Martin Truex Jr. pulls off first NASCAR Cup Series win at Phoenix Raceway
For the fifth weekend in a row, the NASCAR Cup Series saw its fifth different winner through its five races so far in 2021. And while this driver is no stranger to winning, he had never made a trip to Victory Lane at Phoenix Raceway before.
Martin Truex Jr. won Sunday‘s Instacart 500 on the 1-mile track in the Arizona desert, ending a 29-race dry spell. The No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota took the checkered flag ahead of the pack by 1.698 seconds. Truex led a total of 64 laps.
RELATED: Unofficial results
Joey Logano, whose No. 22 Team Penske Ford was out front for a race-high 143 circuits, finished as the runner-up. Denny Hamlin was then third, while pole-sitter Brad Keselowski and reigning champion Chase Elliott were fourth and fifth, respectively.
Kevin Harvick, Kyle Larson, William Byron, Christopher Bell and Ryan Blaney completed the top 10 in order.
Blaney captured his first stage win of 2021, leading from Lap 44 to the end of Stage 1 on 75 in his No. 12 Ford. Logano then did the same in Stage 2; he led for the final 35 laps of the second portion, which ended on Lap 190.
Apart from the competition caution, the first stage remained green until Lap 46. Alex Bowman‘s No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, running 18th at the time, bumped the rear of Ross Chastain‘s No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevy. Then, from behind, the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet of Austin Dillon nudged Bowman in return. Chastain and Dillon sustained very little damage, but Bowman went for a spin into the outside wall.
Lap 88 later saw Anthony Alfredo tear off the rear of his No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford after Cody Ware‘s No. 51 Petty Ware Racing Chevrolet pushed him into the outer wall. Alfredo‘s run ended there in Turn 2.
Tyler Reddick‘s No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevy smacked the top wall on Lap 261 to bring out the first on-track caution in the final stage. Twenty laps later, Chastain nudged Kyle Busch‘s No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota into the wall. It set up the final restart with 25 laps to go.
Overall, there were seven cautions and 22 lead changes among nine drivers.
Up next, the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Atlanta Motor Speedway for the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 (Sunday, 3 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
This story will be updated.
