Avondale, Martin Truex Jr. walked away in the closing laps Sunday at Phoenix Raceway for his first NASCAR Cup Series win of the season and 28th overall. Truex beat all four of last year’s championship finalists. He failed to advance to the season finale for the first time in four years and could only watch Chase Elliott beat Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski for the title at the desert oval.
Phoenix Raceway will again host the championship race in November.
“To come here and win this, I wish it was November,” Truex said. “Hopefully we can come back in November and have a championship shot.”
Truex, 40, struggled earlier this year and finished 25th at Daytona. But he has run much better in recent weeks, finishing third at Homestead and sixth at Las Vegas last week. He was dominant through the latter half of Sunday and became the first driver from last year’s 16-car playoff field to qualify for the postseason. Truex outscored Logano on the final restart with 25 laps remaining and was never challenged again.
It was a good day for Toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing, who had the winner at Truex and Hamlin in third place.
Kyle Larson, who raced to his first win with Hendrick Motorsports last week in Las Vegas, had to start at the back of the field after a failed pre-race inspection. He worked his way back to the front and briefly led the middle of the race.
But shortly thereafter he made a critical mistake and was flagged for speeding on pit road. He had to go through pit lane as a penalty, which caused him to fall at the end of the lead lap in 22nd position. He finished seventh. Logano, who led 143 laps, won the second stage after leading the final 35 laps during a long stretch of green flag racing. But he couldn’t contain Truex, who won his ninth race with Joe Gibbs Racing.
Hamlin was quick early in the race, leading for 31 laps to the competition yellow flag midway through the first stage. But he fell back a few places after a pit stop that allowed Ryan Blaney a window to get to the front of the field. Blaney won the 75-lap first stage after leading 35 laps.
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