Martin Truex, Jr. Wins the Truck Race at Bristol in Dominating Fashion

BRISTON, TN – RIS – Martin Truex, Jr. won the NASCAR Camping World Truck race on the dirt at Bristol Motor Speedway Monday afternoon.  He was in the No. 51 truck from Kyle Busch Motorsports.  It was his first truck series race since 2006, and his first Bristol checkered flag at Bristol. Truex dominated the race winning all three stages.

Truex led 105 of the 150 laps on the half-mile dirt oval in the No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota for a one-off race to gain more dirt experience for the Cup Series race, which is scheduled for 4 p.m. today.  Truex took the lead away from defending champion Sheldon Creed on the final lap of Stage 1 and cruising to the win in Stage 2.

“It’s unbelievable really,” Truex said after the race. “I guess they had to put dirt on Bristol to get me back in Victory Lane here.”

After the final restart with 13 laps to go due to the 14th and final caution flag, Truex drove away from second-place driver Ben Rhodes. Rhodes was able to battle Truex for the lead in the later parts of the race but didn’t have enough to give a final rally, finishing second.  Raphael Lessard rounded out the podium spots in third, followed by Todd Gilliland and Cup Series driver Chase Briscoe to complete the top five.

Truex and Briscoe were among six Cup Series drivers in the Truck Series field. Bubba Wallace was the next highest-finishing Cup regular in 11th. Kevin Harvick finished 15th, and Daniel Suarez finished 17th. Kyle Larson got the worst result, crashing hard in Turns 3 and 4 on Lap 100 after slamming into the back of Mike Marlar in the No. 56, who was off the pace on the top lane at the time. Brett Moffitt and Danny Bohn were also involved. Larson and Bohn were forced to retire with heavy damage.

 NASCAR's first Cup Series race at a dirt track was delayed a day when torrential rain flooded Bristol's parking lots and campgrounds and turned Monday into a doubleheader. Truex was one of seven Cup drivers entered in the trucks' opener in their attempt to learn how to race the surface.

Unofficial Results: Pinty's Truck Race on Dirt, March 29, 2021, Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt

Fin, Str, Driver, Trk, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 15, Martin Truex Jr.(i), No. 51 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota, 150, 1, 1, 5, 105, , 0, Running
2) 9, Ben Rhodes, No. 99 Bombardier LearJet 75 Toyota, 150, 7, 2, 2, 3, , 48, Running
3) 29, Raphael Lessard, No. 24 Chevy Accessories Chevrolet, 150, , 8, , , , 37, Running
4) 13, Todd Gilliland, No. 38 Speedco Ford, 150, , 6, , , , 38, Running
5) 33, Chase Briscoe(i), No. 04 TexaCon Cut Stone/Huffy Ford, 150, , 4, , , , 0, Running
6) 8, Grant Enfinger, No. 98 Champion/Curb Records Toyota, 150, 9, 10, 1, 2, , 34, Running
7) 6, Zane Smith, No. 21 Chevrolet, 150, 3, , , , , 38, Running
8) 16, Parker Kligerman, No. 75 Food Country USA Chevrolet, 150, , , , , , 29, Running
9) 2, Austin Hill, No. 16 United Rentals Toyota, 150, 6, 3, 1, 1, , 41, Running
10) 17, Austin Wayne Self, No. 22 GOTEXAN/AM Chevrolet, 150, , 9, , , , 29, Running
11) 32, Bubba Wallace(i), No. 11 Columbia Outdoor Clothing Toyota, 150, , , , , , 0, Running
12) 7, Stewart Friesen, No. 52 Halmar International Toyota, 150, 4, 7, 1, 1, , 36, Running
13) 18, Tanner Gray, No. 15 Ford Performance Ford, 150, , , , , , 24, Running
14) 4, Matt Crafton, No. 88 Denail Aire/Menards Toyota, 150, 8, , , , , 26, Running
15) 30, Kevin Harvick(i), No. 17 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford, 150, , , , , , 0, Running
16) 3, Sheldon Creed, No. 2 Chevy Accessories Chevrolet, 150, 2, 5, 1, 38, , 36, Running
17) 26, Daniel Suarez(i), No. 02 AMR/GoPro Motorplex Chevrolet, 150, , , , , , 0, Running
18) 23, Chase Purdy #, No. 23 BamaBuggies.com Chevrolet, 150, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 22, Hailie Deegan #, No. 1 Monster Ford, 150, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 14, Ryan Truex, No. 40 CircleBDiecast.com Chevrolet, 150, , , , , , 17, Running
21) 11, Carson Hocevar #, No. 42 Scott's/GMPartsNow Chevrolet, 150, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 37, Myatt Snider(i), No. 33 Louisiana Hot Sauce Chevrolet, 150, , , , , , 0, Running
23) 24, Tate Fogleman, No. 12 Solid Rock Carriers Chevrolet, 150, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 10, Brett Moffitt, No. 45 Circle B Diecast Chevrolet, 150, , , , , , 13, Running
25) 31, Spencer Boyd, No. 20 EcoTwist Chevrolet, 150, , , , , , 12, Running
26) 34, Cody Erickson, No. 41 Thunder Seed Chevrolet, 150, , , , , , 11, Running
27) 20, Codie Rohrbaugh, No. 9 Grant County Mulch Chevrolet, 150, , , , , , 10, Running
28) 38, Mike Marlar(i), No. 56 LIftKits4Less.com Chevrolet, 148, , , , , , 0, Running
29) 36, Jake Griffin, No. 34 Great Escapes RV Center Toyota, 147, , , , , , 8, Running
30) 27, Timothy Peters, No. 25 Rackley Roofing Chevrolet, 147, , , , , , 7, Running
31) 40, Andrew Gordon, No. 49 Staar Trucking Chevrolet, 144, , , , , , 6, Running
32) 5, Johnny Sauter, No. 13 Vivitar/RealTree Toyota, 124, 10, , , , , 6, Accident
33) 35, Jennifer Jo Cobb, No. 10 Fastener Supply Company Chevrolet, 120, , , , , , 4, Electrical
34) 21, Chandler Smith #, No. 18 JBL Toyota, 117, , , , , , 3, Accident
35) 28, Kyle Larson(i), No. 44 Rich Mar Florist/Circle B Chevrolet, 98, , , , , , 0, Accident
36) 25, Danny Bohn, No. 30 North American Motor Car Toyota, 98, , , , , , 1, Accident
37) 39, Norm Benning, No. 6 MDF A Sign Company/Camping World Chevrolet, 72, , , , , , 1, Parked
38) 12, Derek Kraus, No. 19 Incredible Bank Toyota, 49, , , , , , 1, Accident
39) 1, John Hunter Nemechek, No. 4 Mobil 1 Toyota, 48, 5, , , , , 7, Accident
40) 19, Tyler Ankrum, No. 26 LiUNA! Chevrolet, 34, , , , , , 1, Accident
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 49 Mins, 30 Secs.
Race Length: 150 Laps, 75 Miles
Average Speed: 41.096 MPH
Margin of Victory: 1.149 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 51, 2, 21, 52, 4, 16, 99, 88, 98, 13
Stage 2 Top 10: 51, 99, 16, 04, 2, 38, 52, 24, 22, 98

Comments: Martin Truex Jr. has won the Pinty's Truck Race on Dirt at Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt, his first victory in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

Prior to the start, the following vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reason indicated: #10 (Unapproved Adjustments).

Failed to Qualify: (4) 83 Trevor Collins, 62 Jessica Friesen, 39 Ryan Newman(i), 3 JR Heffner.

Caution Flags: 12 for 56 laps;
Laps: 14-17 (No. 15 Spin Turn 3 [10]);
28-31 (No. 42 Stalled On Frontstretch [None]);
36-39 (No. 18, 22, 26 Incident Turn 2 [42]);
41-41 (Stage 1 Conclusion [45]);
50-57 (No. 4, 19, 25, 88 Incident Turn 1 [Red Flag: 00:07:07] [18]);
64-68 (No. 10 Spin Turn 2 [42]);
71-75 (No. 6 Stopped On Track [42]);
81-84 (No. 33 Spin Turn 4 [10]);
91-91 (Stage 2 Conclusion [10]);
100-107 (No. 30, 44, 45, 56 Incident Turn 3 [Red Flag: 00:05:17] [None]);
120-125 (No. 13, 18 Incident Backstretch [45]);
133-138 (No. 49 Incident Turn 4 [Red Flag: 00:04:04] [None]).

Lead Changes: 11 among 6 drivers;

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 2021, Issue 3, Posted 3:09 PM, 03.29.2021