Truex Jr. takes Richmond for first short-track win

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


"I was struggling the last 40 laps," Truex said. "I had no front turn. I was just real, real tight that last run. I just had to hold him off. Being out front was important tonight."




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





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 -- what would have been his fourth of the season and second in a row -- fell back to 10th.



"Sometimes in pro sports, you know, you get on a roll, things go well,'' Gibbs said. "I think that's the reason why you need to enjoy it in pro sports because you know, odds are, this ain't going to keep happening.''


Eight cars failed prerace inspection, including three that failed twice. They included Hamlin, a three-time winner on the 0.75-mile oval, Chase Elliott and Matt Tifft.





Contact with Daniel Hemric early in the second stage gave Larson a tire rub, and when he got back up to speed after stopping under green, the rub continued and he hit the Turn 1 wall on just the 127th lap of the night.


"Been a crappy start to the year," Larson said. "We've had decent speed. We didn't have speed tonight, but the weeks that we've got speed, we still run into issues -- so I hate the start to the season I've had, but hopefully this break to the season came at a good time and we can regroup and try to come back better with some better luck."

Larson has just two top-10 finishes in nine starts.



Elliott started the night 10th in points but ran 15th and has just two top-10s this year.

