Truex Tops Richmond

(RICHMOND, VA – SEP 12, 2021 – RIS) Martin Truex Jr overcame penalties to head a Joe Gibbs Racing sweep of the top three finishing positions in the Federated Auto Parts 400 Salute to First Responders at Richmond Raceway. Denny Hamlin led just under half the laps, running at the front for 197 of the 400 laps, while Truex was in front for 80 laps. Christopher Bell led 10 laps on his way to the third-place finishing position, while the fourth Gibbs driver, Kyle Busch, finished ninth after a couple of penalties that sent him down pit road and possibly cost him a win. The four Gibbs cars led 326 laps of the race distance. 

Truex got his first penalty on the first lap of the race when he crossed the line ahead of pole starter Denny Hamlin after Hamlin spun his tires. The rules allow no leeway, so Truex took his penalty pass through the pits and set off in pursuit of the pack. Kyle Busch had an equipment interference penalty when one tire rolled into the adjacent pit stall and then got penalized for speeding on pit road.

Chase Elliott placed fourth in the race, the first non-Gibbs car after thinking he was outside of his pit stall and backed up with the crew already jacking up his car. The miscue destroyed the jack and dropped him down a lap, but he made up the deficit to finish in the top five, followed by Joey Logano and Kyle Larson.

Kurt Busch had his left-rear tire deflate, spinning into the wall and becoming the only car not running at the finish.

Unofficial Results: 64th Annual Federated Auto Parts 400 Salute to First Responders, September 11, 2021, Richmond Raceway - 0.75 Mile Paved

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 3, Martin Truex Jr. (P), No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Red White Blue Toyota, 400, 8, 3, 3, 80, 5, 51, Running
2) 2, Denny Hamlin (P), No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota, 400, 1, 1, 6, 197, 2, 55, Running
3) 10, Christopher Bell (P), No. 20 DEWALT Salute First Responders Toyota, 400, , 6, 3, 10, , 39, Running
4) 13, Chase Elliott (P), No. 9 Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet, 400, 2, , 3, 58, , 42, Running
5) 6, Joey Logano (P), No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 400, 3, 5, , , , 46, Running
6) 1, Kyle Larson (P), No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 400, 4, 4, 3, 8, , 45, Running
7) 17, Ross Chastain, No. 42 Moose Fraternity Chevrolet, 400, 6, 7, 1, 4, , 39, Running
8) 5, Kevin Harvick (P), No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford, 400, 9, 10, , , , 32, Running
9) 15, Kyle Busch (P), No. 18 M&M's Toyota, 400, , 2, 1, 39, , 37, Running
10) 8, Ryan Blaney (P), No. 12 Advance Auto Parts Ford, 399, 5, , , , , 33, Running
11) 19, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Roland Chevrolet, 399, , , , , , 26, Running
12) 12, Alex Bowman (P), No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 399, , 9, , , , 27, Running
13) 7, Brad Keselowski (P), No. 2 Western Star Ford, 399, 7, , , , , 28, Running
14) 9, Aric Almirola (P), No. 10 Smithfield/Tuesday's Children Ford, 399, 10, 8, , , , 27, Running
15) 11, Tyler Reddick (P), No. 8 Childress Vineyards Chevrolet, 398, , , , , , 22, Running
16) 26, Chase Briscoe #, No. 14 Cummins/Rush Truck Centers Ford, 398, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 22, Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Good Sam Chevrolet, 398, , , , , , 20, Running
18) 28, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 21 Menards/Dutch Boy Ford, 398, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 14, William Byron (P), No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet, 398, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 24, Ryan Newman, No. 6 Oscar Mayer Bacon Ford, 398, , , , , , 17, Running
21) 31, Erik Jones, No. 43 Petty's Garage Chevrolet, 398, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 21, Cole Custer, No. 41 HaasTooling.com Demo Day Ford, 397, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 23, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 NOS Energy Drink Chevrolet, 397, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 18, Chris Buescher, No. 17 Fastenal Ford, 396, , , , , , 13, Running
25) 20, * Ryan Preece, No. 37 Kroger/Crest Chevrolet, 396, , , , , , 12, Running
26) 30, Anthony Alfredo #, No. 38 GoldenNuggetSports.com Ford, 396, , , , , , 11, Running
27) 29, Justin Haley(i), No. 77 Shavelogic Chevrolet, 396, , , , , , 0, Running
28) 16, Michael McDowell (P), No. 34 Love's Travel Stops Ford, 395, , , , , , 9, Running
29) 25, Corey LaJoie, No. 7 Shavelogic Chevrolet, 395, , , , , , 8, Running
30) 32, BJ McLeod(i), No. 78 Keen Parts Ford, 393, , , , , , 0, Running
31) 36, Garrett Smithley(i), No. 51 9/11 Scheme Chevrolet, 389, , , , , , 0, Running
32) 27, Bubba Wallace, No. 23 Door Dash Toyota, 388, , , , , , 5, Running
33) 34, Joey Gase(i), No. 15 Donate Life VA Chevrolet, 387, , , , , , 0, Running
34) 37, JJ Yeley(i), No. 53 FatBoy Chevrolet, 386, , , , , , 0, Running
35) 35, Quin Houff, No. 00 Trucker Appreciation Chevrolet, 386, , , , , , 2, Running
36) 33, Josh Bilicki, No. 52 Firetruck Scheme Ford, 385, , , , , , 1, Running
37) 4, Kurt Busch (P), No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet, 40, , , 1, 4, , 1, Accident
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie, (P) Playoffs

Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 3 Mins, 6 Secs.
Race Length: 400 Laps, 300. Miles
Average Speed: 98.307 MPH
Margin of Victory: 1.417 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 11, 9, 22, 5, 12, 42, 2, 19, 4, 10
Stage 2 Top 10: 11, 18, 19, 5, 22, 20, 42, 10, 48, 4

Comments: Martin Truex Jr. won the Federated Auto Parts 400 Salute to First Responders at Richmond Raceway, his 31st victory in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Prior to the start, the following vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty: No. 5, 41 (multiple inspection failures), No. 51 (driver change). 

Caution Flags: 5 for 30 laps;
Laps: 32-36 (Competition [53]);
42-47 (No. 1 Incident Turn 1 [78]);
82-88 (Stage 1 Conclusion [53]);
237-244 (Stage 2 Conclusion [9]);
251-254 (No. 23 Incident Turn 1 [3]).

Lead Changes: 21 among 8 drivers;
K. Larson (P) 0;
D. Hamlin (P) 1-32;
K. Busch (P) 33-36;
D. Hamlin (P) 37-90;
C. Elliott (P) 91-131;
M. Truex Jr. (P) 132;
K. Larson (P) 133-134;
C. Bell (P) 135-137;
D. Hamlin (P) 138-161;
C. Elliott (P) 162-177;
D. Hamlin (P) 178-179;
C. Elliott (P) 180;
K. Larson (P) 181-184;
C. Bell (P) 185-186;
D. Hamlin (P) 187-268;
M. Truex Jr. (P) 269-296;
C. Bell (P) 297-301;
R. Chastain 302-305;
K. Busch (P) 306-344;
D. Hamlin (P) 345-347;
K. Larson (P) 348-349;
M. Truex Jr. (P) 350-400.

Busch Pole Award: Kyle Larson, No. 5 
Sunoco Rookie of the Race: Chase Briscoe, No. 14