Truex Wins Phoenix Cup Race over Logano

AP Photo - Ralph Freso

AVONDALE, AZ – RIS – Martin Truex, Jr. held off Joey Logano to win the NASCAR Cup race at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday afternoon.  Truex beat the four championship finalists from last year. He had failed to advance into the season-ending finale for the first time in four years and could only watch as Chase Elliott beat Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski for the title at the desert oval. All four tailed Truex across the finish line.

“To come here and win this, I wish it was November," Truex said. “Hopefully, we can come back in November and have a shot at the championship.”  Phoenix has hosted the championship last year and will again this year.

Denny Hamlin placed third. Brad Keselowski was fourth. Chase Elliott, who won last November at Phoenix to win his first series title, finished fifth. Kevin Harvick was sixth.

Kyle Larson, who won last weekend’s race at Las Vegas, finished seventh despite having to start at the rear because of inspection issues before the race and two speeding penalties during it. His result was his fourth top 10 in the first five races of the season with Hendrick Motorsports.

Truex was dominant during the final half Sunday and became the first driver from last year's 16-car playoff field to qualify for the postseason. Truex blew past Logano on the final restart with 25 laps remaining and was never challenged again.

The usual suspects had good, but not winning days in the Arizona sun.  Logan— 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 hold back Truex, who won his ninth race with Joe Gibbs Racing.  Hamlin was fast early in the race, leading for 31 laps until the competition caution midway through the first stage. But he fell back a few spots 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.

There were fans at the race.  The track had the last Cup race with fan last year before the pandemic caused grandstands to be empty.  Sunday, they were allowed 20% of capacity and Truex was especially happy to see them.

“Most we’ve seen in a while and the more the merrier. We love having them, we miss seeing them, we miss seeing them in the infield, we miss pre-race, we miss practice, we miss qualifying just like everyone else,” Truex said.

There were penalties before the race started. Six drivers — three from Hendrick Motorsports — had to start at the back of the field, including Elliott, William Byron, Larson, Cody Ware, Quinn Houff and Garrett Smithley. Larson, Byron and Ware went to back because of pre-race inspection failures, Elliott and Houff had unapproved adjustments and Smithley was a replacement driver.

Team Penske threatened to run away with the race early.  Ryan Blaney won the first stage and Logano the second.  Neither car had anything for Truex at the end.

Truex’s win was the first time since 2017 the season has started with different winners in each of the first five races.  They will try again at Atlanta Motor Speedway next Sunday on March 21’s to see if there is a repeat winner.

Unofficial Race Results: 17th Annual Instacart 500, March 14, 2021, Phoenix Raceway

Fin, St, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status

1) 5, Martin Truex Jr., 19, Bass Pro Toyota, 312, , 2, 3, 64, 5, 49, Running

2) 9, Joey Logano, 22, Shell Pennzoil Ford, 312, 2, 1, 6, 143, 1, 54, Running

3) 3, Denny Hamlin, 11, Offerpad Toyota, 312, 4, 3, 3, 33, , 49, Running

4) 1, Brad Keselowski, 2, Wurth Ford, 312, 3, 4, 5, 19, , 48, Running

5) 6, Chase Elliott, 9, UniFirst Chevrolet, 312, 5, 9, , , , 40, Running

6) 18, Kevin Harvick, 4, Jimmy John's Ford, 312, 7, 6, , , , 40, Running

7) 2, Kyle Larson, 5, HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 312, 9, , 1, 1, , 32, Running

8) 10, William Byron, 24, Axalta Chevrolet, 312, 8, 7, , , , 36, Running

9) 4, Christopher Bell, 20, Rheem Toyota, 312, , 10, , , , 29, Running

10) 8, Ryan Blaney, 12, Menards/Richmond Water Heaters Ford, 312, 1, 5, 1, 35, 1, 43, Running

11) 32, Aric Almirola, 10, Pit Boss Grills Ford, 312, , 8, , , , 29, Running

12) 11, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 47, Kroger/Energizer Chevrolet, 312, , , 1, 1, , 25, Running

13) 21, Alex Bowman, 48, Ally/Best Friends Chevrolet, 312, , , , , , 24, Running

14) 20, Matt DiBenedetto, 21, Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford, 312, 10, , , , , 24, Running

15) 12, Kurt Busch, 1, Gearwrench Chevrolet, 312, , , , , , 22, Running

16) 25, Bubba Wallace, 23, McDonalds Toyota, 312, , , 2, 4, , 21, Running

17) 13, Austin Dillon, 3, Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Off Road Chevrolet, 312, , , , , , 20, Running

18) 17, Chris Buescher, 17, Roush Performance Ford, 312, , , , , , 19, Running

19) 22, Ross Chastain, 42, Chevrolet Accessories Chevrolet, 312, , , , , , 18, Running

20) 14, Erik Jones, 43, Medallion Bank Chevrolet, 312, , , , , , 17, Running

21) 27, Daniel Suarez, 99, CommScope Chevrolet, 312, , , , , , 16, Running

22) 26, Chase Briscoe #, 14, HighPoint.com Ford, 312, , , , , , 15, Running

23) 16, Michael McDowell, 34, Love's Travel Stops Ford, 312, , , , , , 14, Running

24) 29, Justin Haley(i), 77, Mutoh/General Formulations Chevrolet, 312, , , , , , 0, Running

25) 7, Kyle Busch, 18, STANLEY Toyota, 311, 6, , , , , 17, Running

26) 15, * Ryan Preece, 37, Soctt Brand Chevrolet, 311, , , , , , 11, Running

27) 33, Corey LaJoie, 7, Youtheory Chevrolet, 311, , , 1, 12, , 10, Running

28) 19, Ryan Newman, 6, Guaranteed Rate Ford, 311, , , , , , 9, Running

29) 23, Tyler Reddick, 8, Quartz Hill Records Chevrolet, 310, , , , , , 8, Running

30) 30, BJ McLeod(i), 78, Surface Sunscreen Ford, 309, , , , , , 0, Running

31) 24, Cole Custer, 41, HaasTooling.com Ford, 308, , , , , , 6, Running

32) 35, Quin Houff, 00, Mount-N-Lock Chevrolet, 305, , , , , , 5, Running

33) 38, James Davison, 15, Smart Sanitizer Chevrolet, 303, , , , , , 4, Running

34) 34, Garrett Smithley(i), 53, Turf Sellers Chevrolet, 300, , , , , , 0, Running

35) 36, Josh Bilicki, 52, Junction Fuels Ford, 258, , , , , , 2, Power

36) 31, Cody Ware(i), 51, Nurtec ODT Chevrolet, 101, , , , , , 0, Accident

37) 28, Anthony Alfredo #, 38, MDS Ford, 87, , , , , , 1, Accident

38) 37, * Timmy Hill(i), 66, LasVegas.net/Diamondback Surveying Toyota, 15, , , , , , 0, Engine

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Time of Race: 3 hr, 20 sec

Race Length: 312 Laps, 312 Miles

Average Speed: 103.808 mph

Margin of Victory: 1.698 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 12, 22, 2, 11, 9, 18, 4, 24, 5, 21

Stage 2 Top 10: 22, 19, 11, 2, 12, 4, 24, 10, 9, 20

Comments: Martin Truex Jr. won the Instacart 500 at Phoenix Raceway, his 28th NASCAR Cup Series victory.

Prior to the start, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reasons indicated: No. 5, No. 24, No. 51 (multiple inspection failures), No. 53 (driver change), No. 9, No. 00 (unapproved adjustments).

Cautions: 7 for 45 laps;

Laps: 32-36 (Competition Caution [51]);

47-51 (No. 48, No. 3, No. 42 Incident Turn 2 [15]);

77-83 (Stage 1 Conclusion [15]);

90-98 (No. 38, No. 51 Incident Turn 2 [00]);

192-199 (Stage 2 Conclusion [3]);

263-268 (No. 8 Incident Turn 2 [34]);

283-287 (No. 18, No. 42 Incident Frontstretch [17]).

Lead Changes: 22 among 9 drivers;

B. Keselowski 1-2;

D. Hamlin 3-33;

B. Keselowski 34-43;

R. Blaney 44-78;

B. Keselowski 79;

J. Logano 80-141;

K. Larson 142;

B. Wallace 143;

C. LaJoie 144-155;

J. Logano 156-193;

D. Hamlin 194;

J. Logano 195-223;

M. Truex Jr. 224-253;

R. Stenhouse Jr. 254;

M. Truex Jr. 255-263;

D. Hamlin 264;

B. Wallace 265-267;

J. Logano 268;

B. Keselowski 269-273;

J. Logano 274-283;

B. Keselowski 284;

J. Logano 285-287;

M. Truex Jr. 288-312.

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 7:59 PM, 03.14.2021