Martin Truex Jr. won the rain-delayed NASCAR Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Monday.
Truex led 254 of 301 laps in the Crayon 301, picking up his third win of the season and 34th of his Cup Series career. It was his first victory at the 1.058-mile Magic Mile in Loudon, N.H.
Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano staged late challenges for the lead, but Truex led down the stretch. Truex has dominated races in New Hampshire before without taking the checkered flag.
“It feels amazing. I’m so proud of everyone on our team and all of our sponsors,” Truex, who driving the No.19 Stewart-Haas Racing Toyota, told NASCAR.com.
“I kept waiting for something stupid to happen, like always does here. We’ve led so many laps here over the years but could never lead that last one. Today, the car was on rails, and the guys did a great job. We were able to make our way through traffic better than normal. Tough day, but we fought hard and had a lot of speed.”
The race was postponed from its scheduled Sunday start by inclement weather.
The 43-year-old Truex has not announced if he will return next season for Gibbs Racing or retire.
“Next question,” he said Saturday as he was asked about his plans, according to jayski.com.
Truex leads in the points standings. Check the full list here.
The Cup Series returns Sunday at the High Point 400 in Long Pond, PA.
The circuit comes to Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth on September 24.
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MONDAY’S ORDER OF FINISH
1. Martin Truex Jr., 2. Joey Logano, 3. Kyle Larson, 4. Kevin Harvick, 5. Brad Keselowski, 6. Tyler Reddick, 7. Denny Hamlin, 8. Bubba Wallace, 9. Austin Dillon, 10. Chase Briscoe
11. Erik Jones, 12. Chase Elliott, 13. Michael McDowell, 14. Alex Bowman, 15. Chris Buescher, 16. Daniel Suarez, 17. Justin Haley, 18. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 19. AJ Allmendinger, 20. Harrison Burton
21. Todd Gilliland, 22. Ryan Blaney, 23. Ross Chastain, 24. William Byron, 25. Austin Cindric, 26. Ty Dillon, 27. Ty Gibbs, 28. Ryan Preece, 29. Christopher Bell, 30. Ryan Newman
31. BJ McLeod, 32. Noah Gragson, 33. Corey LaJoie, 34. Aric Almirola, 35. Cole Custer, 36. Kyle Busch
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NOTES
Brodie Kostecki will run the No. 33 entry for Richard Childress Racing at next month’s race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, roadandtrack.com reported.
The 25-year-old Australian driver is a road-course expert.
Another Aussie driver, Shane van Gisbergen, won the road-course race earlier this month in Chicago. He became the first NASCAR driver to win in their first Cup Series start since IndyCar legend Johnny Rutherford won a Daytona 500 qualifying race in 1963.
“Brodie Kostecki is a young, promising driver and we’re looking forward to seeing what he can do in the No. 33 MobileX Chevrolet with Richard Childress Racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course,” said Childress, in a statement. “Brodie’s background in the V8 Supercar Championship will suit him well in NASCAR Cup Series racing, especially on Indy’s road course configuration.”
