Martin Truex Jr. found his way to the front of the field to claim the first win of the 2019 NASCAR Playoffs in the South Point 400.
The premiere race in the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series post-season began in the hot sun of Las Vegas. It ended with the lights from the Vegas strip shining brightly in the night. That meant the track went through some major changing during the 267 laps of racing.
Early in the race it appeared Joey Logano was head and shoulders above the rest of the field. He was one of 14 drivers that exchanged the lead 24 times. Joey led a race high 104 laps. He won stage one in the race.
As the Las Vegas Motor Speedway began to transition with the cooler night air and no sun, Martin Truex Jr. began to be a more prevalent force at the front of the pack. He was the winner of stage two of the race.
While there were several cars that had issues during the first two stages of the race, the only yellow flags came out at the end of those two stages. There would be two caution periods during the final stage of the race.
In the end, it was Martin Truex Jr. taking the lead as his car came to life under the lights during the nighttime. Martin held the lead comfortably for the final 20 laps of the race to score his fifth win of the 2019 season.
Kevin Harvick finished second followed by Brad Keselowski in third place. Chase Elliott took home a fourth place finish and Ryan Blaney rounded out the top five. See the complete race results for the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway here.
With the win Martin Truex Jr. moves himself to the top of the point standings. More importantly, he gets an automatic advance to the next round of the NASCAR Playoffs. Kevin Harvick sits in second place in the standings. While Joey Logano falter late in the race, he is in third place in points. Kyle Busch fell from leading at the end of the regular season to fourth place following Las Vegas. Brad Keselowski is fifth place in the points currently. See the complete Monster Energy NASCAR point standings here.
The second stop in the NASCAR Playoffs for the Round of 16 is a night race at Richmond Raceway. The Federated Auto Parts 400 is Saturday, September 21st.
By: Buck Stevens
