0
2
0
0
0
62
Ray Black II
0
-2,102
0
1
0
0
0
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