Martin Truex, Jr. Holds Off Kevin Harvick to Win South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

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LAS VEGAS, NV – RIS – Martin Truex did something he’s done three out of the four years—win the opening race of the playoffs.  An acknowledged master of the 1.5-mile tracks on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series circuit, Truex took a car that was competitive early on, and has crew chief Cole do his magic.  He bested another 1.5=mile master, Kevin Harvick to the tune of 4.173 seconds.

“It was a lot of fun tonight,” Truex Jr. said. “Any time you get a car like that it’s a lot of fun. It wasn’t easy, we had our challenges.

“These next two weeks are all about bonus points. This is big today to get six. Those are really important to get to Homestead.”

Truex gave credit where credit was sue in praising the changes made by Pearn that led to his victory  at yet another one and a half miler.

“We hit it right when we needed to at the end and beat the 4 car,” he said. “Really, that whole second to last run I was just babying it to save the right rear, then we started being faster than him and Cole got the car perfect that last run.”

Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney rounded out the top five.

Alex Bowman, William Byron, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano and Ryan Newman completed the first 10 finishers.

Logano and Truex Jr. won the first two stages of the race.

Discussion about the heat permeated the conversation all weekend long. But unlike last year when the extreme conditions caused slick track conditions and more slipping and sliding, Sunday’s race was by far a tamer affair. The added downforce by this year’s rules package added to that handling phenomenon and drivers did not have to battle the slick conditions of a year ago that produced one of the wilder races of the playoffs.

Regular season champion Kyle Busch had a rough night which has been going on for several races.  He and defending Cup champion Joey Logano seemed less than happy with back markers in the race. Busch had to depend on playoff points to keep him near the top.  He wasn’t happy.

“There were so many out there who don’t even have a successful Sportsman career. I hate to have to lean on insurance, because my rates are going to go up,” Busch said.

Logano had the same sentiments.

“Just got my nuts busted racing around the squirrels, I guess. That happens, it’s part of getting back there,”  Logano on falling back and battling in the middle of the pack.

The battle resumes next Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway.

 Unofficial Results: 2nd Annual South Point 400: September 15, 2019, Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Fin, St, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 24, Martin Truex Jr. (P), No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, 267, 8, 1, 3, 32, 6, 53, Running
2) 3, Kevin Harvick (P), No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford, 267, 2, 4, 3, 47, , 51, Running
3) 18, Brad Keselowski (P), No. 2 Autotrader Ford, 267, , , , , , 34, Running
4) 8, Chase Elliott (P), No. 9 NAPA Filters Chevrolet, 267, , 5, 2, 12, , 39, Running
5) 23, Ryan Blaney (P), No. 12 PPG Ford, 267, , 8, 1, 1, , 35, Running
6) 19, Alex Bowman (P), No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet, 267, , 10, , , , 32, Running
7) 14, William Byron (P), No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet, 267, 7, 6, 2, 6, , 39, Running
8) 15, Kyle Larson (P), No. 42 Clover Chevrolet, 267, 9, 3, 1, 2, , 39, Running
9) 22, Joey Logano (P), No. 22 Pennzoil Ford, 267, 1, 2, 6, 105, 1, 47, Running
10) 17, Ryan Newman (P), No. 6 Oscar Mayer Bacon Ford, 267, , , , , , 27, Running
11) 9, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 267, , , , , , 26, Running
12) 7, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Off Road Chevrolet, 267, 5, , , , , 31, Running
13) 4, Aric Almirola (P), No. 10 Smithfield Ford, 267, 3, , 1, 3, , 32, Running
14) 21, Paul Menard, No. 21 Menards/Monster Ford, 267, , , , , , 23, Running
15) 13, Denny Hamlin (P), No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota, 267, , 7, 1, 3, , 26, Running
16) 27, Ty Dillon, No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet, 267, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 6, Daniel Hemric #, No. 8 Cessna Chevrolet, 267, , , , , , 20, Running
18) 28, Chris Buescher, No. 37 Natural Light Seltzer Chevrolet, 266, , , 1, 1, , 19, Running
19) 20, Kyle Busch (P), No. 18 M&M's Hazelnut Toyota, 266, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 2, Daniel Suarez, No. 41 Haas Automation Ford, 266, 4, , 1, 29, , 24, Running
21) 25, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 95 Barstool Sports Toyota, 266, , , 1, 9, , 16, Running
22) 11, David Ragan, No. 38 Select Blinds Ford, 266, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 31, Bubba Wallace, No. 43 Victory Junction Chevrolet, 266, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 10, Michael McDowell, No. 34 Love's Travel Stops Ford, 266, , , 1, 16, , 13, Running
25) 1, Clint Bowyer (P), No. 14 Toco Warranty Ford, 266, , , 1, 1, , 12, Running
26) 12, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 SunnyD Ford, 265, , , , , , 11, Running
27) 16, Ryan Preece #, No. 47 Kroger Chevrolet, 265, , , , , , 10, Running
28) 33, Corey LaJoie, No. 32 Schluter Systems Ford, 265, , , , , , 9, Running
29) 30, Landon Cassill(i), No. 00 William Hill Sports Book Chevrolet, 265, , , , , , 0, Running
30) 29, Matt Tifft #, No. 36 Surface/Maui Jim Ford, 264, , , , , , 7, Running
31) 32, Ross Chastain(i), No. 15 Xchange of America Chevrolet, 262, , , , , , 0, Running
32) 36, * JJ Yeley(i), No. 53 AQRE.app Ford, 260, , , , , , 0, Running
33) 35, BJ McLeod(i), No. 51 Jacob Companies Ford, 259, , , , , , 0, Running
34) 38, * Joe Nemechek(i), No. 27 Chevrolet, 257, , , , , , 0, Running
35) 34, Garrett Smithley(i), No. 52 Honest Abe Roofing Ford, 255, , , , , , 0, Running
36) 26, Erik Jones (P), No. 20 CRAFTSMAN Gas Monkey Toyota, 254, 10, , , , , 2, Running
37) 37, Reed Sorenson, No. 77 Chevrolet, 250, , , , , , 1, Running
38) 39, * Joey Gase(i), No. 66 Nevada Donor Network Toyota, 249, , , , , , 0, Running
39) 5, Kurt Busch (P), No. 1 GEARWRENCH Chevrolet, 187, 6, 9, , , , 8, Accident
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie, (P) Playoffs qualified

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 48 Mins, 34 Secs
Race Length: 267 Laps, 400.5 Miles
Average Speed: 142.555 MPH
Margin of Victory: 4.173 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 22, 4, 10, 41, 3, 1, 24, 19, 42, 20
Stage 2 Top 10: 19, 22, 42, 4, 9, 24, 11, 12, 1, 88

Race Comments: Martin Truex Jr. won the second annual South Point 400, his 24th career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory.
Prior to the start of the race the following cars dropped to the rear under penalty for the reasons indicated: No. 36 and 37(unapproved adjustments) and No. 77 (transmission change).

Caution Flags: 4 for 22 laps;
Laps: 82-86 (Stage 1 Conclusion [95]);
162-167 (Stage 2 Conclusion [37]);
182-185 (No. 24 Spin in Turn 4 [13]);
189-195 (No. 1 Incident in Turn 3 [34]).

Lead Changes: 24 among 14 drivers;
C. Bowyer (P) 1;
D. Suarez 2-30;
A. Almirola (P) 31-33;
J. Logano (P) 34-42;
M. McDowell 43-58;
J. Logano (P) 59-83;
K. Harvick (P) 84-86;
W. Byron (P) 87;
J. Logano (P) 88-123;
C. Buescher 124;
J. Logano (P) 125-157;
M. Truex Jr. (P) 158-167;
J. Logano (P) 168;
M. Truex Jr. (P) 169-170;
C. Elliott (P) 171-181;
J. Logano (P) 182;
D. Hamlin (P) 183-185;
R. Blaney (P) 186;
K. Harvick (P) 187-229;
C. Elliott (P) 230;
W. Byron (P) 231-235;
K. Larson (P) 236-237;
M. DiBenedetto 238-246;
K. Harvick (P) 247;
M. Truex Jr. (P) 248-267.

American Ethanol Green Flag Restart Award: Kevin Harvick, No. 4

Busch Pole Award: Clint Bowyer, No. 14 178.926 mph

Fastest Lap: Daniel Suarez, No. 41

Moog Go the Extra Mile: Ryan Newman, No. 6 crew chief Scott Graves, 0.556 seconds

Sunoco Rookie of the Race: Daniel Hemric, No. 8

Ron Fleshman with John Davison

RIS NASCAR Editor.  Has been with RIS since the middle 90's. Writes on each of the three main series of NASCAR.

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Volume 2019, Issue 9, Posted 11:52 PM, 09.15.2019