MARTINSVILLE, Va. (AP) Martin Truex Jr. has won the first stage of Sunday’s NASCAR playoff race at Martinsville Speedway.
Truex took the lead coming off pit road during service stops under yellow and quickly went to work lapping half the field. He put fellow playoff driver Kyle Larson down a lap with five to go in the stage, and Larson running 17th at his worst track in this round of the playoffs.
Denny Hamlin started from the pole but had a below-average first pit stop under caution after leading the first 31 laps. He restarted fifth, with teammate Truex the new leader. Hamlin finished second in the stage.
Chase Elliott qualified second but had to drop to the back of the field at the start for changing an engine. He had no trouble working his way through traffic and finished the stage eighth.
—
More AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/apf-AutoRacing and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports
Add A Comment