Truex Jr. blows them away at Chicagoland

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

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