The winner of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race completed a pair of firsts.
Martin Truex Jr. punched an early race brush along the wall to gain his first win of 2021 with 25 laps remaining to take the lead at the final restart and start at Phoenix Raceway in his first career of 31.
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Truex’s No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota finally stopped Joey Logano’s No. 22 Penske Racing Ford with a 1.698-second victory over the Instacart 500. The 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champions led the race from outside on a bold restart move. And pulled away in the closing interval of a spirited race that saw 22 lead changes.
More about Truex’s victory below, as well as the full results of Sunday’s race.
Who won the NASCAR race yesterday?
Martin Truex Jr. became a number of different winners this season, joining Martin Truex, Christopher Bell, William Byron and Kyle Larson. His win has earned him a place in the playoffs.
“I think it was November and I was in the Final Four,” Truex said, after the conclusion of the season championship in Phoenix.
Logano led a race-best 143 of 312 laps and won Stage 2, his first stage win of the year. His pancakes racing teammate Ryan Blane won Stage 1 (also a 2021 first leg victory) and finished all three pancakes racing cars in the top 10. In all, the Penske trio of Logano, Blaney and Brad Caselvo combined to lead 197 laps – a 63-day percentage.
NASCAR Results from Phoenix
Truex’s JGR teammate Denny Hamlin was third, followed by Keselowski. Last November’s Phoenix winner, Chase Elliott, was fifth.
Kevin Harvick, a nine-time Phoenix winner, was the sixth, his fourth top-10 finish in the season’s opening five races. Larson, last week’s Las Vegas winner, was seventh, and his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Byron was eighth, followed by Bell and Blaney, who dropped out of the top 10.
Hamlin, Keselowski and Logano – all still looking for their first 2021 win – are in the championship standings at 1-2-3, with Hamlin leading 39 points over Keselowski next weekend The Atlanta Motor Speedway series of Honors heads Quicktrip 500 (3 pm ET Sunday; Fox, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
NASCAR on Phoenix results
| Post | Driver |
|---|---|
| 1 | Martin trux jr |
| 2 | Joey Logano |
| 3 | Danny Hamlin |
| 4 | Brad Keselowski |
| 5 | Chase Elliot |
| 4 | Kevin harvick |
| . | Kyle Larsen |
| . | William Byron |
| 4 | Christopher Bell |
| 10 | Ryan Blane |
| 1 1 | Aric Almirola |
| 12 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. |
| 13 | Alex bowman |
| 14 | Matt DiBenedetto |
| 15 | Kurt busch |
| 14 | Bubba Wallace |
| 1. | Austin dillon |
| 1. | Chris buescher |
| 19 | Ross Chastain |
| 20 | Eric jones |
| 21 | Daniel suarez |
| 22 | Chase Briscoe |
| 23 | Michael McDowell |
| 24 | Justin Haley |
| 25 | Kyle Busch |
| 24 | Rayon preis |
| 2. | Corey Lajoie |
| 2. | Ryan newman |
| 29 | Tyler radic |
| 30 | BJ McLeod |
| 31 | Cole Custer |
| 32 | Quinn Hof |
| 33 | James davison |
| 34 | Garrett Smithley |
| 35 | Josh Biliki |
| 37 | Cody vessel |
| 3. | Anthony Alfredo |
| 38 | Timmy hill |
Holly Cann writes for NASCAR Wire Service.
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