Martin Truex Jr. is starting the playoffs strong as he scored his second win in the NASCAR postseason in the second race of the playoffs at Richmond Raceway.
The Federated Auto Parts 400 Saturday night (9/21) had plenty of side-by-side racing, but was not quite as incident filled as I thought it might have been. Three drivers led the race and exchanged the lead six times.
Martin Truex Jr. won stage one of the race. Kyle Busch led the most laps (202 laps) and scored the win in stage two in the race.
In the end, Martin Truex Jr. got the adjustments right and was able to get out front for the final 26 laps of the race to sweep both 2019 NASCAR races at Richmond. The win was his second NASCAR Playoffs win in a row and his sixth win of the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.
Martin’s Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) teammates Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin scored second and third place finishes respectively. The fourth JGR car driven by Erik Jones crossed the finish line fourth, but failed post-race inspection relegating him to a last place finish. Brad Keselowski is credited with fourth place and Ryan Newman with fifth place. See the complete official race results for the Federated Auto Parts 400 here.
Martin Truex Jr. remains in the top spot in the point standings and is locked in the next round of the playoffs. Kevin Harvick is in second place with Kyle Busch in third place. Kevin and Kyle did not win, but they have clinched their spot in the next round based on points. Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin are fourth and fifth in the point standings respectively. See the complete Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series point standings here.
The next stop in the NASCAR Playoffs is a “Wild Card.” It is also an elimination race. The drivers and teams are heading to the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course for the Bank of America ROVAL 400 Sunday afternoon, September 29th.
By: Buck Stevens
