RICHMOND, Va. (Sept. 12, 2015) — In the final regular season race, Martin Truex Jr. found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time at Richmond International Raceway.
On Lap 39 of 400, Truex’s No. 78 Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Chevrolet slammed into the wall after hitting a patch of oil that was dropped by the No. 98 car of Reed Sorenson. Truex’s car suffered major right-side damage that resulted in four unscheduled pit stops. The incident put Truex four laps down and all the way back to 42nd place.
Truex’s injured car went on to complete the race with a 32nd-place finish.
“We had a good race car and everything was going smoothly until I slid into the oil,” said Truex, who was running in the top 15 when he hit the wall. “Getting into somebody else’s oil was unfortunate and very disappointing. But what happened tonight will be quickly forgotten about. The big picture is the next 10 races, and right now all of our focus will be on the Chase opener in Chicago.”
Truex finished the 26-race regular season in seventh place. He will be seeded 10th in the Chase standings with 2003 points. Each of the 16 Chase drivers starts with 2000 points plus three points for each win during the regular season. Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth lead the Chase pack with 2012 points. The first of the 10 Chase races is scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 20 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill.
The Richmond race winner was Matt Kenseth. Rounding out the top-10 in order were: Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Aric Almirola, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin, Jeff Gordon, Brad Keselowski, Jimmie Johnson and Clint Bowyer.
There were 13 lead changes among four drivers and six cautions for 47 laps.
