Truex Jr. takes emotional win at Kansas

Martin Truex Jr. has won his seventh race of the season with what was an emotional victory at Kansas.

Truex had to fight through the field firstly for an on-track penalty for a re-start infringement and then he made an unscheduled stop for a loose wheel. Hanging above all of this was the death of crew member Jim Watson from a heart attack the night before at the race track.

The race was the final event in the Round of 12, with big names Kyle Larson and Matt Kenseth along with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Jamie McMurray all eliminated.

Larson had engine failure, while Kenseth and McMurray got caught-up in a multicar wreck triggered by Erik Jones looping his car in front of the field on a re-start.

Kenseth came to pit road and too many men went over the wall to try and make repairs. Under NASCAR’s rules that meant automatic disqualification; although with the amount of damage it was most likely Kenseth would not have re-joined the race.

Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch having to fight their way into the Final 8. Johnson fighting back from a day of handling issues which saw him spin twice.

“I can’t say enough about all these guys on the Furniture Row/Bass Pro Toyota, I’m just really proud of them,” said Truex.

“Our great friend Jim Watson, losing him last night, I want to send condolences to his family. He was a heck of a guy and a great worker and helped put a lot of speed in these Furniture Row Toyotas.

“I’m excited to get this one at Kansas. It feels really awesome. It’s really Furniture Row’s home track. It feels really good to win here. In the spring it was heartbreak and then today it looked like it wasn’t going to happen and we persevered.

“I was definitely thinking about Jim and his family. It’s crazy how things all work out.”

The series heads to Martinsville next weekend for what is always a dramatic race on the flat half-mile track known as the “Paperclip”.

VIDEO: Race recap

VIDEO: Truex Jr. speaks after the race

RESULTS: Hollywood Casino 400 – Kansas Speedway

Cla	No.	Driver	Make	Laps	Laps Led
1	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	267	89
2	41	Kurt Busch	Ford	267
3	21	Ryan Blaney	Ford	267	2
4	24	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	267
5	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	267	4
6	37	Chris Buescher	Chevrolet	267
7	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	267
8	4	Kevin Harvick	Ford	267	36
9	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	267
10	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	267	107
11	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	267
12	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	267
13	2	Brad Keselowski	Ford	267	16
14	3	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	267
15	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	267
16	13	Ty Dillon	Chevrolet	267
17	38	David Ragan	Ford	267
18	95	Michael McDowell	Chevrolet	267
19	14	Clint Bowyer	Ford	267
20	6	Trevor Bayne	Ford	267
21	22	Joey Logano	Ford	267
22	32	Matt DiBenedetto	Ford	267
23	34	Landon Cassill	Ford	265
24	72	Cole Whitt	Chevrolet	263
25	15	Reed Sorenson	Chevrolet	263
26	33	Jeffrey Earnhardt	Chevrolet	261
27	23	Corey Lajoie	Toyota	261
28	55	Gray Gaulding	Toyota	259
29	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Ford	256
30	51	B.J. McLeod	Chevrolet	254
31	83	Brett Moffitt	Toyota	238
32	47	A.J. Allmendinger	Chevrolet	232
33	31	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	203
34	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	198	1
35	77	Erik Jones	Toyota	197
36	19	Daniel Suarez	Toyota	197
37	20	Matt Kenseth	Toyota	197
38	10	Danica Patrick	Ford	197
39	42	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	73
40	00	Derrike Cope	Chevrolet	35

 

STANDINGS

Pos	Driver	Pts	Behind	Wins	Starts	Top 5’s	Top 10’s	Poles
1	Martin Truex Jr.	4,069	Leader	7	32	15	22	3
2	Kyle Busch	4,042	-27	4	32	12	19	8
3	Brad Keselowski	4,026	-43	3	32	13	18	2
4	Kevin Harvick	4,017	-52	1	32	10	19	4
5	Jimmie Johnson	4,017	-52	3	32	4	11	0
6	Denny Hamlin	4,014	-55	2	32	14	19	1
7	Ryan Blaney	4,009	-60	1	32	4	12	1
8	Chase Elliott	4,006	-63	0	32	10	18	1
9	Kyle Larson	2,235	-1,834	4	32	14	19	3
10	Matt Kenseth	2,184	-1,885	0	32	8	14	2
11	Jamie McMurray	2,138	-1,931	0	32	3	16	0
12	Kasey Kahne	2,126	-1,943	1	32	3	6	0
13	Kurt Busch	2,124	-1,945	1	32	6	14	0
14	Austin Dillon	2,122	-1,947	1	32	3	4	0
15	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	2,119	-1,950	2	32	4	7	1
16	Ryan Newman	2,107	-1,962	1	32	7	12	0
17	Joey Logano	810	-3,259	1	32	10	15	1
18	Clint Bowyer	793	-3,276	0	32	5	12	0
19	Erik Jones	757	-3,312	0	32	4	12	1
20	Daniel Suarez	709	-3,360	0	32	1	12	0
21	Trevor Bayne	601	-3,468	0	32	2	5	0
22	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	601	-3,468	0	32	1	7	2
23	Paul Menard	557	-3,512	0	32	2	3	0
24	Ty Dillon	536	-3,533	0	32	0	0	0
25	Chris Buescher	515	-3,554	0	32	0	4	0
26	Michael McDowell	480	-3,589	0	32	1	1	0
27	AJ Allmendinger	472	-3,597	0	32	1	5	0
28	Danica Patrick	458	-3,611	0	32	0	1	0
29	Aric Almirola	414	-3,655	0	25	3	5	0
30	David Ragan	407	-3,662	0	32	0	3	0
31	Matt DiBenedetto	333	-3,736	0	32	0	2	0
32	Landon Cassill	330	-3,739	0	32	0	0	0
33	Cole Whitt	292	-3,777	0	32	0	0	0
34	Corey LaJoie	212	-3,857	0	28	0	0	0
35	Gray Gaulding	157	-3,912	0	25	0	1	0
36	Reed Sorenson	137	-3,932	0	25	0	0	0
37	Jeffrey Earnhardt	127	-3,942	0	30	0	0	0
38	Derrike Cope	37	-4,032	0	14	0	0	0
39	Michael Waltrip	29	-4,040	0	1	0	1	0
40	Billy Johnson	15	-4,054	0	1	0	0	0
41	Boris Said	15	-4,054	0	2	0	0	0
42	Gary Klutt	6	-4,063	0	1	0	0	0
43	D.J. Kennington	6	-4,063	0	3	0	0	0
44	Cody Ware	6	-4,063	0	5	0	0	0
45	Alon Day	5	-4,064	0	1	0	0	0
46	Stephen Leicht	5	-4,064	0	1	0	0	0
47	Kevin O’Connell	4	-4,065	0	1	0	0	0
48	Tommy Regan	3	-4,066	0	1	0	0	0
49	Brendan Gaughan	0	-4,069	0	4	0	1	0
50	Darrell Wallace Jr.	0	-4,069	0	4	0	0	0
51	Timmy Hill	0	-4,069	0	15	0	0	0
52	Elliott Sadler	0	-4,069	0	3	0	0	0
53	Ross Chastain	0	-4,069	0	2	0	0	0
54	Joey Gase	0	-4,069	0	6	0	0	0
55	Regan Smith	0	-4,069	0	2	0	0	0
56	JJ Yeley	0	-4,069	0	4	0	0	0
57	Ryan Sieg	0	-4,069	0	5	0	0	0
58	B.J. McLeod	0	-4,069	0	8	0	0	0
59	Brett Moffitt	0	-4,069	0	7	0	0	0
60	Carl Long	0	-4,069	0	2	0	0	0
61	Josh Bilicki	0	-4,069	0	2	0	0	0
62	Mark Thompson	0	-4,069	0	1	0	0	0
63	Ray Black II	0	-4,069	0	1	0	0	0
64	Justin Marks	0	-4,069	0	1	0	0	0