Martin Truex Jr. outlasts Bowyer, wins at Richmond

RICHMOND, Va. — Martin Truex Jr. had about 40 laps to go and Clint Bowyer closing fast.

In a race to see who could preserve their car best, Truex outlasted Bowyer and then held off a four-lap charge by Joey Logano to win the NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway on Saturday night.

“I was struggling the last 40 laps,” Truex said. “I had not front turn. I was just real, real tight that last run. I just had to hold him off. Being out front was important tonight.”

Because he did, Truex gave Joe Gibbs Racing its sixth victory in nine races this season and won for the first time in his career on tracks shorter than a mile.

“At the end of the day, we drove up to him and you get terrible tight behind people,” Bowyer said.

Truex led a race-high 186 laps and regained the lead for the last time after green-flag pit stops that started with just more than 80 laps to go. With about 40 to go, Bowyer challenged with what seemed like a faster car, but Bowyer finally relinquished the second spot to Logano, who also seemed to have the faster car of the top two.

Truex expertly navigated lapped traffic and never let him pass to win for the first time in 81 starts in the Cup series on a short track. It’s his 20th career victory and 17th in the last four seasons.

“It means a lot to finally break through,” Truex said in Victory Lane. “I hope it was a helluva show. It sure was fun behind the wheel.”

Logano held on for second. Bowyer was third and Kevin Harvick fourth, giving Stewart-Haas Racing two top-four finishers. Local favorite Denny Hamlin was fifth.

“We were close, just not close enough,” Logano said. “Ran out of time there. … Fun race, just gosh. Three weeks in a row I felt like we had a car that could win the race and we haven’t won. That’s a little frustrating, but when you’re frustrated with second, that’s a good sign.”

The stage for the finish was set when the leaderboard got shuffled beginning on Lap 318 when the cars running up front began pitting under a green flag.

When they all had new tires and enough fuel to finish, Truex was back in front, followed by Bowyer, Logano, Harvick and Hamlin. Brad Keselowski dropped to eighth during the cycle and Kyle Busch, seeking his third victory in a row on the 0.75-mile, D-shaped oval, his fourth of the season and second in a row, fell back to 10th.

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The series takes its traditional week off for Easter before heading to Talladega Superspeedway in two weeks.